An insatiable appetite for ancient and modern tongues

1. The Language Gulper is a comprehensive language site that provides:
   

1. •Detailed descriptions of the main languages of the world in a clear, concise way. Its scope is not only living languages but also ancient ones of historical or cultural importance. So far, “The Language Gulper” includes 134 individual language pages, 40 about families and branches, 8 about linguistic areas, and 2 describing the language situation in individual countries (Afghanistan and Bhutan).  You can access all language pages by two indexes:
   

1. 1. ⁃an alphabetical index.
      

2. 
   

1. ⁃an index based on the classification of languages.
   

3. 
   

4. •Information about writing systems.
   

1. •Maps specially designed for the site (accessible via a menu on the right part of every page).
   

1. •A summary of key literary works for those languages that developed a substantial literature (in progress).
   

1. •Lists of the largest languages and families of the world.
   

1. •A linguistic glossary.
   

Language pages are of three types:

1. A)Areal pages: dealing with some linguistically complex areas of the world where many language families meet and, often, influence each other, like for example Southeast Asia and Ethiopia. Areal pages mention the main families and languages present in a region and tabulate their frequent and/or common features which may be the result of geographic proximity, common origin, or both.
   

2. B)Family pages: introduce groups of  languages that descend from a common ancestor,  i.e. they are genetically related, like for example Indo-European and Afro-Asiatic languages. For some families, additional pages describe smaller groupings (branches). Family and branch pages inform about their geographical distribution and internal classification which is shown also on a map, list their main languages (with their number of speakers) and summarize the features shared by them.
   

3. C)Individual language pages describe a language in detail, including:
   

1. •Classification: phylum, family, branch, group, etc.
   

1. •Overview: a brief introduction to the language, often combined with some historical information. Dates are expressed as BCE (before common era) or CE (common era), equivalent to BC and AD, respectively.
   

1. •Geographical distribution.
   

1. •Number of native speakers: i.e. those that speak it as a mother tongue. Our estimates are based on the most recent available data updated to the current year 2013, considering population increase as well as the status of each language (growing, stable, declining), and taking into account the often blurred distinction between language and dialect.
   

1. •Status: living or extinct, thriving, stable or endangered; official recognition if any.
   

1. •Varieties: socio-linguistic and regional (dialects).
   

1. •Phonology: the basic sounds of the language summarized in two tables (vowels and consonants) with the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet.
   

1. •Scripts and orthography: the writing system(s) employed by the language. If it is alphabetic, the correspondence between its letters and the basic sounds of the language is shown. In addition, for non-Latin derived alphabets, the most usual transliteration into the Latin alphabet is given.
   

1. •Morphology
   

1. - nominal: gender, number, case declension, pronouns, compounds, etc.
   

1. - verbal: tense, aspect, mood, conjugations, etc.
   

1. •Syntax: sentence and phrase structure.
   

1. •Basic vocabulary: a small set of  terms relatively resistant to change (numbers, kinship words, parts of the body) for comparison purposes.
   

1. •Key literary works: a chronological list and summary of the major literary works written in a given language.
   

1. •Further Reading: a short selection of the most important reference books and articles.
   

1. © 2013 Alejandro Gutman and Beatriz Avanzati
   

1. Top   Alphabetic Index   Classificatory Index   Largest Languages & Families   Glossary
   

MAIN LANGUAGE FAMILIES

Afro-Asiatic

Altaic

Austroasiatic

Austronesian

Caucasian

Chukotko-Kamchatkan

Dravidian

Eskimo-Aleut

Hmong-Mien

Indo-European

Khoisan

Mongolic

Niger-Congo

Nilo-Saharan

Papuan Languages

Tai-Kadai

Tibeto-Burman

Tungusic

Turkic

Uralic

LANGUAGE AREAS

Languages of Africa

Languages of Australia

Languages of Ethiopia & Eritrea

Languages of North America

Languages of Meso-America

Languages of South America

Languages of South Asia

Languages of Southeast Asia

LANGUAGES by COUNTRY

Afghanistan

Bhutan

LANGUAGE MAPS

1. • Africa
   

2. African Languages
   

3. Afro-Asiatic
   

4. Ethiopia & Eritrea
   

5. Niger-Congo
   

6. Nilo-Saharan
   

1. • America
   

2. Eskimo-Aleut
   

3. North America
   

4. Meso-America
   

5. South America
   

1. • Asia
   

2. Countries & Regions
   

3. Afghanistan
   

4. Bhutan
   

5. South Asia
   

6. 
   

7. Families
   

8. Afro-Asiatic
   

9. Austroasiatic
   

10. Austronesian
    

11. Caucasian
    

12. Dravidian
    

13. Hmong-Mien
    

14. Indo-Aryan
    

15. Mongolic
    

16. Munda
    

17. Sino-Tibeto-Burman
    

18. Tai-Kadai
    

19. Turkic
    

20. Uralic
    

1. • Europe
   

2. Indo-European
   

3. Uralic
   

1. • Oceania
   

2. Papuan
   

3. Australian
   

4. Austronesian

Alphabetic Index   Classificatory Index   Largest Languages & Families   Glossary                                  About us

Online Sanskrit classes via Skype, in English or Spanish, by one of the authors of The Language Gulper (Alejandro Gutman).

More info here and/or contact me at: gutman37@yahoo.com

Urgent call for donations. In order to keep the Language Gulper online we need to raise 500 U.S. dollars before the end of the year.  As our website has no advertisements it is essential that we receive some financial help, however small, in order to keep the site running and eventually expand it. So, please, make a donation if you can.