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Official and Regional Languages of Asia on a Map

Can you name these 149 national and regional languages shown on the map of Asia?
Read the extensive caveats in the comments
Quiz by Jiaozira
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Last updated: March 30, 2021
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First submittedMarch 20, 2021
Times taken29,289
Average score26.8%
Rating4.99
22:00
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=
Sino-Tibetan
 
 
 
 
 
=
Indo-European
 
 
 
 
 
=
Japonic
 
 
 
 
 
=
Afro-Asiatic
 
 
 
 
 
=
Dravidian
 
 
 
 
Sinic
1,193 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
920 mil
Mandarin
80 mil
Wu
73 mil
Cantonese
47 mil
Hakka
38 mil
Xiang
22 mil
Gan
13 mil
Hokkien
 
 
 
 
Lolo-Burmese
35 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
33 mil
Burmese
2.0 mil
Yi (Nuosu)
 
 
 
 
Sal
3.3 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
1.4 mil
Bodo
1.0 mil
Kokborok
940 k
Jingpho
 
 
 
 
Kuki-Chin-Naga
3.0 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
1.7 mil
Meitei
830 k
Mizo
528 k
Karbi
 
 
 
 
Tibetic
1.7 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
1.2 mil
Standard Tibetan
171 k
Dzongkha
170 k
Sherpa
110 k
Ladakhi
70 k
Sikkimese
 
 
 
 
Tamangic
1.6 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
1.3 mil
Tamang
325 k
Gurung
 
 
 
 
Karenic
1.5 mil speakers
 
 
L1
Language
1.5 mil
Karen
 
 
 
 
Newaric
860 k speakers
 
L1
Language
860 k
Newari
 
 
 
 
Magaric
840 k speakers
 
L1
Language
840 k
Magar
 
 
 
 
Kiranti
418 k speakers
 
L1
Language
380 k
Limbu
38 k
Sunuwar
 
 
 
 
Angami-Pochuri
152 k speakers
 
L1
Language
152 k
Angami
 
 
 
 
Himalayish
66 k speakers
 
L1
Language
66 k
Lepcha
 
 
 
 
Indo-Aryan
897 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
250 mil
Hindi / Urdu
230 mil
Bengali
125 mil
Punjabi
83 mil
Marathi
56 mil
Gujarati
35 mil
Odia
33 mil
Maithili
25 mil
Sindhi
17 mil
Sinhala
16 mil
Nepali
14 mil
Assamese
7.0 mil
Kashmiri
2.3 mil
Konkani
1.9 mil
Tharu
1.6 mil
Dogri
400 k
Pashayi
340 k
Dhivehi
44 k
Majhi
 
 
 
 
 
=
Austronesian
 
 
 
 
 
=
Koreanic
 
 
 
 
 
=
Austroasiatic
 
 
 
 
 
=
Turkic
 
 
 
 
 
=
Kra-Dai
 
 
 
 
Iranian
133 mil speakers
 
 
L1
Language
70 mil
Persian
40 mil
Pashto
20 mil
Kurdish
3.0 mil
Balochi
597 k
Ossetian
 
 
 
 
Slavic
44 mil speakers
 
 
L1
Language
44 mil*
Russian
 
 
 
 
Indo-European isolate
6.7 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
6.7 mil
Armenian
 
 
 
 
Hellenic
700 k speakers
 
L1
Language
700 k*
Greek
 
 
 
 
Japonic
128 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
128 mil
Japanese
?
Ryukyuan Languages
 
 
 
 
Semitic
110 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
105 mil*
Arabic
5.0 mil
Hebrew
587 k
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
 
 
 
 
Dravidian
252 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
82 mil
Telugu
75 mil
Tamil
45 mil
Malayalam
43 mil
Kannada
2.9 mil
Gondi
2.2 mil
Kurukh
1.8 mil
Tulu
113 k
Kodava
 
 
 
 
Malayo-Polynesian
312 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
82 mil
Javanese
77 mil
Malay
40 mil
Sundanese
22 mil
Tagalog
19 mil
Cebuano
9.3 mil
Hiligaynon
9.1 mil
Ilocano
6.7 mil
Madurese
3.5 mil
Acehnese
3.5 mil
Banjarese
3.5 mil
Buginese
3.3 mil
Balinese
2.7 mil
Sasak
2.6 mil
Waray
2.5 mil
Central Bikol
2.1 mil
Makassarese
2.0 mil
Batak Toba
2.0 mil
Kapampangan
1.2 mil
Batak Dairi
1.2 mil
Batak Simalungun
1.2 mil
Pangasinan
1.1 mil
Batak Mandailing
1.1 mil
Maguindanao
1.1 mil
Tausug
1.0 mil
Gorontalo
1.0 mil
Taeʼ
900 k
Manggarai
890 k
Ngaju
800 k
Uab Meto
780 k
Maranao
770 k
Nias
750 k
Batak Angkola
750 k
Toraja-Saʼdan
600 k
Batak Karo
500 k
Bima
500 k
Ibanag
500 k
Surigaonon
470 k
Komering
460 k
Aklanon
433 k
Karay-a
390 k
Tetum
350 k
Rejang
330 k
Tolaki
300 k
Muna
300 k
Sumbawa
110 k
Yakan
100 k
Gayo
70 k
Sambal
33 k
Ivatan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
=
Mongolic
 
