{"id":19464,"date":"2020-09-29T10:59:44","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T14:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.pimsleur.com\/?p=19464"},"modified":"2025-11-20T12:29:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T17:29:23","slug":"worlds-most-unusual-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-many-languages-are-spoken-in-the-world-today\"><strong>How Many Languages are Spoken in the World Today?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer is probably more than you think: there are around 7,000 languages in use today. The exact number is difficult to count because so many are spoken in isolated, difficult-to-reach areas, or only spoken by a diminishing number of elders in minority groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amongst these 7,000\nlanguages, though, are some truly fascinating examples. From whistling\nlanguages to completely made-up ones, let\u2019s explore some of the most unusual languages\nspoken in the world today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-7-of-the-world-s-most-unique-and-unusual-languages\"><strong>7 of the World&#8217;s Most Unique and Unusual Languages<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-1-silbo-gomero\"><strong>1. Silbo Gomero<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Spoken on the Spanish island of La Gomera, Silbo Gomero is a language that consists entirely of whistling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Originally developed\nto allow communication at distances of up to 5km through the mountainous\nisland\u2019s valleys, Silbo Gomero is regular Spanish transposed into simplified,\nshort whistling sounds. Its efficiency and usefulness for outdoor workers\nhelped it survive into the modern era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, Silbo\nGomero fell out of fashion between the 1960s and 1980s, shunned by the Spanish\nmiddle classes, who didn\u2019t want their children to be negatively associated with\nthe whistling language of rural peasants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the 1990s,\nthough, the language began a healthy revival, with ample promotion and protection\nthrough education policy. All Gomeran children now learn to speak Silbo Gomero\nin school. Gomerans now cherish and embrace their language as a cultural asset.\nAnd what\u2019s more, UNESCO has officially pledged to protect the language as an\nexample of intangible cultural heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019d like to hear Silbo Gomero in use, here\u2019s a video that demonstrates how Silbo Gomero is related to spoken Spanish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"clear clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"flex-video widescreen youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Whistling Language of La Gomera - El Silbo Gomero\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nYKBTjSNMv8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2-pawnee\"><strong>2. Pawnee<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A Native American language from the Platte River region in modern-day Nebraska, Pawnee is Interesting in that it has only 13 phonemes or individual sounds that make up the language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For comparison, the\naverage number of phonemes in a language is 25-30. English, which is more\ndiverse than most languages, has around 42 phonemes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although it has few sounds,\nPawnee is a highly polysynthetic language, meaning that words are qualified\nwith additional meanings by adding suffixes, with almost no limit to the number\nof suffixes that can be added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learners of Finnish, Hungarian, and Swahili might recognize this trait: these languages all have similar structures for qualifying nouns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in Pawnee, the\nadjoining of words and phonemes is so rife that ten-syllable words are\ncompletely normal and common. There are many words that have over 30 syllables!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Pawnee is critically\nendangered, with only 100 speakers left, the Pawnee Nation is attempting to\nrevive it, with the language now being taught in schools and adult classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-3-esperanto\"><strong>3. Esperanto<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are around two\nmillion Esperanto speakers in the world. Not so obscure, you\u2019d think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, the unusual\nthing about Esperanto is that it\u2019s an <strong>entirely constructed language<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Created by Polish\nophthalmologist L.L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was designed as a tool to encourage\nbetter international relations. His dream was for Esperanto to become the\nuniversal second language across the world, allowing truly neutral and fair\ninternational dialogue between nations and peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mostly based on the\nIndo-European languages spoken in Europe, Esperanto\u2019s vocabulary and sounds are\ntaken from Romance and Germanic languages, with grammar coming from Slavic\nlanguages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With no irregular\nverbs and easy conjugations, it is accessible to speakers of most European languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The language enjoyed a peak of popularity in the 1920s before Esperantists were later persecuted by many of the authoritarian regimes in Europe, who suspected Esperanto to be a cover for resistance movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Esperanto never\nrecovered from this, and English instead claimed the title of international <em>lingua\nfranca <\/em>in the aftermath of World War II. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Esperanto has\nappeared on school syllabi in Hungary and China in the past, it\u2019s almost always\ntaught through self-study. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"clear clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"flex-video widescreen youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Native Esperanto speaker | Stela speaking the Esperanto language | Wikitongues\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A9BO3Sv1MEE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-4-sentinelese\"><strong>4. Sentinelese<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sentinelese is completely different from the other languages on this list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most unusual languages\nhave a unique quality recognized and revered by linguists. But with Sentinelese,\nwe actually know nothing about it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Sentinelese tribe,\nthought to be between 15 and 500 people, inhabit North Sentinel Island, part of\nthe Andaman archipelago located in the Bay of Bengal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the Sentinelese people\nare as yet uncontacted. They show extreme hostility and violence towards any\nattempt to make contact with the island, most recently killing the American\nmissionary John Chau in 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their complete\nisolation means linguists are not able to study or classify the language. Although\nit is thought to be similar to Andamanese, we can\u2019t know for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-nbsp\">&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-5-andamanese\"><strong>5. Andamanese<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On the island of Great\nAndaman, in the same archipelago as Sentinel Island, the Andamanese language\nfamily is found. