The tale of the Tower of Babel, from Genesis 11: 1-9, is an "explanation" of why there are so many different languages. You can find the story in some of those languages by following the links below. Having a single text in a variety of languages is a good way to see similarities and differences between those languages.
The Tower of Babel did in fact exist: it was a seven-stage ziggurat (stepped pyramid) with a temple to the god Marduk at the top. It was called Etemenanki, or 'the temple of the platform between heaven and earth', and was built in the city of Babylon sometime during the 6th or 7th century BC.
Index by language | Index by language family
International Auxiliary Languages (IALs), Constructed languages, Alternative writing systems
Acehnese, Achang, Acholi, Achuar-Shiwiar, Adi, Adyghe, Adzera, Afrikaans, Aguacateco, Aguaruna, Akan (Twi/Fante), Albanian, Aleut, Alsatian, Altay, Alyawarr, Amganad Ifugao, Amarasi, Ambrym, Amele, Amharic, Amis, Angami, Anglo-Saxon / Old English, Anuki, Ao Naga, Arabela, Arabic, Aragonese, Aramaic, Arawak, Are, Armenian, Aromanian, Ashéninka, Assamese, Asturian, Ata, Ata Manobo, Atayal, Avar, Awadhi, Awara, Aymara, Azeri
Baga, Balangao, Balinese, Bambam, Bandial, Barai, Bariai, Bariba, Basari, Bashkir, Basque, Bassa, Batak Angkola, Batak Karo, Batak Simalungun, Batak Toba, Bavarian, Belarusian, Bemba, Bengali, Beti, Biete, Bikol, Bimin, Binumarien, Bislama, Biatah Bidayuh, Blagar, Boko, Bola, Bontoc, Borana, Borong, Bosnian, Breton, Bribri, Bru, Bugis, Buhutu, Bulgarian, Bulu, Bunun, Burmese, Burum-Mindik, Buryat, Busa, Bwaidoka
Candoshi-Shapra, Cantonese, Car (-Nicobarese), Caribbean Javanese, Carrier, Cashibo, Catalan, Cacua, Cebuano, Central Huasteca Nahuatl, Chang, Cha'palaachi, Chayahuita, Chechen, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chichewa, Chinese (Mandarin), Chin Falam, Chin Haka, Chin Tedim, Choctaw, Ch'ol of Tila, Ch'ol of Tumbalá, Chumburung, Chuj of Ixtatán, Church Slavonic, Chuukese, Chuvash, Classical Chinese, Cofán, Coptic, Cornish, Corsican, Crimean Tatar, Croatian, Cubeo, Cuyono, Czech
Dadibi, Dakota, Danish, Dari, Dawan, Dawida, Desano, Dhao, Dholuo, Dungan, Dutch, Dyula
East Bolivan Guaraní, Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl, Efik, Embera, Enindhilyagwa, English, Enlhet, Erzya, Estonian, Ewe, Ezaa
Faiwol, Faroese, Fijian, Fijian Hindi, Finnish, Fioti, Fon, Frafra, French, Frisian, Fula(ni), Futunan
Ga, Galela, Galician, Gangte, Garifuna, Garo, Gbaya (Northwest), Ge'ez, German, Gothic, Greek (Ancient), Greek (Modern), Greenlandic, Gronings, Guajajara, Guambiano, Guanano / Wanano, Guarani, Guerrero Nahuatl, Guhu-Samane, Gujarati, Gumatj, Guugu Yalandji, Gwich’in
Haitian Creole, Hakka, Hanga, Hausa, Hawaiian, Hawaiian Pidgin, Hebrew, Helong, Hiligaynon, Hindi, Hiri Motu, Hmar, Hmong, Hrangkhol, Huambisa, Huitoto, Huli, Hungarian
Iban, Icelandic, Ifugao, Igbo, Ikwo, Iloko, Indonesian, Interslavic, Inuktitut, Irish, Isnag, Italian, Itawis, Iu Mien, Ivatan, Izi
Kabardian, Kadazandusun, Kagayanen, Kahua, Kakabai, Kala Lagaw Ya, Kalenjin, Kalmyk, Kam, Kamasau, Kamba, Kambera, Kamono, Kamula, Kanasi, Kaninuwa, Kanite, Kankanaey, Kannada, Kapampangan, Kapingamarangi, Kaqchikel, Karakalpak, Karen, Kashinawa, Kazakh, Q'eqchi', Keley-i, Kenyah, Khasi, Khmer, Khoekhoe, Khiamniungan, K’iche’, Kikuyu, Kim, Kinaray-a, Kinyarwanda, Kiribati, Kirundi, Kissi, Kokborok, Kom, Komba, Konkani, Konkomba, Konyak, Korean, Koreguaje, Kosena, Kosraean, Kosarek, Koti, Kpelle, Kriol, Kuki, Kumam, Kumyk, Kuna, Kupang, Kurdish, Kurti, Kwanyama, Kyaka, Kyrgyz
Ladakhi, Ladino, Lahu, Lamba, Lango, Lao, Lashi, Lhao Vo, Latin, Latvian, Lenje, Liangmai Naga, Lingala, Lisu, Lithuanian, Lole, Lotha, Low Saxon / Low German, Lozi, Luang, Luba-Katanga, Luganda, Lukpa, Luragooli