 
 
 
 
=
Kartvelian
 
 
 
 
 
=
Creole language
 
 
 
 
 
=
Northwest Caucasian
 
 
 
 
 
=
Language isolate
 
 
 
 
Formosan
50 k speakers
 
 
L1
Language
50 k
Formosan Languages
 
 
 
 
Koreanic
77 mil speakers
 
 
L1
Language
77 mil
Korean
 
 
 
 
Vietic
76 mil speakers
 
 
L1
Language
76 mil
Vietnamese
 
 
 
 
Khmeric
16 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
16 mil
Khmer
 
 
 
 
Munda
10.6 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
7.6 mil
Santali
1.6 mil
Mundari
1.4 mil
Ho
 
 
 
 
Khasi
1.0 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
1.0 mil
Khasi
 
 
 
 
Monic
800 k speakers
 
L1
Language
800 k
Mon
 
 
 
 
Nicobarese
30 k speakers
 
L1
Language
30 k
Nicobarese languages
 
 
 
 
Oghuz
105 mil speakers
 
L1
Speakers
75 mil
Turkish
23 mil
Azerbaijani
6.7 mil
Turkmen
 
 
 
 
Karluk
44 mil speakers
 
L1
Speakers
34 mil
Uzbek
10 mil
Uyghur
 
 
 
 
Kipchak
17 mil speakers
 
L1
Speakers
13 mil
Kazakh
4.3 mil
Kyrgyz
583 k
Karakalpak
 
 
 
 
Siberian
858 k speakers
 
L1
Speakers
480 k
Yakut
280 k
Tuvan
55 k
Altai
43 k
Khakas
 
 
 
 
Tai
69 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
30 mil
Lao
20 mil
Thai
16 mil
Zhuang
3.3 mil
Shan
 
 
 
 
Mongolic
5.5 mil speakers
 
 
L1
Language
5.2 mil
Mongolian
330 k
Buryat
 
 
 
 
Kartvelian
3.7 mil speakers
 
 
L1
Language
3.7 mil
Georgian
 
 
 
 
Spanish-based creole
700 k speakers
 
 
L1
Language
700 k
Chavacano
 
 
 
 
Northwest Caucasian
190 k speakers
 
 
L1
Language
190 k
Abkhaz
 
 
 
 
Language isolate
10 speakers
 
L1
Language
10
Ainu
 
 
 
 
Colonial Languages
~2.0 mil speakers
 
L1
Language
~2.2 mil
English
~50 k
Portuguese
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
+14
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
These are languages which have some national or regional recognition. Notes.

Asterisks denote that only speakers in Asia are counted for L1 figures, while Indo-European language families are marked with a dagger (†)

Figures for the total speakers of each language family should be taken as estimations and do not include immigrant/'non-European' languages

+21
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
There are a few things to note here.

One big difference between Asia and Europe, is that with Europe I could comfortably cover just about every language spoken as a majority in just about every given area. In Asia, thanks to factors including massive geographic barriers, great amounts of diversity and lower levels of education and thus survival of minority languages, there are several areas of smaller unrecognised languages that have been left grey.

Some areas have been simplified. For example, while people may assume that Israel=Hebrew-speaking, Palestine=Arabic-speaking, the truth is that Hebrew is spoken throughout the West Bank and Arabic is spoken in locations across the north of Israel. I cannot show all detail through this medium.

To generalise, Asian countries are less likely to have the same 'clear-cut' recognition of minority languages as their European counterparts. Some recognise dozens, while others recognise one. There is unavoidable subjectivity here.

+19
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
A couple of smaller things,

English is actually the largest spoken language in Singapore and Christmas Island, however since it and Portuguese are not the majority first language anywhere in Asia, they are automatically filled in.

I tried to choose the flags that fit the language the best. I have done my best to avoid controversial flags, but if there are any flags of guerilla movements for whatever reason I will replace them.

