Top 10 Most Spoken Languages In The World

Although there are over 6,000 languages in existence today, the vast majority of the world speaks less than 150. Of those 150, the usual suspects are all there, however there are a few that may surprise you; English drops to third place and Portuguese overtakes Bengali. Enough teasing, let’s get started.

01. Chinese (Mandarin) – 935 Million Native Speakers

Photo — Link

Of the more than 6.6 billion people in the world, 14.1% of them speak Mandarin Chinese. China has many dialects, but Mandarin Chinese is the most common and widely accepted of them all. It is the native language of roughly 935 million Chinese. 09 more after the break...

02. Spanish – 387 Million Native Speakers 

Photo Link — Enokson

Saying “Hola” at spot number two is Spanish with 387 million speakers. This accounts for about 5.85% of the world getting the big bien venido upon entering this world. Also a common second language, for Americans and others, Spanish is quickly gaining ground as a world language partly due to it being widely thought of as the easiest language to learn.[livingbilingual.com/2013/06/11/learning-a-language-the-easiest-language-to-learn] While it has quite a ways to go before it overtakes Chinese, it’s already overtaken number #3… English.

03. English – 365 Million Native Speakers 

Photo Link — DonkeyHotey

If you’re reading this, you speak English to some degree (or you are really confused.) While behind Spanish, English is still the lingua franca of the world. It dominates business, trade, and America’s currency, the dollar, is still used on a global scale. Hollywood helps spread our lovely language throughout the world and helps it maintain it as a status language.

04. Hindi – 295 Million Native Speakers

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Hindi is the big-hitter in India. India has over 122 languages with 22 of them recognized by the constitution of India as official languages. Of them, Hindi has emerged as the big dog; the one everyone wants to play with. It is essentially a lingua franca in parts of, if not all of, India. Most Indians can speak or understand it to some degree. India has a lot of people, therefore a lot of people speak Hindi. Logical.

05. Arabic – 280 Million Native Speakers 

Photo — Link

Obviously, as astute as you all are, you know this statistic is a bit skewed. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the common language used for news broadcasts and official stuff, however most Arabic-speaking folk speak a dialect of Arabic; Egyptian Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, Algerian Arabic, etc. If these were fragmented off, none of them would easily make the top 10, however, luckily for Arabic, they are all lumped together for official purposes. You got lucky this time, Arabic. Arabic is also one of the hardest languages to learn for English speakers.

06. Portuguese – 204 Million Native Speakers 

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

From Brazil to Portugal, the Portuguese know how to party. They also know how to multiply. From a relatively smaller number of countries, this rabbit-like mammals get it done when it comes to producing little Portuguese speakers.

07. Bengali – 202 Million Native Speakers 

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

I bet you didn’t see Bengali coming… in fact, I bet you don’t know what Bengali is. Let me educate you. Bengali is the language native to the southeastern region of Asia known as Bengal. Think Bangladesh. While numbers vary for the ‘native speakers’ of this language, it’s still in a solid place among the top 10 most spoken languages in the world.

08. Russian – 160 Million Native Speakers 

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Russian, or Russki as I like to call it (I don’t know why) is a Slavic language that gives me fits when I try to learn it. Written in the Cyrillic alphabet, it looks and sounds foreign to most English speakers. The Russians know how to be cold and decline words. And be tough. And intimidating.

09. Japanese – 127 Million Native Speakers 

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Perhaps the most polite language on the top 10, Japanese is famous for it’s difficulty in addressing various levels of people with regards to their status and respect level. Seemingly two different languages are used for addressing elders and people of authority vs. that annoying kid down the street. With it’s unique writing system, it appears to be really foreign to a large portion of the world. However, to 127 million people, it’s pure comfort.

10. Punjabi – 96-130 Million Native Speakers 

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Ahh Punjabi, what would a top 10 list be without you? Punjabi “…is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by 130 million (2013 estimate) native speakers worldwide making it the 10th most widely spoken language in the world.”

It’s clear to see that the vast majority of languages are comprised of only the top fraction of a percent. Of the 6,000+ languages spoken today, this list of 10 makes up for roughly 45% or so of the total population of the earth. As the world becomes smaller, we lose a lot of the underrepresented languages out there. Whether you consider this a natural part of civilization, or a tragedy, it is happening. There are large efforts out there to support and help preserve near-extinct languages, but it will remain an uphill battle as more and more people jump on the bandwagon to speak one of the more ‘common’ languages.

