United Arab Emirates

Extensive List of Languages of United Arab Emirates: Spoken Languages

Ittihad al-Imarat al-Arabiyah, UAE. Formerly called Trucial States. 2,523,915. National or official language: Standard Arabic. Literacy rate: 68% to 78%. Also includes Bengali (70,000), Danish (156), Eastern Panjabi, Egyptian Spoken Arabic (100,000), English (100), French (250), Goanese Konkani, Greek (100), Hindi, Italian (400), Japanese (1,300), Malay, Malayalam (300,000), Omani Spoken Arabic (80,000), Polish (100), Serbian (100), Sinhala (25,000), Somali (46,412), Soqotri (7,000), Standard German (1,300), Swahili (2,500), Swedish (113), Tagalog (80,000), Tamil, Telugu, Thai (3,000), Turkish (750), Urdu, Western Panjabi. Information mainly from T. Sebeok 1970. Deaf population: 109,218. The number of languages listed for United Arab Emirates is 7. Of those, all are living languages.

:: List of Languages ::

Arabic, Gulf Spoken

[afb] 744,000 in United Arab Emirates. Gulf Bedu or village peoples. Alternate names: Khaliji, Gulf Arabic. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic.

Arabic, Shihhi Spoken

[ssh] 5,000 in United Arab Emirates (1995). Population total all countries: 27,000. In the Musandam Peninsula in United Arab Emirates. Also spoken in Oman. Alternate names: Shihhi, Shihu, Shihuh, Al-Shihuh. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic.

Arabic, Standard

[arb] Middle East, North Africa. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic.

Balochi, Southern

[bcc] 100,000 in United Arab Emirates. Alternate names: Baluchi, Baluci, Baloci. Dialects: Makrani (Lotuni). Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Northwestern, Balochi.

Farsi, Western

[pes] 80,000 in United Arab Emirates (1986). Alternate names: Persian. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Southwestern, Persian.

Pashto, Northern

[pbu] 100,000 in United Arab Emirates (1986). Alternate names: Pusto, Pashtu, Passtoo, Pakhtoo, Pushto. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern, Southeastern, Pashto.

Pashto, Southern

[pbt] 26,060 in United Arab Emirates (2000 WCD). Alternate names: Paktu, Pakhtu, Pakhtoo, Afghan. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern, Southeastern, Pashto.

:: Reference ::

Courtesy of Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/.