1. Introduction

The World Language Classification, an integral component of the World Christian Database, is based on the schema worked out over 25 years by linguist David Dalby in his 2000 publication The Linguasphere: register of the world’s languages and speech communities (Linguasphere Press, Wales: Contributing Editors David B. Barrett, Michael Mann).

The classification indicates the proximity between any two languages by means of its coding system.

Each of the world’s people groups have been allocated a language code indicating their primary mother-tongue. Particular people groups may be identified as speaking a language (which has a 7-character code) or a dialect (which has an 8-character code).

2. Use of the classification

A. People group focus

To explore the language of a particular people group, the best place to start is to find the people in question and click on their language code. This will take you to a screen describing that single language in detail and giving options to look at the language in the context of its immediate cluster of languages and dialects.

B. 'Language' or 'cluster of languages' focus

The languages home page shows example queries for looking at lists of languages. The lists may be related by inter-intelligibility (as in lists of language clusters, languages and dialects), or may be a numeric listing (as in the world's top 20 languages).

The complete rationale and methodology of the classification is contained in the two volume work The Linguasphere: register of the world’s languages and speech communities (Linguasphere Press, Wales, 2000: Contributing Editors David B. Barrett, Michael Mann). A summary of the schema is given in the World Christian Encyclopedia (David B.Barrett, George T.Kurian and Todd M.Johnson, Oxford University Press, New York, 2001). An extract from the World Christian Encyclopedia is available here.