Evaluate a language survey

Explore spoken and signed languages without confusing languages with countries.

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A country can have many languages, and a language can be used in many countries. Counts depend on how languages are identified. UNESCO describes more than 7,000 spoken or signed languages worldwide.

Worked example

Three children in one classroom may use different home languages. That is one classroom, not three countries.

Three people are connected by lines to several shared languages, showing many-to-many relationships.

Would you believe it?

Signed languages are languages too. There is no single sign language used by everyone worldwide.

UNESCO: language diversity

Question 1 Survey A counts living languages; B includes extinct languages. Can you directly compare totals? Not without aligning the scope Yes, scope never matters Only if B is smaller

Question 2 A language and dialect boundary is disputed. What should a report do? Hide the uncertainty Choose the biggest total Explain its classification method

Question 3 A survey samples internet users only. What bias may result? It counts only continents Offline communities may be missed Everyone is equally represented

Question 4 What does multilingual mean? Using more than one language Living in more than one house Knowing every language

Question 5 Which conclusion fits incomplete documentation? The last digit is certain forever Unrecorded languages do not exist The total is an estimate with limits

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