Since time immemorial, civilisations around the globe have developed their own distinct cultures. In particular, the region of Southeast Asia is perhaps one of the most culturally diverse parts of the world. One notable aspect that sets Southeast Asia apart is its myriad languages; of the seven thousand languages spoken throughout the world, over one thousand are spoken in this region, with Indonesia alone contributing over seven hundred.

The languages of Southeast Asia fall into five families: Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Hmong-Mien, Kra-Dai, and Sino-Tibetan, with several exceptions. 

Austroasiatic 

The Austroasiatic languages are spoken by around 117 million people in mainland Southeast Asia as well as eastern India and consists of over 160 languages.

Their history dates back to when Austroasiatic groups migrated to South Asia. Most of them are used by small remote minority groups, although the languages of Vietnamese and Khmer are considered the national languages of Vietnam and Cambodia, respectively. In addition, Mon is recognised as an indigenous language in Myanmar and Vietnam. 

The Austroasiatic family can be divided into two sub-families: Mon-Khmer and Munda. The Mon-Khmer group is comprised of around 144 languages, while only 23 constitutes Munda.

Austronesian 

Widely spoken in maritime Southeast Asia, this family of languages is one of the world's largest. It is estimated that around 1,200 languages makes up this family, comprising one-fifth of the world's languages. Furthermore, it is one of the most spoken; approximately 386 million people are speakers.

These languages are used in the Indonesian archipelago, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Other homes of this family are Madagascar, Taiwan, and the island groups of the Central and South Pacific. Some of its major members are Malay (a standardised variety, Indonesian, is spoken by over 200 million people), Javanese, Sundanese, Tagalog (also known as Filipino), and Cebuano. 

Hmong-Mien

Spoken primarily in northern Southeast Asia and southern China, Hmong-Mien is spoken by an estimated 10 million people. In Southeast Asia, these languages are used in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, where Hmong is known as H'Mông and Mien is called Dao. 

Its two branches are known as Hmongic and Mienic by Western linguists and Miao and Yao by Chinese linguists. The Hmongic group includes Hmu, Hmong and Qo Xiong, while Mien, Mun, and Biao make up Mienic. Speakers of Hmong and Mien emigrated from China to Southeast Asia in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Kra-Dai

Also known as Tai-Kadai, this language family is spoken in mainland Southeast Asia, as well as southern China and northeastern India. This family of 50 languages is used by around 93 million people, with around 60% being speakers of Thai, the national language of Thailand.

Most speakers of the Kra-Dai languages live in Thailand and China. The remainder can be found in northern Vietnam, eastern Myanmar, and Laos, wherein the national language is Lao. The family is divided into four branches, namely Tai, Kam-Sui, Kra, and Hlai. Southwestern Tai is the most spoken; it includes Thai, Lao, and Shan, one of Myanmar's largest minority languages. 

It is likely that this group has its origins in the area between southeastern China and northern Vietnam, spreading into mainland Southeast Asia through migration.

Sino-Tibetan

With 1.4 billion speakers worldwide, the Sino-Tibetan family of languages is the second most spoken in the world, just behind Indo-European. It is made up of over 400 languages, broken up into 40 language subgroups. The Chinese languages, also known as the Sinitic languages, and Tibeto-Burman are the two branches of Sino-Tibetan.

Sinitic is broken up into several groups: Mandarin, of which Modern Standard Chinese is a member, Wu, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, Yue, and Min. It is commonly spoken in Singapore, wherein Mandarin and other variants of Chinese are used by around 38% of the populations. It is also used by minorities in all the other Southeast Asian countries.

The Tibeto-Burman branch, which consists of over 250 languages, is spoken in Myanmar and Tibet. Other speakers can be found in the Himalayas and India, and in Southeast Asia, pockets in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

Burmese, the national language of Myanmar, is a member of the Burmish group, which itself is a part of the Lolo-Burmese branch. Among all the other branches are Qiangic, Tibetan, Kuki-Chin and Bodo-Garo.

The region of Southeast Asia is a melting pot of various different cultures; its rich linguistic diversity serves as a testament of its vast cultural heterogeneity.