3000 !

That’s about the number of languages spoken on earth, not counting dialects. Some are written while others – the vast majority – are only spoken, but they are all in constant evolution. They evolve so quickly that after a few generations, it is very difficult to recognize the original chromosomes. And yet…

Men must communicate well. Traders, travellers, lovers, soldiers have always been the actors of a great linguistic mix. They have made languages evolve, they have simplified grammars that are too complicated, they have modified sounds that are too difficult… In short, they have mixed everything up!

And it is therefore following thousands of years of linguistic exchanges throughout the world that we are now able to count so many languages on earth.

Nevertheless, they have different similarities depending on the level of kinship.

Here, then, to get to grips with it a little bit, is a representation of the evolution of languages from their Indo-European roots.

Holly Young , (2015) A language family tree – in pictures, Consulté sur https://www.theguardian.com/education/gallery/2015/jan/23/a-language-family-tree-in-pictures

Photograph: Minna Sundberg