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now close to\nextinction, the Andamanese languages suffered significantly from the linguistic\ninfluences of colonization, with Hindi and English now widely spoken on the\nislands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These languages have\nsome interesting lexical quirks. Firstly, nouns and adjectives are modified by\ncompounding the body part they resemble most (either visually or functionally).\nThis makes for some interesting direct translations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>\n  <strong><em>Andamanese<\/em><\/strong>\n  <\/td><td>\n  <strong><em>Direct translation<\/em><\/strong>\n  <\/td><td>\n  <strong><em>English<\/em><\/strong>\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  un-beri-nga\n  <\/td><td>\n  hand-good\n  <\/td><td>\n  clever\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  ig-beri-nga\n  <\/td><td>\n  eye-good\n  <\/td><td>\n  sharp-sighted\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  ot-beri-nga\n  <\/td><td>\n  head\/heart-good\n  <\/td><td>\n  virtuous\n  <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Another interesting feature is the lack of a numbering system. Any quantities in Andamanese languages can be expressed using five number words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>one<\/em> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>two<\/em> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>one more<\/em> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>some more<\/em> <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>all<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-6-piraha\"><strong>6. Pirah\u00e3<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Spoken by an isolated\nindigenous population in northwestern Brazil, the Pirah\u00e3 language has only eight\nconsonants and three vowels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The vocabulary is\nconcise, with few or no words for concepts that exist widely in other\nlanguages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is not much vocabulary to describe family members. The Pirah\u00e3 do not track family further than immediate siblings and have just one word that applies to both mother and father roles (akin to the English \u2018parent\u2019) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There are no words to describe colors. Only \u2018light\u2019 and \u2018dark\u2019 have specific adjectives, all other colors are described by referencing a noun typically of that color (e.g. blood = red)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Although there are only around 300 speakers, Pirah\u00e3 is not at imminent risk of extinction. Unlike in the Andamanese Islands, where inhabitants also speak English and Hindi, the Pirah\u00e3 are largely monolingual, meaning that Pirah\u00e3 is spoken every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"clear clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"flex-video widescreen youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Language without Numbers?\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nDM8G5tuHF8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-7-taa-also-known-as-xoo\"><strong>7. Taa (also known as !X\u00f3\u00f5)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At the other end of\nthe phonemic diversity spectrum is the Taa (or !X\u00f3\u00f5) language, spoken by tribes\nin Botswana and Namibia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taa has the most\nphonemes of any known language, at over 100, comprising 58 consonants, 31\nvowels, and four tones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like Silbo Gomero, Taa\nis outwardly different from other languages, even to the casual observer. The\nhigh number of clicking consonants give Taa a unique sound \u2013 82% of basic\nvocabulary items start with a click consonant \u2013 and depending on dialect, there\nare between 80 and 160 different clicking variations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re struggling to imagine how this extremely diverse language sounds in use, here is a video of a man speaking Taa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"clear clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"flex-video widescreen youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Khoisan click language\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W6WO5XabD-s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-start-your-language-learning-journey-today\"><strong>Start Your Language Learning Journey Today!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"797\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/07\/797x338-French-Montage.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17183\" style=\"width:457px;height:193px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/07\/797x338-French-Montage.png 797w, https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/07\/797x338-French-Montage-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/07\/797x338-French-Montage-768x326.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 797px) 100vw, 797px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Download the<strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/offers.pimsleur.com\/free-trial-1405\">Pimsleur app<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;now and try a&nbsp;<strong>free week<\/strong>! Or test-drive a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pimsleur.xn--com%20%20free-lesson-ni3l\/\">free lesson<\/a>! Start listening, speaking, and testing your skills and have fun! Choose from over 50+ languages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Many Languages are Spoken in the World Today? The answer is probably more than you think: there are around 7,000 languages in use today. The exact number is difficult to count because so many are spoken in isolated, difficult-to-reach areas, or only spoken by a diminishing number of elders in minority groups. Amongst these <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/\">Read More >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":29634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,166,6],"tags":[2420,2411,58,2408,2422],"class_list":["post-19464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language-learning","category-science-of-language","category-travel","tag-africa","tag-europe","tag-language-learning-2","tag-language-research","tag-north-america"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages | The Pimsleur Language Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Of the 7000 languages spoken in the world today, what are the most unique and unusual? Did you know there is a language made up entirely of whistling? Learn about Silbo Gomero, Pirah\u00e3, !X\u00f3\u00f5, Pawnee and others.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Of the 7000 languages spoken in the world today, what are the most unique and unusual? Did you know there is a language made up entirely of whistling? Learn about Silbo Gomero, Pirah\u00e3, !X\u00f3\u00f5, Pawnee and others.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Pimsleur Language Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Pimsleur\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-29T14:59:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T17:29:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/09\/worlds-most-unusual-languages-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Siobhan Wood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pimsleur\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pimsleur\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Siobhan Wood\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"33 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Siobhan Wood\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7dc6552b0c1c481088bdace8d33c9779\"},\"headline\":\"The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-29T14:59:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-20T17:29:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/\"},\"wordCount\":1190,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/09\/World-languages.