Macedonian, Machiguenga, Madurese, Mafa, Maia, Makassar, Malagasy, Malaweg, Malay, Malayalam, Maldivian, Maltese, Mam (Northern / Huehuetenango), Mam (Quetzaltenango), Mam (Southern), Maninka, Mankanya, Manx, Māori, Mara Chin, Maranao, Marathi, Marba, Maring, Marshallese, Martu Wangka, Massa, Massachusett, Matigsalug Manobo, Mbay, Mbyá Guaraní, Mbula, Mbunda, Míkmaq, Min (Eastern), Min (Southern), Misima-Paneati, Miskito, Mizo, Moba, Mocoví, Mohawk, Moksha, Mongolian, Mortlockese, Mossi, Motu, Mpongwe, Mundang, Murrinh-Patha, Musey
Nahuatl (Central Huasteca), Nahuatl (Eastern Huasteca), Nali, Namia, Nanti, Narak, Navajo, Ndebele (Northern), Ndebele (Southern), Ndonga, Nepali, Ngaanyatjarra, Ngaing, Ngaju, Ngambay, Nkore, Nias, Niuean, Nivaclé, Nogai, North Efate, Norwegian, Northern Sotho, Northwest Gbaya, Nuer, Numanggang, Nunggubuyu, Nyakyusa, Nyindrou
Ojibwe, Okinawan, Old Church Slavonic, Orejón, Oriya, Ossetian
Paama, Paite Chin, Palatine German, Palawano, Pangasinan, Pangutaran Sama, Papiamentu, Pashto, Pennsylvania German, Pijin, Persian (Farsi), Phom (Naga), Pilagá, Pochuri, Pohnpeian, Polish, Poqomchi', Portuguese, Poumei (Naga), Psikye, Punjabi
Q'anjob'al, Quechua (Ayacucho), Quechua (Cañar Highland), Quechua (Cusco), Quechua del Huallaga, Quechua (Imbabura Highland), Quechua (South Bolivian), Quichua del Chimborazo
Rade, Rarotongan, Riang, Rif Tamazight, Ringgou, Rotuman, Romanian, Romániço, Romansh, Russian, (Old) Ruthenian
Sakao, Samberigi, Sami, Samoan, Sango, Sangtam, Sanskrit, Santali, Sar, Sarangani Blaan, Sarangani Manobo, Sarnámi Hindustani, Saveeng Tuam, Scottish Gaelic, Sena, Serbian, Seychelles Creole, Southern Sotho, Shan, Sharanahua, Shipibo, Shona, Sicilian, Sinhala, Siroi, Siyin, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Soninke, Sorbian, South Giziga, Southern Kalinga, Spanish, Sranan Tongo, Suau, Sukuma, Sumo/Mayangna, Sundanese, Sunuwar, Supyire, Swahili, Swabian, Swati, Swedish, Swiss German, Sylheti, Syriac
Tagabawà, Tagalog, Tagbanwa, Tahitian, Tairora, Taiwanese, Tajik, Tamasheq, Tamil, Tammari, Tampulma, Tangkhul, Tangsa, Tatar, Telugu, Teribe, Teso, Tetela, Tetum, Tetun Dili, Thai, Tibetan, Tïcuna, Tigrinya, Tii, Timugon Murut, Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib), Toba Qom, Tok Pisin, Tolai, Toma, Tonga, Tongan, Tontemboan, Toraja-Sa'dan, Torres Strait Creole, Tsáchila / Colorado, Tsonga, Tswana, Tulu, Tuma-Irumu, Tumbuka, Tungag, Tupuri, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvaluan, Tuvan, Tuwali, Twi, Tzeltal, Tzotzil
Wa, Wali, Wancho (Naga), Wandamen, Waray-Waray, Waris, Warlpiri, Waskia, Wayuu, Welsh, Western Bukidnon, Western Huasteca Nahuatl, Western Rote, Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz, Winnebago, Wolaytta, Wolof
Yabem, Yakut, Yalunka, Yaminhua, Yao, Yapese, Yiddish, Yimchungrü, Yipma, Yongkom, Yoruba, Yucatec Maya, Yucuna, Yup'ik
[top]
[top]
[top]
[top]
Index by language | Index by language family
Sources of the Tower of Babel translations
Details of the background to the tale of the Tower of Babel
http://www.ldolphin.org/babel.html
Tower of Babel in constructed languages
http://cals.conlang.org/translation/the-tower-of-babel/
http://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/1l9tcb/translation_challenge_the_tower_of_babel/
Phrases | Numbers | Numerals | Colours | Telling the time | Weather words | Family words | Terms of endearment | Language names | Country names | Idioms | Proverbs | Tongue twisters | Signs | UDHR | Tower of Babel | Songs | Omniglot | Seven dwarfs | Zodiac signs | Computer parts
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.