7 Least Spoken Languages In The World

There are billions of people on this earth who speak hundreds of languages and that's what makes them different from each other. We are all familiar with the major languages but there are a lot of them which have stayed unknown to us.

Posted On April 9th, 2021

Taushiro (Peru) 1 Speaker

Taushiro, also known as Pinche or Pinchi, is a nearly extinct Peruvian Amazonian language isolate near Ecuador. In 2000, SIL counted one speaker out of a total of 20 ethnic groups. Neftali Alicea recorded the project in the mid-1970s. Amadeo Garca Garca, Taushiro's last living speaker, was profiled in the New York Times in 2017. Daniel Velie compiled the first Taushiro glossary in 1971, which contained 200 words.

Tanema (Solomon Islands) 1 Speaker

Tanema (Tetawo, Tetau) is a nearly extinct Solomon Islands language spoken on the island of Vanikoro in the easternmost province. Tanema is only spoken by one person, Lainol Nalo, as of 2012. Teanu, Vanikoro's primary language, has taken its place. The grammar of Vanikoro languages, including Tanema, can be found in François (2009), and the lexicon can be found in François (2020).

Lemerig (Vanuatu) 2 Speakers

Vanuatu's Vanua Lava is home to the Oceanic language Lemerig. Lemerig is no longer a spoken language. The remaining two speakers reside on the island's northern coast. In favour of its neighbours Mwotlap and Vera'a, the language has faded.

Chamicuro (Peru)

Chamicuro is a South American language that was once spoken in Peru but is now extinct. The Chamicuro, a community of around a hundred people, spoke the language. The Chamicuros live in Peru, on a tributary of the Huallaga River, in a place known as Pampa Hermosa, which translates to "beautiful plains." Chamicuro, like all native languages in Peru, was made an official language in the region where it was spoken by default. Citizens have developed a Chamicuro dictionary, but no children can speak it because they have turned to Spanish.

Njerp (Nigeria) 6 Speakers

The Adamawa Region of Cameroon speaks Njerep (Njerup), a Mambiloid language. Njerep is almost extinct, with only a few people who can completely interact in it. Despite the fact that these people's word lists and grammatical details have been compiled, the information remains fragmented. According to the UNESCO language endangerment index, Njerep is a critically endangered language. According to a study conducted in 2000, there are only six speakers of this language left, all of whom live in the Somié village on the Nigeria-Cameroon border. Just one of the six speakers is still fluent in the language. Others have been identified as semi-speakers.

Ongota (Ethiopia) 10 Speakers

Ongota is a language that is no longer spoken in southwest Ethiopia. Just 12 elderly native speakers remained out of a total ethnic population of 115 in 2012, according to UNESCO, with the rest of their small village on the west side of the Weito River adopting the Tsamai language instead. Subject–object–verb is the normal word order. The language's classification is a mystery.

Liki (Indonesia) 11 Speakers

Liki, also known as Moar, is an Austronesian language spoken on the offshore islands of Indonesia's Papua province.