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\",\"Europe\",\"Language Learning\",\"Language Research\",\"North America\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\",\"Language Learning\",\"The Science of Language\",\"Travel\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/\",\"name\":\"The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages | The Pimsleur Language Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/09\/World-languages.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-29T14:59:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-20T17:29:23+00:00\",\"description\":\"Of the 7000 languages spoken in the world today, what are the most unique and unusual? Did you know there is a language made up entirely of whistling? Learn about Silbo Gomero, Pirah\u00e3, !X\u00f3\u00f5, Pawnee and others.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/09\/World-languages.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/09\/World-languages.png\",\"width\":797,\"height\":338,\"caption\":\"least spoken languages\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Language Learning\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/category\/language-learning\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Pimsleur Language Blog\",\"description\":\"Learning another language doesn&#039;t have to be hard.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pimsleur Language Programs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Pimsleur_Primary_Logo_Blue_RGB.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Pimsleur_Primary_Logo_Blue_RGB.png\",\"width\":340,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Pimsleur Language Programs\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Pimsleur\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/pimsleur\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pimsleur\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/pimsleur\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7dc6552b0c1c481088bdace8d33c9779\",\"name\":\"Siobhan Wood\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/31b8c93d9a9bd903349ff80cf44cc865bfbb14cc222136aa470646938ff720d6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/31b8c93d9a9bd903349ff80cf44cc865bfbb14cc222136aa470646938ff720d6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Siobhan Wood\"},\"description\":\"Siobhan Wood is a writer, proofreader, and marketing specialist who works with language schools. She founded her business, Siobhan Wood Communications, to use content marketing to inspire people to learn and enjoy languages as she has. With a degree in French and Spanish, she lived in three countries before settling in Leeds, UK, and enjoying a ten-year career in international business.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/author\/siobhan-wood\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages | The Pimsleur Language Blog","description":"Of the 7000 languages spoken in the world today, what are the most unique and unusual? Did you know there is a language made up entirely of whistling? Learn about Silbo Gomero, Pirah\u00e3, !X\u00f3\u00f5, Pawnee and others.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages","og_description":"Of the 7000 languages spoken in the world today, what are the most unique and unusual? Did you know there is a language made up entirely of whistling? Learn about Silbo Gomero, Pirah\u00e3, !X\u00f3\u00f5, Pawnee and others.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/","og_site_name":"The Pimsleur Language Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Pimsleur","article_published_time":"2020-09-29T14:59:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-20T17:29:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/09\/worlds-most-unusual-languages-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Siobhan Wood","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@pimsleur","twitter_site":"@pimsleur","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Siobhan Wood","Est. reading time":"33 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/"},"author":{"name":"Siobhan Wood","@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7dc6552b0c1c481088bdace8d33c9779"},"headline":"The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages","datePublished":"2020-09-29T14:59:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-20T17:29:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/"},"wordCount":1190,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/09\/World-languages.png","keywords":["Africa","Europe","Language Learning","Language Research","North America"],"articleSection":["Culture","Language Learning","The Science of Language","Travel"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/","name":"The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages | The Pimsleur Language Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/09\/World-languages.png","datePublished":"2020-09-29T14:59:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-20T17:29:23+00:00","description":"Of the 7000 languages spoken in the world today, what are the most unique and unusual? Did you know there is a language made up entirely of whistling? Learn about Silbo Gomero, Pirah\u00e3, !X\u00f3\u00f5, Pawnee and others.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/09\/World-languages.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3brn974kg3172.cloudfront.net\/2020\/09\/World-languages.png","width":797,"height":338,"caption":"least spoken languages"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/worlds-most-unusual-languages\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Language Learning","item":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/category\/language-learning\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The World\u2019s Most Unusual Languages"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/","name":"The Pimsleur Language Blog","description":"Learning another language doesn&#039;t have to be hard.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Pimsleur Language Programs","url":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Pimsleur_Primary_Logo_Blue_RGB.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Pimsleur_Primary_Logo_Blue_RGB.png","width":340,"height":150,"caption":"Pimsleur Language Programs"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Pimsleur","https:\/\/x.com\/pimsleur","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pimsleur\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/pimsleur"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7dc6552b0c1c481088bdace8d33c9779","name":"Siobhan Wood","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/31b8c93d9a9bd903349ff80cf44cc865bfbb14cc222136aa470646938ff720d6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/31b8c93d9a9bd903349ff80cf44cc865bfbb14cc222136aa470646938ff720d6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Siobhan Wood"},"description":"Siobhan Wood is a writer, proofreader, and marketing specialist who works with language schools. She founded her business, Siobhan Wood Communications, to use content marketing to inspire people to learn and enjoy languages as she has. With a degree in French and Spanish, she lived in three countries before settling in Leeds, UK, and enjoying a ten-year career in international business.","url":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/author\/siobhan-wood\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19464"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29635,"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19464\/revisions\/29635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}