1
Basque
A language isolate spoken in the western Pyrenees — a linguistic mystery with no proven relatives, predating the arrival of Indo-European languages in Europe.
Looking for 1-syllable languages? Here are 13 languages that fit — each linked to a full profile.
Syllables are counted across the whole name (multi-word names sum). "Apple" is 2 syllables; "Macaroni and Cheese" is 6.
List of 1-syllable Languages
2
Cree
An Algonquian language of the Canadian boreal forests and plains — the largest indigenous language group of Canada, with about 96,000 speakers and a unique syllabic script.
3
Czech
A West Slavic language closely related to Slovak — official in the Czech Republic and famed for the unique "ř" consonant heard nowhere else.
4
Dutch
A West Germanic language sitting between English and German in many features — official in the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders), and Suriname.
5
French
A Romance language of global reach — official in 29 countries across Europe, Africa, and the Americas, and a working language at the UN, EU, and Olympics.
6
Greek
A single-branch Indo-European language with a continuous 3,400-year written record — the language of Homer, Plato, and modern Greece and Cyprus.
7
Hmong
A Hmong-Mien language spoken in southern China, Vietnam, Laos, and the diaspora — about 4 million speakers, with major communities in the United States after Indochina wars.
8
Khmer
An Austroasiatic language and the official tongue of Cambodia — written in a Brahmic-derived script and notable for not being tonal, unlike its Southeast Asian neighbors.
9
Lao
A Tai-Kadai language and the official tongue of Laos — closely related to Thai and written in a similar Brahmic script, with about 30 million speakers including northeast Thailand.
10
Manx
The Goidelic Celtic language of the Isle of Man — extinct in 1974 with the death of its last native speaker, then revived from records and is now learnt anew.
11
Thai
A Tai-Kadai language and the official tongue of Thailand — tonal, with five distinct tones and a Brahmic-derived script not separated by spaces between words.
12
Twi
The most widely spoken member of the Akan dialect continuum in Ghana — particularly the Asante and Akuapem varieties.
13
Welsh
A Celtic language and one of the oldest living languages in Europe — co-official in Wales, with about 884,000 speakers and active government support for revitalization.
About 1-syllable languages
That's our current list of languages pronounced in 1 syllable. Want to combine with a starting letter? Try 1-syllable languages that start with A.