The Linguasphere Register

of the world’s languages and speech communities

Welcome to Linguasphere.info

All the versions of this article: [English] [English]

This site is the open gateway to the Linguasphere Register of the world’s languages & speech communities.

9th May 2011 - A new online resource

This free public resource – the Linguasphere Register - provides the foundation for a transnational framework of reference on the spoken and written languages of the world.

The content and structure of this informational resource have been compiled and are now presented online by the Observatoire linguistique, an independent research association known also as the “Linguasphere Observatory”, created in Quebec in 1983 and legally registered in Normandy since 1987.

The research hub of the Observatoire is at present in western Europe, in Wales and in Provence, but scientific, material and moral support has been provided by individuals and institutions as far apart as Moscow, Maharashtra and Virginia.

The Observatoire has no political, national, sectarian or commercial motivation.

Although the Linguasphere Register has been in active development for over two decades, it will require more time and discussion to be refined as an efficient system of worldwide reference, covering all documented languages and speech communities of the 21st century and their recorded past.

The referential backbone of the Register, refined since 2000 and published here as the “Linguascale 2010”, will be further improved and expanded in the light of contributions received from its users, including the incorporation of new linguistic and geographic data, and of new perceptions and proposals.

In particular, the scope of the “linguascale” is being currently broadened to provide a practical means for the global navigation of international language-codes (including ISO standards 639-1, -2, -3 and -5), and of the thousands of language-related articles already available in Wikipedia in over 200 editorial languages.

At the same time, the linguascale has the task of providing a transnational framework for locating languages geographically, and systematically in their intrinsic relationships with other living and recorded languages. Potentially, the scale may serve also as a framework of reference for the viewing and hearing, learning and reading, translating and interpreting of individual languages online.

The full contents of the 2-volume Linguasphere Register 1999/2000, including its original Introduction in English (volume 1), are accessible on this website from today.

The current and future development of the Register, with advice and comments on its use, will be provided online in the form of concise editorials, commencing with this message of welcome – addressed to you and to each other reader.

Your creative reflections will be welcomed, together with all contribution of new and improved information, and of whatever material support you may be able to offer – including your help in the plurilingual evolution of the website linguasphere.info!

See also

  • Le concept de la linguasphère et la mission de l’Observatoire linguistique

    Depuis les années 1990, l’Observatoire linguistique explore le concept de la « linguasphère », perçue comme une réalité fondamentale dans l’évolution de l’humanité et de la planète. Selon l’Observatoire : “La linguasphère constitue le continuum planétaire des voix vivantes et écrites de l’humanité, englobant toutes langues et tous les systèmes d’enregistrement et de communication du savoir. En préservant et en transmettant l’héritage collectif des connaissances humaines, la linguasphère a permis à notre espèce de construire à travers les siècles un foyer commun autour de notre planète plurilingue, sous le toit (...)

  • The concept of the linguasphere & the mission of the Observatoire linguistique

    Since the 1990s, the Observatoire linguistique has explored the concept of the “linguasphere”, viewed as a fundamental reality within the evolution of the planet and of humankind. According to the Observatory : "The linguasphere is the planetary continuum of the living and written voices of humankind, embracing all languages __and all systems for the recording and communication of knowledge. In preserving and transmitting the common heritage of all we have learned, the linguasphere has enabled our species to construct through the centuries a collective home around our plurilingual planet, (...)

  • Annonce

    A l’occasion du congrès international annuel de Wikimédia, les 12 et 13 juillet 2012, l’Observatoire linguistique (Linguasphere Observatory) est heureux d’annoncer la réception d’une subvention de l’Institut français afin de faciliter le développement continu des sites-web de l’Observatoire (y compris le présent site) comme service d’information publique plurilingue. Ce développement, qui sera présenté en détail au début de l’automne, servira la création d’un accès en ligne, gratuit et plurilingue, au compendium universel des connaissances humaines utiles, rassemblées et présentées à travers les langues de (...)

  • Announcement

    On the occasion of the annual international Wikimedia conference, 12-13 July 2012, the Observatoire linguistique (Linguasphere Observatory) is pleased to announce the receipt of a grant from the Institut français facilitating the further development of the Observatoire’s websites (including this site) as a free and plurilingual public information service. This development, to be presented in detail early this autumn, will support the creation of online access, free and plurilingual, to the universal compendium of useful human knowledge, as gathered and presented through the languages of (...)

  • Bienvenue sur Linguasphere.info

    Ce site constitue la porte ouverte sur le registre Linguasphère des langues et des communautés linguistiques du monde. 9 mai 2011. Une nouvelle ressource en ligne Cette ressource publique ouverte à tous - le registre Linguasphere - fournit la fondation d’un cadre transnational de référence sur les langues parlées et écrites du monde. Le contenu et la structure de cette ressource d’information ont été compilées pour être désormais présentées en ligne par l’Observatoire linguistique, une association (...)

  • On the occasion of the 7th annual Wikimania conference, Haifa, August 2011 Declaration by l’Observatoire linguistique / Linguasphere Foundation Announced by Barbara Dalby on 5 August 2011 as a “Lightning Talk” at the conference

    The informational site https://linguasphere.info presents the complete data of the Linguasphere Register of the world’s languages & speech communities, as a free public resource. First published by l’Observatoire linguistique in 2000, the Register provides a systematic framework of 100 zones of geolinguistic reference for the identification of the world’s languages, living or recorded from the past. This framework allows all languages to be viewed as components of a continuous system of human communication, “the linguasphere”. Since the first decade of this century, the collective (...)

  • A l’occasion du 7e congrès annuel de la Wikimania, à Haifa, août 2011 Déclaration par l’Observatoire Linguistique / Linguasphere Foundation Présentée par Barbara Dalby le 5 août 2011 comme “Lightning Talk” au congrès

    Le site d’informations http:// linguasphere.info présente les données complètes du Registre Linguasphère des langues du monde & des communautés de locuteurs, en tant que ressource publique gratuite. D’abord publiée par l’Observatoire linguistique en 2000, le Registre fournit un cadre systématique de 100 zones de référence géolinguistique pour l’identification des langues du monde, vivantes ou héritées du passé. Ce cadre permet une vue globale de langues humaines comme composantes d’un système continu de communication humaine, “la linguasphère”. Depuis la première décennie de ce siècle, l’évolution (...)

  • Vendredi 14 octobre 2011 La linguasphère, système cognitif planétaire

    Conférence de David Dalby à l’Institut Gallilée (Université de Paris XIII - Villetaneuse), vendredi 14 octobre 2011. La linguasphere est le système continu des langues humaines , étendu autour de la Terre au cours d’au moins 500 siècles par les communautés de Homo sapiens loquens – ou plutôt Persona loquens , la « personne qui parle ». La diversité interne de la linguasphere , au sein de son unité planétaire fondamentale , a fourni le cadre plurilingue dynamique nécessaire au progrès collectif de la réflexion, la communication & la créativité humaines . Devenue aujourd’hui orbitale, (...)

  • Friday, october 14th, 2011 The linguasphere, a planetary cognitive system


    David Dalby conference at the Gallilée Institute (University of Paris XIII - Villetaneuse), Friday, October 14th, 2011. The linguasphere is the continuous system of human languages, extended around Earth over at least 500 centuries by communities of Homo sapiens loquens – or rather Persona loquens, “speaking person”. The internal diversity of the linguasphere, within a fundamental planetary unity, has provided the dynamic plurilingual framework necessary for the collective progress of human reflection, communication & creativity. Having now become orbital, the linguasphere may be (...)


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