Where Do Our Words Come From?


There are said to be around 6,500 spoken languages around the world.

While 2,000 of these languages are spoken by fewer than 1,000 speakers, others are much more common with words and phrases being passed down through generations and shared across countries and continents.

A map has been designed to highlight the spread of these common languages by plotting words, and their translations, from population to population.

Type a word in the interactive map below 

Called Word Map, the interactive guide (pictured) was created by Easyway Language Centre in Brazil. To use the map, type any word in any language into the search box and press Map It. As the words are mapped globally, the map reads each translation out loud. Coloured lines also connect countries with a common language

Called Word Map, the interactive guide was created by Easyway Language Centre in Brazil. If the tool above doesn’t work in your browser, use the original version.

To use the map, type any word in any language into the search box and press Map It. As the words are plotted globally, the map reads each translation out loud.

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