Author Jeffrey Nelson of LivingBilingual.com

“ሰዎች እንብላ የሚሉት ከልባቸው ነው ወይስ እንደው ለነገሩ ያህል?” የዳሰሳ ጥናት ውጤት

ሰሞኑን ማህበረሰባዊ እሴቶቻችን ከሚባሉት በአንዱ ላይ የብድግ ብድግ ናሙና ወስጄ ጥናት እካሄድኩ ነበር፡፡ የጥናቱ ትኩረት የ “እንብላ ባህላችን” ሲሆን ጥናቱን ለማካሄድ ያስፈለገበት ምክንያትም እውነት ይህ ባህል አለ ወይስ ብዙዎች እንደሚሉት “ጎጂ ባህል” ከሚባሉት ተርታ ተሰልፏል የሚለውን እና አለ ከተባለም ሰዎች እንብላ የሚሉት ለአፋቸው ያህል ነው ወይስ ከልብ የሚለውን የምርምር ጥያቄ ለመመለስ ነበር፡፡
የጥናቱ ዘዴ ደግሞ ሰዎች ምግብ በሚመገቡባቸው አካባቢዎች ላይ ማንዣበብና ማፍጠጥ ወይንም ኦብዘርቬሽን ማካሄድ ነበር፡፡ ለጥናቱ  በናሙናነት ከተወሰዱ ተመጋቢዎች መሀል ታዲያ 70 በመቶ ያህሉ “አንብላ” አላሉም፡፡ ስለዚህ አብዛኞቹ “አንብላ ጎጂ ባህል ነው”  ከሚሉት ተርታ ይመደባሉ ማለት ነው የሚል መላ ምት ላይ መድረስ ተችሏል፡፡
ቀሪዎቹ 30 በመቶ ደግሞ ለአፋቸው ያህል እንብላ ቢሉም የዚህ ጥናት ባለቤት ግብዣቸውን ተቀብሎ ለተጨማሪ ምርምር ባደረገው ጥረት ያገኘው ውጤት አስደንጋጭ ነው፡፡ ከ90 በመቶ በላይ የሚሆኑት “አንብላ ባዮች” ከምግብ ሳህናቸው ላይ አንድ ሁለት ጠብደል ጠብደል ጉርሻዎች ብድግ ብድግ ሲደረጉ ከፊታቸው ላይ የነበረው ፈገግታ ሁላ በአንድ ጊዜ ድራሹ ይጠፋና በምልክቱ አይናቸው ማጉረጥረጥ ጀምሯል፡፡ አንዳንዶቹ እንዳውም “ ቀልድ አታውቅም እንዴ” የሚለውን ጥያቄ ከማንሳት ጀምሮ “ ፍሬንድ አንተም እዘዛ” በማለት የሰው በልቶ አያድሩም ተኝቶ አይነት አቋም ሲያራምዱ ተስተውሏል፡፡ እጃቸውን እንደመታጠብ ብለው በመጥፋትም የምግቡን ዋጋ አጥኚው ከፍሎ እንዲወጣ ያደረጉም አልታጡም፡፡
ይህ ጥናት ለናሙናነት የተጠቀመባቸው ሰዎች ቁጥር አናሳና አካባቢያዊ ስብጥሩም ጠባብ ከመሆኑ የተነሳ የሀገሪቱን ገፅታ ወካይ ነው ማለት አያስደፍርም፡፡ ይሁንና ለሌሎች የማህበራዊ ሳይንስ ተመራማሪዎች ጥናት መነሻ ሊሆን እንደሚችል አጥኚው ይተማመናል፡፡
ጥያቄው አሁንም ክፍት ነው፤   “ሰዎች እንብላ የሚሉት ከልባቸው ነው ወይስ እንደው ለነገሩ ያህል?”

በየሃ 2 ሺህ 800 ዓመት ዕድሜ ያለው ጥንታዊ ህንጻ በቁፋሮ ተገኘ

በቅድመ አክሱም ታሪክ የየሃ ስልጣኔን በ100 ዓመት ወደ ፊት የሚያስቀድምና 2 ሺህ 800 ዓመት ዕድሜ ያለው ጥንታዊ ህንጻ በቁፋሮ ተገኘ።
በየሃ አካባቢ ግራት ቤል ገብሪ በተሰኘ ስፍራ ነው ህንጻው በጀርመናውያንና በኢትዮጵያውያን ባለሙያዎች የተገኘው።
ግኝቱ በኢትዮጵያና በየመን መካከል ቀድሞ በነበረ ግንኙነት የሚነገሩ መላምቶችን የሚቀይርና የኢትዮጵያን ታሪክ የሚያድስ ይሆናል ነው የተባለው።
ግኝቱ ቀደም ሲል ቋንቋ ላይ የተካሄዱ ምርምሮችንም የሚደግፍ ይሆናል ነው ያሉት።
የሃና አካባቢው ለቱሪዝም መስህብ እንዲሆንና የአካባቢው ማህበረሰብ እንዲጠበቀም ታስቦ የሚገነባው ሙዚየም የዲዛይን ስራው ተጠናቋል።
በቁፋሮው አብረው የተገኙት የሸክላና የድንጋይ መሳሪያዎችን ጨምሮ ሌሎችም ተንቀሳቃሽ ቅርሶች በዚሁ ሙዚየም የሚቀመጡ ይሆናል።
ጥንታዊውና ታሪካዊው የየሃ ቤተመቅደስ 12 ሜትር ቁመት ሲኖረው በማዕዘን በተጠረቡና 7 ሜትር ርዘመት ባላቸው ድርብ ድንጋዮች ነው ያለምንም ማያያዣ ጭቃና ሲሚንቶ የተገነባው።
ለዘመናት የተፈራረቀበት ፀሃይና ዝናብ በአካባቢው ህይወት ያለው ነገር ካለመኖሩ ጋር ተደማምሮ የጉዳት መጠኑ እየጨመረና አካባቢውም በአረም እየተዋጠ ይገኛል።
የትግራይ ባህልና ቱሪዝም ኤጀንሲ ስራ አስኪያጅ አቶ ከበደ አማረ እንደሚሉት የጥገናው በፍጥነት መካሄድ ህንጻው ሙሉ በሙሉ አደጋ ላይ እንዳይወድቅ ያስቸለዋል።