I cannot show it on the map, but sadly many of these languages are in decline, and will soon be transparent (in the likes of Assyrian or Ainu) for a variety of factors including migration, modernisation, etc. (not saying these factors are bad, but rather have unfortunate consequences for the minority languages).

There is too much to say about the quiz, I hope I covered everything important! Will try and do one for the Americas next :)

+30
Level 52
Mar 20, 2021
Once again, you produce something absolutely great. Five stars and a nomination!
+9
Level 52
Mar 20, 2021
I wonder if there will ever be a world version...or is that just a pipe dream?
+7
Level 52
Mar 20, 2021
Anyways, the only thing I would've done differently is change the Colonial Languages to the flags of their homeland (the UK and Portugal, respectively).
+6
Level 52
Mar 20, 2021
Also, I would've made Cantonese the flag of Guangzhou. Other than that the quiz is perfect.
+6
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
I was going to do that, but I decided to use the flag of the largest L1 communties going forward, gives a chance for some new 'Circle-Flags' to, well, circulate :)

Also the Chinese provinces don't have flags, unlike Indian states (all of which also don't have official flags in 2021) I believe it is illegal in China.

+2
Level 52
Mar 20, 2021
I was actually talking about Guangzhou, the city, but I looked back at the Wikipedia article and they removed the flag, probably due to its sketchy officialness.
+3
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
I see. I ran into so many interesting flags while researching this quiz, but many resembled passion projects and individual creations (and some made their way onto Wikipedia). Some of the flags I used were historical, or otherwise not widespread today but I tried to avoid the sketchier looking ones!
+2
Level 22
Jun 4, 2021
Why didnt you add Bhojpuri
+1
Level 69
Jul 18, 2021
I consider it to be a Hindi dialect here.
+2
Level 57
Aug 11, 2021
I like how there is a Russian minority in Kyrgyzstan
+1
Level 69
Aug 11, 2021
Yes, although majority of Bishkek are ethnic Kyrgyz, Russian is the majority language (especially among the youth).
+2
Level 57
Aug 15, 2021
Where is Manchu?
+2
Level 69
Aug 15, 2021
Manchu is only official at the county level, so it wasn't included. For China I am only accepting languages recognised at the national or provincial level.
+2
Level 57
Sep 19, 2021
What will the SVG Map look like if you made Americas and Oceania
+5
Level 69
Sep 20, 2021
North/South America are mostly homogenous, especially since some of the most linguistically diverse countries (i.e. Mexico) don't recognise any languages on even the state level. Only Bolivia and Alaska have a variety of languages to guess.

As for Oceania, I never compiled a list of languages. New Guinea has the most languages by far although few on the island have recognition. Interestingly, Anguar State in Palau has Japanese as an official language. Only one person born on Anguar can speak Japanese, and he or she no longer resides in that state.

+9
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Thank you! This has been an ongoing project for some time now and I'm happy with how it turned out. A world version would be amazing, but for now it's just a dream. I would probably have to scrap a lot of the detail in order to make a world version (the map for this quiz was already approaching the 600 KB limit, for example).
+3
Level 67
Mar 20, 2021
Legendary! I don't even know how to describe it anymore...

EDIT: Also, one more thing, does Hokkien also include Teochew and Hainanese, because I think they're quite different.

+2
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Thank you!
+2
Level 67
Mar 20, 2021
Also, wouldn't Minnan / Southern Min be a better representation of Hokkien? I might be wrong, so please do correct me, but I think Hokkien is it's own thing. This is just something I would like to clarify and point out.
+2
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Good question, it seems that Hokkien is a Southern Min language but I have included Southern Min and Minnan as type-ins.
+2
Level 67
Mar 21, 2021
Yeah, and also I wouldn't call Teochew and Hainanese "Hokkien", but I would call them "Southern Min / Minnan". Because Minnan is a more generalised title that includes Teochew, Hainanese and Hokkien.
+2
Level 67
Mar 21, 2021
(that's referring to my question above, btw)
+3
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
I see, and I just saw you edited your comment above. I don't mind changing the displayed name to 'Southern Min' (with Hokkien retained as a type-in, and Teochew and Hainanese as type-ins too) so long as it doesn't reset the quiz. I look into it myself, I believe I have confused those in the past so thanks for letting me know!
+2
Level 67
Mar 22, 2021
You're welcome! Changing the displayed name to Southern Min would be great, but I think the main problem is that it will reset the quiz.
+1
Level 69
Jun 3, 2021
I could not find how many L1 speakers there were :(
+2
Level 50
Mar 30, 2021
If we're being very pedantic, you can argue that Hokkien / Minnan is in effect the street language on much of Penang island in Malaysia, though that's perhaps far too much detail than people may need!
+2
Level 69
Mar 30, 2021
Don't tempt me to add that! I love detail so I've been restraining myself (so that the map doesn't have too many dots on it), although I already cracked and included Russian in Bishkek! :)
+1
Level 57
Aug 31, 2021
How about Sentinelese
+1
Level 69
Aug 31, 2021
It is not official in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory.
+4
Level 78
Mar 20, 2021
Damn, that one was hard ! 83/149. Nominated :)
+4
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Thank you! Nepal and Indonesia really don't make things easy.
+2
Level 57
Aug 10, 2021
Why is Vietnamese only spoken on Vietnamese coast
+2
Level 69
Aug 10, 2021
There are a lot of smaller indigenous languages in the hills. Keep in mind that the grey part of Vietnam doesn't have such a large population compared to the rest of the country.
+1
Level 67
Mar 20, 2021
Hmong?

