| Family/Group |
Geographical distribution |
Number of languages |
| Altaic阿尔泰语系 |
From the Balkan Peninsula to the north-east of Asia |
About 40 |
| Afro-Asiatic亚非语系 |
North Africa, the eastern horn of Africa, and South-west
Asia |
Over 200 |
| Austro-Asiatic南亚语系 |
South-east Asia |
Over 100 |
| Australian aboriginal languages澳大利亚土著居民诸语言 |
Australia |
About 250 |
| Caucasian高加索语系 |
The area between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea,
surrounding the Caucasus Mountains |
About 40
|
| Dravidian达罗毗荼语系 |
Southern and eastern areas of India, and north of
Pakistan |
About 20 |
| Indo-European印欧语系 |
Originally in Europe and southern Asia, now spreading
to every part of the world |
Over 50 |
| Indo-Pacific印太语系 |
New Guinea and the surrounding islands |
Over 700 |
| Khoisan科伊桑语系 |
Southern part of Africa, around the Kalahari Desert
extending from Angola to South Africa |
About 50 |
| Malayo-Polynesian马来-波利尼亚语系 |
From Madagascar to New Zealand; from Taiwan and Hawaii
to New Zealand |
About 700 |
| Meso-Ameridian languages中印地安诸语言 |
From Mexico to Nicaragua |
About 700 |
| Niger-Congo尼日尔-刚果语系 |
The Sub-Saharan Africa, west of the River Nile |
About 100 |
| Nilo-Saharan尼罗-撒哈拉语系 |
Upper parts of the Chari and NileRivers |
About 100 |
| North Ameridian languages 北印地安诸语言 |
North America |
About 300 |
| Palaeosiberian古西伯利亚诸语言 |
Northeastern Siberia |
? |
| Sino-Tibetan汉藏语系 |
China and South-east Asia |
About 300 |
| South Ameridian languages南印地安诸语言 |
South America |
About 600 |
| Tai泰语系 |
Thailand and the surrounding South-east Asian area |
Over 40 |
| Uralic乌拉尔语系 |
Hungary, Finland, Norway and the north Ural Mountains |
? |