World languages and the World Cup
What are the world’s most widely spoken languages?
This question is a very interesting one that has a rather complicated answer. Estimates of how many people speak a language are quite general and can vary considerably. For example, estimates for English vary from 275 to 450 million, Spanish from 150 to over 300 million, Hindi from 150 to 350 million, and Russian from 150 to 180 million.
To further complicate matters, the definition of “speaker” can be vague. Some surveys of languages give information on native speakers only. Others count both native speakers and secondary speakers (those who use the language regularly or primarily even though it is not their native language).
Lastly, it is important to consider not only the population (number) of language speakers, but also the geographic distribution of these languages. Some languages have relatively large populations of native speakers but are used almost exclusively in a few countries. On the other hand, other languages have relatively small populations of native speakers but are used in many different countries as an official or national language.
The Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) Ethnologue Survey lists the following as the top languages by population:
- Chinese
- Spanish
- English
- Hindi/Urdu
- Arabic
- Bengali
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Japanese
- German
World languages and the World Cup
Unless you’ve been in hiding for the past few weeks you will be well aware that the World Cup is currently taking place. The World Cup is a global event. Every nation on earth watches it and talks about it. Even if your nation isn’t one of the lucky 32 that gets to compete, you’re still oddly involved Non-football fans watch as well, which is curious when you think about it.
But not everyone speaks English, so not everyone calls this tournament the World Cup. In French it’s the “Coupe du Monde”, in German the “Weltmeisterschaft”, in Spanish the “Copa Mundial” and in Italian Il Mondiale.
Below is a list of translations, from Afrikaans to Hebrew to Welsh…
Afrikaans: Wêreldbeker
Arabic: كأس العالم
Belarusian: Кубак свету
Bulgarian: Световно първенство
Catalan: Copa del Món
Chinese: 世界杯
Czech: Světový pohár
Danish: Verdenmesterskab (or VM for short)
Dutch: Wereldkampioenschap voetbal
Finnish: Maailmancup
Flemish: Weireldkampioenschap sjotten
French: Coupe du Monde
Galician: Campionato do Mundo
German: Weltmeisterschaft (or WM for short)
Greek: Παγκόσμιο Κύπελλο
Hebrew: גביע העולם
Hungarian: Világ Kupa
Icelandic: Heimsmeistarakeppnin
Indonesian: Piala Dunia
Irish: Corn an Domhain
Italian: Il Mondiale
Japanese: W杯
Korean: 세계 축구
Lithuanian: Pasaulio čempionatas
Macedonian: Светско првенство
Malay: Piala Dunia
Maltese: Tazza tad-Dinja
Persian: جام جهانی
Portuguese: Copa do Mundo
Romanian: Cupa Mondială
Russian: Кубок мира
Serbian: Светско првенство
Slovakian: Svetový pohár
Slovenian: Svetovni pokal
Spanish: La Copa Mundial
Swedish: Världscupen (aka VM)
Thai: ฟุตบอลโลก
Turkish: Dünya Kupası
Ukrainian: Кубок світу
Vietnamese: Cúp bóng đá thế giới
Welsh: Cwpan y Byd
Information sources:
http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers
http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-football/how-to-say-world-cup-in-36-languages.html