World Language Map

Languages spoken in Malaysia

129 living languages are mapped in Malaysia. The most widely spoken, by Unicode CLDR’s estimate, is Standard Malay (75% of the population). They belong to 6 language families, the largest being Austronesian (105 languages).

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The filter only changes what is drawn. Tap the map to list every language at a spot, whichever family is shown. You can also pick any family from its own page.

Key

Language families (largest ten)

  • Atlantic-Congo
  • Austronesian
  • Sino-Tibetan
  • Indo-European
  • Afro-Asiatic
  • Nuclear Trans New Guinea
  • Otomanguean
  • Austroasiatic
  • Tai-Kadai
  • Pama-Nyungan

Everything else

  • All other families Smaller families, isolates and unclassified languages.
  • Point A language with no area map. The dot sits at its Glottolog position, in its family colour.

How to read the map. Each colour is a language family: a group of languages that share a common ancestor. The ten largest families have their own colour and every other family is grey. Areas are see-through, so where two languages share a place the colours mix. Tap anywhere to list every language whose area covers that spot. Areas are generalisations drawn from published atlases, many of them decades old, and cities are multilingual, so an area never says that everyone there speaks the language. A dot marks a language that has no area map. The family name is always given in words, because colour alone is hard to tell apart for some people.

Languages of Malaysia at a glance

  • 129living languages
  • 6language families
  • 34.6 millionpeople (CLDR estimate)
  • 9with a CLDR share

Tap the map to list every language whose area covers a spot in Malaysia. Areas are generalisations from published atlases and overlap, and a language that is mapped here is not necessarily spoken everywhere inside its area.

The 40 most widely spoken languages in Malaysia

Languages with a Unicode CLDR share come first, biggest first by estimated speakers; the rest follow A to Z. Estimated speakers are the share applied to CLDR’s own population figure for the country.

LanguageFamilyShare of populationEstimated speakersStatus
Standard MalayAustronesian75%25,923,600Not endangered
EnglishIndo-European21%7,258,608Not endangered
Mandarin ChineseSino-Tibetan17%5,876,016Not endangered
TamilDravidian4.2%1,451,722Not endangered
IbanAustronesian2.5%864,120Not endangered
JavaneseAustronesian1.2%414,778Not endangered
Negeri Sembilan MalayAustronesian1.2%414,778Threatened
Kadazan DusunAustronesian0.6%193,563Threatened
MalayalamDravidian0.2%51,847Not endangered
Abai SungaiAustronesianShifting
Baba MalayAustronesianNearly extinct
BalangingiAustronesianNot endangered
BanjarAustronesianNot endangered
Baram KayanAustronesianThreatened
BatekAustroasiaticShifting
Bau-Jagoi BidayuhAustronesianThreatened
BesisiAustroasiaticShifting
Biatah BidayuhAustronesianThreatened
BintuluAustronesianThreatened
BonggiAustronesianThreatened
BookanAustronesianShifting
BruneiAustronesianNot endangered
Brunei Bisaya-DusunAustronesianNot endangered
Bukar-Sadung BidayuhAustronesianThreatened
BukatAustronesianThreatened
BukitanAustronesianThreatened
Central BerawanAustronesianMoribund
Central MalayAustronesianNot endangered
Central MelanauAustronesianThreatened
ChewongAustroasiaticMoribund
Cocos Islands MalayAustronesianThreatened
Daro-Matu MelanauAustronesianNot endangered
DuanoAustronesianShifting
DumpasAustronesianShifting
East BerawanAustronesianThreatened
Eastern PenanAustronesianShifting
GanaAustronesianShifting
Ida'anAustronesianThreatened
Indonesian BajauAustronesianThreatened
IranunAustronesianNot endangered

Read more: where is Standard Malay spoken?

Language families in Malaysia

All 129 languages in Malaysia, A to Z

About these numbers

The list of languages in Malaysia comes from the overlap of Glottography and Glottolog language areas and positions with the country outline, together with the languages Glottolog assigns to the country. The shares come from Unicode CLDR release 48 and are estimates. See every source and licence.

Questions about languages in Malaysia

How many languages are spoken in Malaysia?

129 living languages are mapped in Malaysia, from 6 families. The number depends on how a catalogue decides where one language ends and another begins, so other sources give other totals.

What is the most spoken language in Malaysia?

By Unicode CLDR's estimate, Standard Malay is spoken by 75% of the population, about 25,923,600 people, followed by English (21%). Shares are approximate, can add up to more than 100% because many people speak several languages, and only cover languages CLDR has a figure for.

Which language families are found in Malaysia?

Austronesian (105 languages), Austroasiatic (18 languages), Indo-European (2 languages), Dravidian (2 languages) and Sino-Tibetan (1 language), and 1 more.

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