Babel

The Tower of Babel

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

  1. Acehnese, Achang, Achuar-Shiwiar, Adyghe, Adzera, Afrikaans, Aguacateco, Aguaruna, Akan (Twi/Fante), Albanian, Aleut, Alsatian, Alyawarr, Amarasi, Ambrym, Amele, Amharic, Amis, Angami, Anglo-Saxon / Old English, Ao Naga, Arabela, Arabic, Aragonese, Aramaic, Arawak, Armenian, Aromanian, Assamese, Asturian, Ata, Ata Manobo, Atayal, Avar, Awadhi, Awara, Ayacucho Quechua, Aymara, Azeri
  2. Balinese, Barai, Bariai, Bariba, Bashkir, Basque, Bassa, Batak Angkola, Batak Simalungun, Batak Toba, Bavarian, Belarusian, Bemba, Bengali, Beti, Bikol, Bimin, Bislama, Biatah Bidayuh, Boko, Bola, Borana, Borong, Bosnian, Breton, Bribri, Bugis, Bulgarian, Bunun, Burmese, Burum-Mindik, Buryat
  3. Candoshi-Shapra, Cantonese, Caribbean Hindustani, Caribbean Javanese, Carrier, Catalan, Cebuano, Cha'palaachi, Chayahuita, Chechen, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Chichewa, Chinese (Mandarin), Chin Falam, Chin Haka, Chin Tedim, 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, Cusco Quechua, Czech
  4. Dadibi, Dakota, Danish, Dari, Dawan, Dawida, Dholuo, Dutch
  5. Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl, Efik, Embera, English, Estonian, Ewe
  6. Faroese, Fijian, Fijian Hindi, Finnish, Fioti, Frafra, French, Frisian, Fula(ni), Futunan
  7. Ga, Galela, Galician, Garo, German, Greek (Ancient), Greek (Modern), Greenlandic, Gronings, Guajajara, Guambiano, Guarani, Guhu-Samane, Gujarati, Guugu Yalandji, Gwich’in
  8. Haitian Creole, Hakka, Hausa, Hawaiian, Hawaiian Pidgin, Hebrew, Helong, Hiligaynon, Hindi, Hiri Motu, Hmar, Huambisa, Huli, Hungarian
  9. Iban, Icelandic, Igbo, Iloko, Imbabura Highland Quechua, Indonesian, Inuktitut , Irish, Italian, Itawis, Ivatan
  10. Japanese, Javanese, Jingpho
  11. Kabardian, Kadazandusun, Kala Lagaw Ya, Kalenjin, Kam, Kamasau, Kamba, Kambera, Kamula, Kanite, Kannada, Kapampangan, Kaqchikel, Karakalpak, Kazakh, Q'eqchi', Keley-i, Khasi, Khmer, K’iche’, Kinaray-a, Kinyarwanda, Kiribati, Kirundi, Kissi, Komba, Konkani, Korean, Koreguaje, Kosraean, Kpelle, Kriol, Kuki, Kumyk, Kupang, Kurdish, Kwanyama, Kyaka, Kyrgyz
  12. Ladino, Lahu, Lango, Lao, Lashi, Lhao Vo, Latin, Latvian, Lingala, Lisu, Lithuanian, Lotha, Low Saxon / Low German, Luang, Luba-Katanga, Luganda, Luragooli
  13. Macedonian, Machiguenga, Mafa, Maia, Makassar, Malagasy, Malaweg, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Manx, Māori, Mara Chin, Marathi, Maring, Marshallese, Martu Wangka, Massachusett, Matigsalug Manobo, Mbay, Mbula, Míkmaq, Min (Eastern), Min (Southern), Misima-Paneati, Miskito, Mizo, Moba, Mocoví, Mohawk, Mongolian, Mortlockese, Mossi, Motu
  14. Nali, Namia, Narak, Navajo, Ndebele (Southern), Ndonga, Nepali, Ngaing, Ngaju, Ngambay, Nias, Niuean, North Efate, Norwegian, Northern Mam, Northern Sotho, Nuer, Numanggang, Nyindrou
  15. Ojibwe, Okinawan, Orejón, Oriya, Ossetian
  16. Paama, Paite Chin, Palatine German, Pangasinan, Pangutaran Sama, Papiamentu, Pijin, Persian (Farsi), Pilagá, Pohnpeian, Polish, Poqomchi', Portuguese, Punjabi,
  17. Q'anjob'al, Quechua del Huallaga, Quetzaltenango Mam, Quichua del Chimborazo
  18. Rarotongan, Rif Tamazight, Rotuman, Romanian, Romansh, Russian
  19. Sakao, Samberigi, Sami, Samoan, Sanskrit, Santali, Sar, Saveeng Tuam, Scottish Gaelic, Sena, Serbian, South Bolivian Quechua, Southern Sotho, Sharanahua, Shipibo, Shona, Sicilian, Sinhala, Siroi, Siyin, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Sorbian, Southern Kalinga, Spanish, Sranan Tongo, Suau, Sumo/Mayangna, Sundanese, Sunuwar, Swahili, Swabian, Swedish, Swiss German, Syriac
  20. Tagalog, Tagbawa, Tahitian, Tairora, Taiwanese, Tajik Tamasheq, Tamil, Tammari, Tampulma, Tangkhul, Tatar, Telugu, Teribe, Teso, Tetela, Tetun Dili, Thai, Tibetan, Tïcuna, Tigrinya, Toba Qom, Tok Pisin, Tolai, Tonga, Tongan, Tontemboan, Toraja-Sa'dan, Tsáchila / Colorado, Tsonga, Tswana, Tuma-Irumu, Tumbuka, Tungag, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvaluan, Tuvan, Tuwali, Tzeltal, Tzotzil
  21. Ubir, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uyghur, Uzbek
  22. Venda, Vietnamese, Võro
  23. Wa, Wandamen, Waris, Warlpiri, Waskia, Welsh, White Hmong, Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz, Winnebago, Wolaytta, Wolof
  24. Xhosa
  25. Yabem, Yakut, Yaminhua, Yapese, Yiddish, Yipma, Yongkom, Yoruba, Yucatec Maya, Yucuna
  26. Zarma, Zulu

International Auxiliary Languages (IALs)

Esperanto, Folkspraak, Ido, Interglossa, Interlingua, Interlingue/Occidental, Lingua Franca Nova, Lojban

Constructed languages/alphabets

Avorentas HGV, Bel'Arian, Cujoltha, Fishscales, Gyorsrovás, Klingon, Oxidilogi, Quenya, Quikscript, Sabethir, Toki Pona, Üqoi, Viozian

Alternative writing systems

Gregg Shorthand, Pitman Shorthand, The 1847 Alphabet

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

Multilingual pages

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Copyright 1998- Simon Ager