語 - How to Say the Names of Languages in Japanese!

Spot a country name in Japanese, stick 語 (go) on the end, and you are usually looking at the language: 日本 + 語 becomes 日本語 (nihongo), スペイン + 語 becomes スペイン語 (supeingo). It is one of those patterns that suddenly makes a whole vocabulary list feel logical.

That rule covers most everyday language names, yet English refuses to play along—and a few other readings of 語 show up outside the “country + go” formula. Below is a clear look at the kanji, a practical list of language names, related words that end in 語, and short example sentences you can actually use.

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What the kanji 語 (go) means

The character 語 sits at the heart of how Japanese labels languages, speech, and many kinds of wording. In everyday use it covers senses like “language,” “word,” and “speech,” which is why it appears both in language names and in words such as 言語 (gengo, language) or 敬語 (keigo, honorific language).

Visually, 語 carries the speech radical 言 (related to words and speaking) plus a phonetic component. You do not need a full history lesson to use it: when you see 語 after a place or group name, think “the language associated with that place.”

Most language names use the on’yomi reading ご (go). There are exceptions in other compounds—for example 物語 (monogatari, story/tale), where the same character is not read as a simple “go” suffix for a language.

How language names are built (and the big exception)

The default pattern is straightforward:

• [country / region name] + 語 → language name
• Examples: フランス → フランス語 (furansugo), ドイツ → ドイツ語 (doitsugo), 韓国 → 韓国語 (kankokugo)

The exception every learner meets early is English. You do not say ×アメリカ語 or ×イギリス語 for the language of the United States, the UK, Australia, and other English-speaking countries. The standard word is 英語 (eigo), built on the older kanji abbreviation for Britain (英), not on the modern katakana country name. Nationality words still follow the usual +人 pattern (アメリカ人, イギリス人); only the language name is irregular here.

A few other names also skip a pure “katakana country + 語” shape, such as 日本語 (nihongo) from 日本, or 中国語 (chuugokugo) from 中国. Once you know the country form, the language form is usually one more character away.

If you want more on the word for Japanese itself, see our note on nihongo and how Japanese talks about its own language.

List of languages in Japanese

Here is a practical table of language names: English, Japanese writing, and romaji. Use it as a reference when you introduce what you study, teach, or need help with.

Language	Japanese	Romaji
Arabic	アラビア語	arabiago
Azerbaijani	アゼルバイジャン語	azerubaijango
Bengali	ベンガル語	bengarugo
Bulgarian	ブルガリア語	burugariago
Burmese	ビルマ語	birumago
Catalan	カタルーニャ語	kataruunyago
Chinese	中国語	chuugokugo
Danish	デンマーク語	denmaakugo
Dutch	オランダ語	orandago
English	英語	eigo
Flemish	フラマン語	furamango
French	フランス語	furansugo
German	ドイツ語	doitsugo
Gujarati	グジャラート語	gujaraatogo
Hebrew	ヘブライ語	heburaigo
Hindi	ヒンディー語	hindiigo
Hungarian	ハンガリー語	hangariigo
Italian	イタリア語	itariago
Japanese	日本語	nihongo
Javanese	ジャワ語	jawago
Kannada	カンナダ語	kannadago
Korean	韓国語（朝鮮語）	kankokugo
Latin	ラテン語	ratengo
Malay / Malaysian	マレー語 / マレーシア語	mareego / mareeshiago
Malayalam	マラヤーラム語	marayaaramugo
Marathi	マラーティー語	maraatiigo
Norwegian	ノルウェー語	noruweego
Odia	オリヤー語	oriyaago
Persian	ペルシア語	perushiago
Polish	ポーランド語	poorandogo
Portuguese	ポルトガル語	porutogarugo
Russian	ロシア語 [露語]	roshiago
Serbian	セルビア語	serubiago
Spanish	スペイン語	supeingo
Swedish	スウェーデン語	suweedengo
Tamil	タミル語	tamirugo
Telugu	テルグ語	terugugo
Thai	タイ語	taigo
Turkish	トルコ語	torukogo
Ukrainian	ウクライナ語	ukurainago
Urdu	ウルドゥー語	uruduugo
Vietnamese	ベトナム語	betonamugo

Romaji spacing varies in textbooks (roshia-go vs roshiago). What matters in speech is the fused form you hear: eigo, nihongo, furansugo.

Other useful words that end in 語

Not every 語 word is a language of a country. The same character builds everyday study and culture vocabulary. Most of these still use the reading ご (go).

English	Japanese	Romaji
Language	言語	gengo
National language (school subject)	国語	kokugo
Honorific / respectful language	敬語	keigo
Polite language	丁寧語	teineigo
Abbreviation	略語	ryakugo
Foreign language	外国語	gaikokugo
Classical written style	文語	bungo
Dead language / obsolete word	死語	shigo
Native Japanese word (vs Chinese-origin)	和語	wago
Irony / rhetorical question form	反語	hango
Vulgar / coarse language	卑語	higo
Multilingualism / many languages	多言語	tagengo
Baby talk / infant speech	幼児語	youjigo
Mother tongue	母語	bogo
Loanword (esp. from Western languages)	外来語	gairaigo
Technical term	用語	yougo
Edo-period speech / Edo dialect label	江戸語	edogo

One more nuance: 手話 (shuwa, sign language) is the usual word for sign language, but it does not use the 語 suffix—handy so you do not force every “language” concept into the same mold.

For broader quirks of how Japanese works as a system, you may also like features of Japanese every beginner should know.

Example sentences about languages

Short models you can adapt when you talk about studying or hearing other languages:

I would like to learn French so I can visit France someday.

フランス語を学んで、いつかフランスを訪れたいと思います。
Furansugo o manande, itsuka Furansu o otozuretai to omoimasu.

Spanish is often called a romantic language.

スペイン語はロマンチックな言語です。
Supeingo wa romanchikku na gengo desu.

German has many words that are hard to pronounce.

ドイツ語には発音の難しい単語がたくさんあります。
Doitsugo ni wa hatsuon no muzukashii tango ga takusan arimasu.

Chinese is a tonal language.

中国語は声調言語です。
Chuugokugo wa seichou gengo desu.

I love listening to music in Italian.

イタリア語の音楽を聴くのが大好きです。
Itariago no ongaku o kiku no ga daisuki desu.

Russian uses a different alphabet from English.

ロシア語には、英語とは違うアルファベットがあります。
Roshiago ni wa, eigo to wa chigau arufabetto ga arimasu.

What language do you speak?

何語を話しますか。
Nani-go o hanashimasu ka.

I can speak a little Japanese.

日本語が少し話せます。
Nihongo ga sukoshi hanasemasu.

Quick takeaway

Remember the pattern first: country (or region) name + 語 usually names the language. Memorize 英語 as the main irregular form, keep an eye on established names like 日本語 and 中国語, and use the tables when you need a specific language fast. Once 語 clicks, language names stop feeling random—and conversations about what you study get much easier.