Also accept Cebu for Cebuano?

+2
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Unfortunately, according to my research, Hmong is not recognised as an official language in any region. If it were I could add a whole new language family into the fray.
+2
Level 83
Mar 29, 2021
It accepts Binisayan for Cebuano but not Bisayas, Visayas, Visayan... which is usually what the locals say.
+2
Level 69
Mar 29, 2021
Automatic type-ins for Cebuano include 'Binisayan' and 'Visayan', but I've now added Bisayas/Visayas too. Thanks for the heads up!
+3
Level 55
Mar 20, 2021
wow, amazing!! this should be featured right away!
+2
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Thank you for the kind words :)
+2
Level 55
Mar 20, 2021
(btw, i'm not sure why my previous comment was deleted, which is why i reposted it)
+3
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Strange, well I'm a little glad to hear that... I was beginning to question my memory when I saw your comment again and so I went and thanked you twice, haha.
+3
Level 83
Mar 20, 2021
Just wonderful! 5 stars and nominated. Really appreciate the explanations below too. Would be very happy to read more after all the research you've clearly done!
+3
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Thank you! I bet I could turn some of the things I've learnt into a blog post (after paper-season is over and my writer's bloc recovers). There is a lot to write about :)
+5
Level 64
Mar 20, 2021
The European one was one of my favourite quizzes on the site, and now you've gone and done it again. Great work Jiao, 5 stars and nominated!
+3
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
I'm really glad to hear that, thank you! Hoping to make a couple more of these in future.
+3
Level 58
Mar 20, 2021
An African one please!
+2
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Maybe after the Americas are complete. I wouldn't mind doing Oceania either although expect a lot of Malayo-Polynesian languages to appear :)
+3
Level 54
Mar 20, 2021
Amazing Quiz! Genuinely brightened up my day! Five stars and nominated :)
+2
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Really happy to hear that, thank you :D
+3
Level 60
Mar 20, 2021
The European languages one already blew my mind and when I came to know about the Asian Version, I was waiting for it all the time. It's a lot better than I expected and the map is astonishing. This one was rather easier than the European one maybe because I'm an Asian or maybe this one is easier in general.

I liked how you completely left New Guinea blank. The Siberian languages were the toughest where I got none, a lot of new languages as well I got to see for the first time in this quiz even in India. Didn't expect to see Ainu as it has a very small population speaking as their L1. It's sad how languages like Ainu will gradually go extinct and probably a lot of Indonesian and Indian languages too. Like approximately 20 languages were spoken in Andaman and the whole language family went extinct when the last L1 speaker died in 2009.

+4
Level 69
Mar 20, 2021
Happy to hear you liked it! I wasn't going to do Asia at first, but then I thought over it and after finishing my Indo-Aryan language quiz I became determined.

New Guinea is left blank since it is technically in Oceania, but I'm actually not sure any of those languages would be eligible other than Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin (which is simply an English Creole, its name derived from 'Talk Pidgin'). Bit of a shame from the world's most linguistically diverse region.

It is tragic the state of some language at the moment. I noticed how some of the language names in India used Latin alphabets, and that is often a sign that the language is not even written, only spoken. The way the cycle works, it seems people will only turn to language revitalisation when decline is too great and the language becomes a historical language only. Irish has been under revitalisation for over 100 years, and continues to decline at the L1 level. The major Indian state languages seem quite safe however.

+9
Level 57
Mar 21, 2021
Americans when Chinese is not accepted:
+7
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
Canadians too, we are not exactly a nation of geography wizards :)
+4
Level 55
Mar 21, 2021
I gave up with 60/149, thinking I didn't score well, but I managed the top 17 percentile, and I'll take it. I rarely score that well on languages.

Fantastic Quiz! Excellent Map Detail! When I first looked at Indonesia, Philippines, and Nepal, I'm like, can't be too hard right. And when I clicked show unguessed Language, the bruh moment came.

