The goal of this interactive map is to show how the sounds of words change across countries.
To interact with the map, you will have to download Processing. The user will move the cursor over the map to highlight a region or country of interest. When a region is highlighted, it is selectable. Click on the continent you are interested in then select the region to display the country’s information. To go back to the continental or world map, click on the back button on the bottom right corner. To change between “daytime” and “nighttime”, click on the boxed word on the top left.
- Country (unlabeled)
- Word – the current word displayed
- Transliteration – used for languages that do not use Latin alphabet as their main written alphabet
- Language – name of language used for the word
- Note: some languages have alternative names (ie Cook Islands Māori is also called Rarotongan, only one form was selected to avoid confusion)
- Most Spoken / Official
- Most Spoken – This language has the highest number of speakers within this country, but it is not used for governmental purposes
- Official – This language is what is used for governmental purposes
- Most Spoken / Official – This language satisfies both Most Spoken and Official
- Languages
- Combination of Bing and Google Translate and free online dictionaries
- Some languages had unclear or hard-to-find translations, so the official language was used instead of the most spoken