What Language Did Christopher Columbus Speak? (Answered!)

Christopher Columbus was one of the greatest explorers the world has ever seen. He was famous for voyaging across the Atlantic Ocean on four occasions and is credited with the discovery of the New World of the Americas. He was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451 and died in Valladolid, Spain in 1506. While there is uncertainty as to the language that Columbus spoke, scholars generally agree that it was a dialect of Ligurian.

Ligurian, also known as Genoese, is a Gallo-Italic language spoken in Liguria – formerly the Republic of Genoa – in Northern Italy.

The language is also native to Monaco and Italy and as of 2002 had around 600,000 native speakers.

The language does not have an official status in Italy and as such is not protected by law.

The use of Ligurian and its dialects is in rapid decline and the number of native speakers is likely far fewer than that of 20 years ago.

As a result, the language is considered a “Definitely Endangered” language.

The language has four dialects: Genoese, Monégasque, Intemelio and Brigasc.

In This Article

Did Christopher Columbus Speak English or Spanish?

Christopher Columbus spoke Spanish.

His early life is obscure, and it has been theorized that he was not from Genoa but grew up in Spain or Portugal.

He was fluent in speaking and writing both languages and when he signed off on letters, he used his Spanish name, Cristóbal Colón, as opposed to his Ligurian name, Cristoffa Corombo, or his Italian name, Cristoforo Colombo.

When it comes to English, there is no evidence to suggest that Columbus spoke the language.

As part of his early work as a business agent, he likely visited Bristol, England and Galway, Ireland which gives credence to the idea that while he may not have spoken English fluently, Columbus probably knew how to utter a few words.

What Are Endangered Languages?

Endangered Languages, also known as moribund languages, are those that are at risk of disappearing.

Such a process happens when the speakers of languages die out or switch to using other languages.

When a language has no more native speakers, it becomes a ‘dead’ language and when a language has no one who can speak it at all, it becomes an ‘extinct’ language.

There are estimated to be over 7,000 languages in the world today.

Of these, around 42.5% (over 3,000) are considered to be endangered with around 50% stable and the rest are institutional.

The 20 most common languages in the world are spoken by almost 50% of the world’s population and most languages have fewer than 10,000 speakers.

It has been estimated by some that between 50% to 90% of languages will either be severely endangered or dead by 2100.

UNESCO operates with a endangerment scale which outlines the six different levels of endangerment for languages.

These levels are Safe, Vulnerable, Definitely Endangered, Severely Endangered, Critically Endangered and Extinct.

What Is An Example of an Endangered Language?

There is no shortage of Endangered Languages in the world.

An example of a vulnerable language is Belarusian, the official language of Belarus and parts of Poland.

It is also spoken in Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine.

As of today, the language has 5.1 million native speakers and 6.3 million L2 speakers.

A Definitely Endangered language is Irish, or Gaelic, spoken in Ireland.

In total there are 1.2 million speakers worldwide but only 170,000 people who speak it as a first language. 98% of the Irish speaking population lives in Ireland.

An example of a Severely Endangered language is the Bonda language spoken in Odisha in India.

On account of the remoteness of its speakers, it makes studying the language complicated.

As such, it is not known how many Bonda speakers there are, but the number is likely less than 10,000.

The Hupa language is an example of a Critically Endangered language.

It is spoken by the people of the Hoopa Valley in Northwestern California.

In 2017, it was recorded that there was only one native Hupa speaker left and 30 others who spoke it as a second language.

What Are the World’s Least Spoken Languages?

As of 2018, according to UNESCO’s Atlas of World Languages, there were 64 languages in the world with only 1 or 2 speakers.

The speakers of these languages are likely to be quite old and it is possible in the four years since some have died out.

An example of one such language is the Xipaya language spoken in Altamira, Pará, Brazil.

While it is difficult to ascertain how many people speak Xipaya, it was reported that in 2007 there were 8 native speakers.

This dropped to two in the years that followed and by 2011 it’s possible there was only one living Xipaya speaker.

The Volow language of Vanuatu is another language that has only one known speaker.

It receded over time as it gave way to the dominant language of Mwotlap.

How Do You Save a Dying Language?

It is said that a language dies every 14 days.

The attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language is known as “language revitalization”.

Attempts have been made all over the world at revitalizing dying languages with varying success.

The attempt to revitalize Irish is one of the best European attempts at saving a language.

There is an Irish language television station, Irish language radio stations, and schools where subjects are taught solely in Irish known as Gaelscoileanna.

In India, Sanskrit featured a revival. In 2001, only 14,135 people claimed it to be their Native tongue but after efforts to save the language, this rose to 24,821 in 2011.

In 2010, Uttarakhand became the first state in India to recognize the language as a secondary language.

Ways to aid language revival are as follows:

Adults must adopt the language as their native tongue
Create a socially integrated programme
Create recorded and printed resources for others to use
Encourage informal use of the language
Utilise social media and digital apps to expose people to the language
Teach classes

Christopher Columbus likely spoke a dialect of Ligurian, a Definitely Endangered language native to Italy, Monaco and France.

The full classifications list of endangered languages is: Safe, Vulnerable, Definitely Endangered, Severely Endangered, Critically Endangered and Extinct.

Steps have been taken all over the world to revitalize languages with varying degrees of success.

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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