+2
Level 55
Mar 21, 2021
Oh yeah, and of course Nommed! I'd do it twice if I could
+2
Level 55
Mar 21, 2021
And thanks for not including New guinea, I'm sure that would have gave us 700 more to guess.
+2
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
Haha, it is incredible how many languages can develop, in areas with geographic isolation like that. I actually had a hard time getting the dots overtop some of those languages, because of how small they were on the map!
+2
Level 64
Mar 21, 2021
FEATURED!!!!!
+3
Level 55
Mar 21, 2021
Featured within 24 hours of its publication! Jiaozira continues to set records!
+2
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
Yes! I am happy that people enjoyed this one :)
+2
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
Accept Sinhali for Sinhalese?
+5
Level 55
Mar 21, 2021
I don't think anyone calls it Sinhali.
+3
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
I have considered it but it might not be close enough to accept that, especially with similar language names (i.e. Santhali). I hope you understand.
+2
Level 62
Mar 21, 2021
Once again, excellent job!
+2
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
Thank you!
+3
Level 83
Mar 21, 2021
Very good quiz. Quite challenging. I managed to get most of the map green and beat 80% of quiz takers and still didn't get half of them.
+2
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
Thank you! I would say that there is a steep difficulty curve here. After all, Batak Angkola and Majhi are virtually unheard of.
+2
Level 73
Mar 21, 2021
This is a wonderful quiz. I tried Batak not realizing there were so many forms of it! Learned something new today.
+2
Level 69
Mar 21, 2021
Thanks for playing, and I'm glad you liked the quiz! I found it interesting to learn about the Batak languages too when researching this quiz, I hadn't heard about them prior :)
+2
Level 81
Mar 22, 2021
This quiz is very very interesting and fun. Would you consider including some local languages of Malaysian Borneo as well like (Kadazan & Dusun for Sabah and Iban for Sarawak?), since most of these regions of the island where they’re indigenous are left grey except for Malay in Sarawak. Although these languages aren’t official in both states, there are standardised varieties which are taught in national schools where those ethnicities form the majority.
+2
Level 69
Mar 22, 2021
Thank you very much! I will consider them, although there is a good chance the list here is finalised. I do think it's unfortunate that Borneo is mostly grey at this point. Malaysia is a country in which I could only add Malay from, since the status of the other languages seemed unclear/unofficial. On a side note I'm very happy to hear that those languages are taught in Sarawak and Sabah, that seems to be a rarity in many other linguistically diverse nations.
+2
Level 50
Mar 30, 2021
Yes, there's a lot of de facto language diversity in east Malaysia, and it would be interesting to add these into the quiz in future if you update it.
+1
Level 69
Mar 30, 2021
That is true, I had to make a note for myself so that I left them grey, to represent the languages there that couldn't be included on this quiz. I would like to include them in a future quiz, perhaps, they deserve the recognition.
+2
Level 75
Mar 22, 2021
This is an excellent quiz. Can you please also accept "Zambal" for "Sambal" and "Bicol" or "Bikol" for "Central Bikol?" Thanks.
+2
Level 69
Mar 22, 2021
Thank you! Those will be accepted shortly.
+3
Level 76
Mar 22, 2021
Great quiz Jiao! I laughed so hard at "Karen"!
+3
Level 69
Mar 22, 2021
Red Karen was also recognised but I had to represent it as one of the dialects. Thank you!
+2
Level 57
Oct 19, 2021
Are you currently working on making the Americas
+1
Level 69
Oct 20, 2021
Not at the moment, unfortunately. I was planning on doing North/South America seperately but some territories recognise tens of Indigenous languages, while others don't recognise even their main language (lloking at you, Mexico). This means that more than half the languages in North America would be Indigenous languages from Alaska (ditto Bolivia in South America). The map is mostly complete, however.

Africa or even Oceania would probably make for better quizzes :P

+2
Level 65
Mar 22, 2021
Excellent work! I can only imagine how much time and effort this took. Could you accept Okinawan?
+2
Level 69
Mar 22, 2021
Thank you! It took a good amount of work and research but I feel it was worth it. I will accept Okinawan shortly, as it is one of the Ryukyuan languages.
+2
Level 65
Mar 22, 2021
Your first sticky comment appears to refer to the European quiz.
+2
Level 69
Mar 22, 2021
Correct, at least the second caveat is referring to that. Unfortunately I cannot edit it on my own :(
+2
Level 55
Mar 22, 2021
WOW! How long did it take you to make this map?!! It would have taken me 30 years to make!
+2
Level 69
Mar 22, 2021
It took just over a couple weeks. I worked on it on and off, when my (non-Jetpunk) life allowed :)
+2
Level 65
Mar 23, 2021
This is wonderful! Instant addiction.