Oromo Cultural Cloth

Some Oromo men wear woya (toga-like robes), and some women wear wandabiti (skirts). Others wear leather garments or animal skin robes, and some women wear qollo and sadetta (women's cloth made of cotton).

Modern garments from around the world are also worn. In cash-producing areas and cities, Oromos wear modern Western-style clothes. Oromos have clothes designated for special days. They call the clothes that they wear on holidays or other important days kitii and the clothes that they wear on working days lago.

Eating raw meat a norm in Ethiopia-Video

Ethiopia differs in many respects from the remainder of tropical Africa, both in natural scenery and in culture

In Ethiopia, it is considered a delicacy to eat fresh raw beef, goat or camel meat. They kill the animal, and eat the meat right away dipped in a spicy sauce. This began centuries ago when bushmen couldn’t start fires to cook the meat to keep from being seen by enemies.

Palette Earth Ethiopia

Hamar ladies greeting -Ethiopia

Hamar of Omo valley-Ethiopia. ladies greetings.This is why we insist, people should be cautious in dealing with others, take time to learn other cultures if you want to be part or in association with it.

Painted Ethiopian Boys

 Many members of tribes in southern Ethiopia have resisted the temptation to move to cities and abandon their cultural traditions. Here, two tribal boys painted for a ceremony wait at a roadside hotel near the Omo Valley.

Photograph by Charles Meacham

 

What’s in a Name in Ethiopia?

Kalkidan Hailemariam aka ‘Mitu’ and Linguistics Professor Zelealem Leyew

In Ethiopia, people have long used something called “house names.” They’re nicknames that family members give to one another. Traditionally, they have symbolic meanings. But the nature of those names is changing.

Kalkidan Hailemariam, a 19-year-old broadcast journalism student at the University of Addis Ababa, says her parents started calling her by her house name, Mitu, when she was about one year old.

“I didn’t know the meaning. Even my parents didn’t know what it means,” Kalkidan says.

“I really like [my house name]. When someone calls me Kalkidan, I don’t even turn my face,” she says.

Zelealem Leyew, a professor of linguistics at the University of Addis Ababa, says Mitu is a fairly typical house name for someone of Kalkidan’s age.

“We have these short and precise home names, like Tutu and Chuchu,” Zelealem says.

“And this, in linguistics, we call it reduplication – you just reduplicate or double a syllable,” he says.

Reduplication is common in many languages – from Chinese to Finnish to Maori. But Zelealem says it’s a new phenomenon in Ethiopia.

For centuries, Ethiopians have used long and colorful names, with symbolic meanings. They often bestow blessings or well wishes, or define the relationship between parent and child. Zelealem says that’s still the case in rural villages.

“If you go to the rural dwellers, they still enjoy giving names—these long names with meaning, with expressive power,” Zelealem says.

“They call them, Yene Geta, My Lord; Yene Gasha, My shield; Yene Shegga, My Beautiful or My Pretty,” he says.

Zelealem says no one knows exactly why these traditional house names are being replaced by shorter, cutesier names. But he suspects it has to do with Western influence. Ethiopia was relatively isolated from the West for centuries, but Europeans started coming here in large numbers in the 20th century.

“When they came to Ethiopia as missionaries, visitors, travelers, or scholars, they came with their languages,” Zelealem says.

“As a result of contact among speakers of different languages, we inherit names from other languages, and we donate, probably, names to other languages,” he says.

Zelealem says it’s a shame that so many Ethiopians are now using house names that don’t have meaning, and don’t have Ethiopian roots. But he acknowledges that there is a practical advantage to the shorter names – and that might explain their popularity in the cities.

“It is easier to call your baby girl Titi or Lili than Yelf Wagash or Yat’re Ida, which is relatively very long,” Zelealem says.

Eyosias Girma, a first-year student at the University of Addis Ababa, says all the kids in his family have short house names.

“My brother is Sweet,” he says.

“It’s because my mom used to eat a lot of sweet things when she was pregnant. My sister, she is Amen. Amen – let it happen.”

Eyosias says his own house name, Pio, doesn’t have a meaning. It was just something his sister started calling him. But the fact that it has no meaning doesn’t bother him. And he says it certainly doesn’t make him feel any less Ethiopian.