首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
How many languages are used throughout the world today?
How many languages are used throughout the world today?
admin
2009-06-24
91
问题
How many languages are used throughout the world today?
There are over 3,000 languages that are used throughout the world today. Almost all of these languages belong to a much smaller number of language families. All of the languages within a language family are related and all of them have a similar history. Therefore, the grammar, vocabulary, and sounds of related languages are similar. In addition, the way of thinking and the style of talking among related languages is similar.
Even though there are over 3,000 languages that are used today, there are only 20 or 30 major language families.
Let’s take a brief look at some of the largest language families. Each of these large families includes many individual languages. The language that we are using now is English and English is, of course, a member of a large language family. English is a member of the Indo-European language family. The Indo-European language includes most of the languages that are spoken throughout Europe. language such as English, French and Greek. Of course, nowadays, many Indo-European language are spoken in other part of the world. For instance, Spanish, which is an Indo-European language is spoken throughout South and Central America, but originally it was spoken only in Europe.
Another large language family is the Mm-Asiatic family. The Afro-Asiatic family includes most languages in the area of North Africa and the Middle East. Language such as Arabic, which is spoken throughout the Middle East anti many of the local languages of the Sahara Desert region such as Hausa are members of the same family. Another large family is Bantu. Bantu includes most of the languages spoken in central and southern Africa.
In the past few hundred years, there has been a great deal of change in Africa, and outside languages, such as French, are now spoken in some areas of central Africa and southern Africa. A fourth large group of languages is the Sino-Tibetan family. Sino-Tibetan includes all dialects of Chinese, which is perhaps the most widely used language in the world. There are nearly eight hundred million speakers of Chinese dialects. Sino-Tibetan also includes the languages of southeast Asia, languages such as Vietnamese and Thai. Of course, not all the languages of east Asia belong to this family. Some languages such as Japanese seem to be completely unrelated to the Sino-Tibetan family.
Still another major language family is Polynesian. The Polynesian languages are island languages. They are spoken on the islands around Indonesia, and on the many islands eastward all the way to Hawaii, and on the islands west all the way to Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa. Hawaiian and Indonesian are examples of Polynesian languages. Apparently, these languages were spread by travelers from islands to islands, and then each group of islands developed its own individual language.
These five language groups, or language families, which we have mentioned here are only a few of the major language families from around the world. There are many more. You should also note that each major language family has several smaller families within it.
选项
答案
Over 3,000 languages
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/2BTd777K
本试题收录于:
公共英语五级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语五级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
OneoftheresponsibilitiesoftheCoastGuardistomakesurethatallshipsobedientlyfollowtrafficrulesinbusyharbors.
CommunicationsRevolutionCyberspace,datasuperhighway,multi-media—forthosewhohaveseenthefuture,thelinkingofcom
EnergyCrisisOnekeyquestionforthenextcenturyishowweprovideenergyinanenvironmentallysoundway.Aslivin
NorwichNorwich,thecapitalofthepartofBritainknownasEastAnglia,hasbeeninexistenceformorethantwothousandy
HowtheBodyKeepstheSameTemperatureThetemperatureofyourbodyshouldbealwaysjustthesame,nomatterwhetherthew
A.ThepurposeofharmlessrevengeB.WhatisrevengeC.Revengetotheco-workersD.AharmlessrevengetoyourfamilyE.Givingal
Letter-writing______.Attheendofthearticle,theauthorsuggestedthat______.
Whatdidthespeakertalkaboutlasttime?
Whatdidthespeakertalkaboutlasttime?
随机试题
以下哪个不是慢性支气管炎的发病因素
流行性脑脊髓膜炎在下列哪个年龄组发病率最高
治疗月经先期的方药,哪项是错误的
有关率的标准误Sp,下列解释较合理的是
在诊断心肌梗死时,不作为血清酶辅助诊断的是()
甲企业、乙企业和朱某作为发起人募集设立了丙股份有限公司,丙公司共有200万股股份,甲企业持有丙公司40万股股份,乙企业持有丙公司20万股股份,朱某持有丙公司10万股股份,其余股份以无记名股票的形式发放募集。丙公司章程中规定实行累积投票制。丙公司为
【背景资料】某安装公司承接了商场(地上5层,地下2层,每层垂直净高5.0m)的自动扶梯安装工程。工程有自动扶梯36台,规格:0.65m/s,梯级宽1000mm,驱动功率10kW。合同签订后,安装公司编制了自动扶梯施工组织与技术方案、作业
甲扬言杀害乙全家,乙报案后公安人员即尾随追赶,在通往乙家的公路上,将携带凶器的甲截获。甲的行为属于()。
中国人民抗日战争,是近代以来中华民族反抗外敌侵略第一次取得完全胜利的民族解放战争,总结中国人民抗日战争胜利的经验,主要有
Whatdoesthemanmean?
最新回复
(
0
)