After playing it at least ten times I can still remember 100 only, what a shame.

I can't even begin to guess what will happen when you get to Oceania. I see you want to do the Americas next, and that will also be interesting, but I'm in love with Oceanian literatures at the moment...

+2
Level 69
Mar 23, 2021
Thank you, I am glad that you are enjoying this! :D

Oceania is a region that I am interested in covering. Most of the languages are from the same language family, but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be an interesting quiz.

+2
Level 72
Mar 24, 2021
This quiz is excellent! Please do more of them, I crave them!

Would you mind accepting Aceh for Acehnese, Altay for Altai, Iloko for Ilocano, Panjabi for Punjabi, and Winaray for Waray?

+2
Level 69
Mar 24, 2021
Thank you! All of your suggestions will be added shortly.
+2
Level 56
Mar 25, 2021
Love love LOVE this
+2
Level 69
Mar 25, 2021
Thank you :D
+2
Level 68
Mar 29, 2021
very interesting. got 52 i believe, not bad
+2
Level 69
Mar 29, 2021
Thanks for playing!
+2
Level 71
Mar 29, 2021
Absolutely amazing! This is what I'm doing instead of paying attention to my chemistry class :') but it's worth it.

Two questions about this (one a question and one a suggestion):

1. In Nepal, Indonesia, and the Phillipines, how do nation-wide languages work? Like is it that everyone who doesn't speak the most prominent language (Nepali, Malay, Tagalog) as a first language learns it in school as a second language? Or is it more that they use colonial languages instead (English, Dutch, Spanish/English)?

2. For some reason, some of the labels of the language families don't show up while I take the quiz. For example, it didn't say "Tibetic," I just saw "1.7 million speakers." The problem resolved itself afterwards, but not during the quiz for some reason :/ I don't know if anyone else is having this problem but it might be worth looking into.

+3
Level 69
Mar 29, 2021
Thank you! I won't say anything, I play Jetpunk all the time during online lectures :)

To answer your comment,

1. It seems in those countries that the national language is used in school, alongside English. In Nepal they used to suppress some of the regional languages (such as Newari), but as a result of the Nepalese Civil War the Nepali language's exclusive use in government or courts is being challenged and regional languages are given rights (hence why they made it on this quiz!) When I was in Nepal, everyone could speak Nepali with me even if it was their second language, while English and Hindi were prevelant, but less spoken.

2. Don't worry, the labels are meant to be invisible at first. I hid the ones that gave away the names of individual languages' names. It's not a perfect solution by any means, but thankfully it's not a glitch either.

+3
Level 55
Mar 29, 2021
Ha! Glad I'm not the only one that gets distracted by JetPunk ;)
+3
Level 69
Mar 29, 2021
You're not alone :D
+2
Level 71
Mar 29, 2021
Thanks for the explanations! Although if you're trying to hide labels to avoid giving away answers, you might want to hide "Kiranti" as well, because I got "Sunuwar" based off of that :)
+2
Level 69
Mar 29, 2021
Fixed, thanks for reminding me. I forget about some of the type-ins I've added!
+2
Level 74
Mar 29, 2021
Really amazing. I hope those Ainu speakers are doing some teaching.
+3
Level 69
Mar 29, 2021
Thank you! Even today, Ainu heritage is often hidden due to shame. However, with more people embracing their heritage and culture it is completely possible that Ainu will live on. Cornish was extinct for many years, until there was renewed interesting in Cornish culture and identity, and now there are several fluent speakers and enthusiasts. It's not a perfect solution, but it's leagues better than the alternative.
+12
Level 83
Mar 29, 2021
Oh man I missed "Karen." I even speak a little bit of Karen: "can I talk to your manager?"
+8
Level 69
Mar 29, 2021
Impressive! You should write a phrasebook for the tourists.
+4
Level 47
Mar 30, 2021
I speak a little Karen too!

"You just ruined my family's entire vacation"

"GIVE ME YOUR NINTENDO SWITCH YOUR TOO OLD FOR SILLY VIDEO GAMES ANYWAY"

"You will hear from my lawyers!"

I think I spend too much time on r/entitledparents...

