List of language families  

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This set of lists of language families also includes language isolates, unclassified languages and other types.

Major language families

By number of languages

Ethnologue 18 lists the following families as containing at least 1% of the 7,472 known languages in the world:

1. Niger–Congo (1,538 languages) (20.6%)
2. Austronesian (1,257 languages) (16.8%)
3. Trans–New Guinea (480 languages) (6.4%)
4. Sino-Tibetan (457 languages) (6.1%)
5. Indo-European (444 languages) (5.9%)
6. Australian (378 languages) (5.1%)
7. Afro-Asiatic (375 languages) (5.0%)
8. Nilo-Saharan (205 languages) (2.7%)
9. Oto-Manguean (177 languages) (2.4%)
10. Austroasiatic (169 languages) (2.3%)
11. Volta Congo (108 languages) (1.5%)
12. Tai–Kadai (95 languages) (1.3%)
13. Dravidian (85 languages) (1.1%)
14. Tupian (76 languages) (1.0%)

Glottolog 2.4 lists the following as the largest families:

1. Niger–Congo (1,544 languages)
2. Austronesian (1,276 languages)
3. Indo-European (585 languages)
4. Sino-Tibetan (472 languages)
5. Atlantic–Congo (432 languages)
6. Afro-Asiatic (372 languages)
7. Nuclear Trans–New Guinea (315 languages)
8. Pama–Nyungan (240 languages)
9. Otomanguean (178 languages)
10. Austroasiatic (164 languages)
11. Tai–Kadai (96 languages)
12. Dravidian (81 languages)
13. Arawakan (76 languages)
14. Mande (74 languages)
15. Tupian (71 languages)

Language counts can vary significantly depending on what is considered a dialect; for example Lyle Campbell counts 27 Otomanguean languages, although he, Ethnologue and Glottolog disagree as to which languages belong in the family.

See also

• International auxiliary language
• Constructed language
• Endangered language
• Extinct language
• Intercontinental Dictionary Series
• Ethnologue#Language families
• Glottolog#Language families
• Language_isolate#List_of_language_isolates_by_continent