+2
Level 65
Jul 9, 2022
It's also a tonal language, it has a tone called annoying.
+2
Level 64
Mar 29, 2021
This is pretty cool and original too. Looking forward to more continents or regions! :D
+2
Level 69
Mar 29, 2021
Thank you, more to come soon!
+2
Level 57
Mar 30, 2021
Really cool quiz. Nice graphics! I love it.
+2
Level 69
Mar 30, 2021
Thanks for the kind words :D
+2
Level 61
Mar 30, 2021
Fantastic work, great stuff. Pity the Santa language (a.k.a. Dongxiang) wasn't on it, but I suppose that's a bit obscure!
+2
Level 69
Mar 30, 2021
That seems like quite the interesting language! I hadn't heard of it before, I may have confused them with the Hui people, who I am more familiar with.
+2
Level 57
Aug 25, 2021
When will the americas be released
+1
Level 69
Aug 25, 2021
I am undecided on that, to be honest an Americas quiz would have a huge amount of weight on Bolivian and Alaskan languages (probably over half of the quiz!)
+2
Level 75
Mar 30, 2021
Wow. Just wow. Magnificent.
+2
Level 69
Mar 30, 2021
Thank you!
+2
Level 50
Mar 30, 2021
I'd just like to add my thanks and respect for your very interesting quiz. Much appreciated!
+2
Level 69
Mar 30, 2021
Thank you very much!
+2
Level 74
Mar 30, 2021
Fabulous and challenging quiz, beautifully organised. There's something here for everyone to learn. Thank you Jiaoira! You obviously put a tonne of work into this!
+2
Level 69
Mar 30, 2021
Thank you very much, I am happy to turn my passion into something I can share :)
+2
Level 67
Mar 31, 2021
I just came to say: kudos on making this quiz! What an amazing dedication to the craft. I can't imagine how many hours of research went into this!

That being said, I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole... ;-)

+4
Level 69
Mar 31, 2021
Thank you! It was quite a big project for me but I wanted to do my best.

I don't blame you either, it isn't exactly a free 5 points :)

+2
Level 67
Apr 5, 2021
Well, there's that, but also: this quiz should include Breton ;-)
+1
Level 69
Apr 5, 2021
Haha, can't believe I forgot about the Breton population on the Kuril Islands :)
+2
Level 58
Apr 2, 2021
Wonderful Quiz, one of the best on the website for sure
+1
Level 69
Apr 2, 2021
Thank you! I am honoured to hear you say that :D
+4
Level 69
Aug 12, 2021
No love for the Jewish Autonomous Oblast :( sure, hardly anyone there SPEAKS Yiddish, but it is still technically an official language! (still a great quiz, of course. i live in fear of the Oceania one - are you going to go for all 800-odd Papuan languages?)
+3
Level 34
Sep 9, 2021
Sudanese? I didn't expect that...
+3
Level 69
Sep 9, 2021
Sundanese. Although the names are similar enough that I used to mix them up a lot haha :/
+2
Level 65
Oct 20, 2021
INCREDIBLE!! Apparently I tried this a long time ago but I completely forgot about it until it showed up in my Random! I got 84 this time.
+1
Level 69
Oct 20, 2021
Thank you!

Glad to hear you enjoyed rediscovering it! :D

+3
Level 58
Oct 25, 2021
Nice effort but I want to tell you that Formosan languages are not a language but a language family that consists more than 16 languages. Also, if you want to refer "Formosan languages" as Taiwanese indigenous languages (which I think is not right), then Yami language would have to be separated since Yami language is from the Batanic subgroup but not Formosan.

Same thing happens to the "Hokkien" languages. I think you are referred to the "Min language", but again, Min is actually a language family that consists of multiple languages.

+3
Level 69
Oct 26, 2021
Yes but Taiwan appears to recognise 'Formosan Languages' generally as a national language. Therefore the display name is 'Formosan Languages', and every single living Formosan Language is included as a type-in. I may change the display name of Hokkien to Min Chinese when I get the chance, maybe they are technically a 'language group', but the same can be said for other Chinese languages such as Mandarin.

If it was a quiz purely on Taiwanese languages, I would certainly go into much more detail. Thanks for letting me know about Yami by the way, it is not recognised in the same way, so I cannot include it, but I had no idea there was a Batanic language spoken in Taiwan!

+3
Level 58
Oct 26, 2021
I cannot agree with your statement that "but the same can be said for other Chinese languages such as Mandarin." since it is definitely not. Out of the seven groups of varieties of Chinese, Min is the only one that is considered to be a "language branch" by the linguisticians while the other six groups are a "language." Min has a much greater dialectal diversity than any of the other groups and is the only groups of varieties where their sub-languages (such as Southern Min, Pu-Xian, Northern Min, Eastern Min, Hainan...) are mutually unintelligible and that's why the sub-languages of Min should be considered distinct languages, as a native Southern Min speaker, I can tell you that this is definitely accurate. In contrast, the "sub-languages" of the other six groups of varieties of Chines are all mutually intelligible, that's why the "sub-languages" of these six groups are only dialects but not distinct languages. In conclusion, the language status of Min and Mandarin are not the same.
+3
Level 58
Oct 26, 2021
Also, for the part that you say that "Taiwan appears to recognise 'Formosan Languages' generally as a national language" is not accurate, from this website , you can see the 'Formosan Languages' are called "Indigenous languages" by the Taiwanese government since it includes Formosan Languages and the Yami language, and Taiwanese government generally display the name of "Indigenous languages" but not list out all 15 legal national languages is just out of simplicity basis, it does not mean that Taiwanese government recognize "Formosan languages" as a national language. Also, Matsu is also a national language of Taiwan accourding by Development of National Languages Act . Finally, extremely brilliant effort for the map that you have done and feel free to try my Languages of Taiwan quiz, this is a quiz purely on Taiwan
+3
Level 69
Oct 26, 2021
You are correct, I will change the title to something which includes Yami then. I will have to follow the same simplicity basis, for the sake of this quiz. I will have to figure out what to do with the Min languages, they don't appear to be recognised in China so I may grey out everything other than Hokkien on Taiwan, or perhaps I will change the name on the quiz. Changes will be a little slow, since I don't want to reset everyone's answer stats just yet. Thanks for playing and excellent quiz too! I just tried it out :D
+2
Level 58
Oct 26, 2021
Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy Taiwanese culture!!
+2
Level 69
Oct 27, 2021
You're very welcome, Taiwan is an interesting country indeed! :)
+1
Level 18
Nov 3, 2021
You wrote Hokkien in Hainan, shouldn't that be Hainanese?
+2
Level 58
Jan 21, 2022
Some scholars and earlier research would say that Hainanese is a dialect of the Hokkien (Southern Min) language, while more and more scholars think that Hainanese is an independent language nowadays since Southern Min and Hainanese is not mutually intelligible at all.
+1
Level 69
Jan 21, 2022
Hainanese should be considered its own language, the dialect/language distinction is more of a political definition than a linguistic one. Unfortunately, I have to go with the political definitions sometimes, for the sake of the quiz. I may make changes to the quiz, however, such as greying out that particular region on the map.
+2
Level 83
Nov 9, 2021
Communicating with Karen's can be tough, but I didn't realize they actually have their own language
+1
Level 69
Nov 9, 2021
It's a little obscure but if you listen closely it is quite the poetic language. I read that they have at least 20 different words for "manager".
+3
Level 56
Jan 21, 2022
Forever dreaming that there will be an Africa version
+3
Level 69
Jan 22, 2022
Jiaozira from 2021 said it couldn't be done, but what does he know? ;)
+1
Level 26
Aug 10, 2022
I’ll be looking forward to it
+3
Level 56
Jan 21, 2022
brilliant brilliant quiz - I return here often
+1
Level 69
Jan 22, 2022
Thank you for playing!
+1
Level 26
Aug 10, 2022
Cool quiz, never knew there were this many languages spoken!
+1
Level 26
Aug 10, 2022
I only got 35 :(
+2
Level 76
Oct 3, 2022
Wow. Just Wow! This is a magnum opus. Awesome and scarily tough.
+1
Level 69
Oct 4, 2022
Thank you for playing! I'm still really happy about how this one turned out :)
+2
Level 65
Dec 31, 2022
Is there any chance you would issue a quiz on Oceania or the Americas in the close future?

I can fully understand that they are an immense lot of work to make, I'm just asking... please, if possible. :)

Happy new year, by the way!

+1
Level 69
Jan 7, 2023
Happy (slightly belated) New Years!

I have a version for the Americas which I almost finished, however I struggled with drawing some of the Indigenous languages / including both North and South America on one map so the project was put on hold.

As for now I have no plans to continue the series because of time constraints. If I could pick up the series again, I wish I could cover Africa next as it is the most fitting for this style of quiz!

+2
Level 68
Mar 10, 2023
And the African quiz is here! Out of curiosity, where did you get the data for all this?
+1
Level 69
Mar 11, 2023
I didn't think it would come so soon hahaha, the data comes from the Wikipedia pages for each country, if you look under 'language' they give you an idea what languages are official or recognised under different statuses (like minority languages).
+2
Level 65
Mar 15, 2023
This is amazing! I'm glad that you accept all Taiwanese languages like Amis and Atayal as the answer.
+1
Level 69
Mar 15, 2023
Thank you for playing! Since Taiwan only appears to recognise 'Taiwanese Aboriginal Languages' more broadly, I found this to be the fairest response :)
+1
Level 30
Mar 27, 2023
great quiz but very hard
+1
Level 53
Apr 21, 2023
Maguindanao's flag has the language name on it
+1
Level 61
May 23, 2023
There's a language named KAREN?