List of languages in Europe

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Map showing approximate current distribution of languages in Europe, but with emphasis on locations of minority languages
Map showing approximate current distribution of languages in Europe, but with emphasis on locations of minority languages

Most of the many languages of Europe (in its geographical sense[1]) belong to the Indo-European language family. Another major family is the Finno-Ugric. The Turkic family also has several European members. The North and South Caucasian families are important in the southeastern extremity of geographical Europe. Basque is a language isolate.

As yet this list does not include languages spoken by relatively recently-arrived migrant communities.

Contents

[edit] Altaic languages

[edit] Mongolic languages

[edit] Turkic languages

[edit] Bolgar languages

[edit] Oghuz languages

[edit] Kypchak languages

[edit] Basque

The Basque language of the northern Iberian Peninsula is a language isolate, and as such is not related to any other language. This language may date back 5,000 years, before waves of Indo-European speaking peoples settled in Europe, but haven't penetrated the area of northern Spain and southwest France until the first millennia AD. The language is also spoken by immigrants in Australia, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Philippines, and the USA [1].

[edit] Finno-Ugric languages

Approximate geographical distribution of areas where indigenous Finno-Ugric languages are spoken. Diagonal patterns indicate sparsely populated areas. Dotted lines mark boundaries of corresponding subnational administrative units.
Approximate geographical distribution of areas where indigenous Finno-Ugric languages are spoken. Diagonal patterns indicate sparsely populated areas. Dotted lines mark boundaries of corresponding subnational administrative units.

The Finno-Ugric languages are a subfamily of the Uralic language family.

[edit] North Caucasian languages

[edit] Northwest Caucasian languages

[edit] Northeast Caucasian languages

[edit] Maltese

A Semitic language spoken in Malta and related to Arabic but written with the Latin script. It is the smallest official language of the EU in terms of speakers.

[edit] South Caucasian languages

[edit] Indo-European languages

Most European languages are Indo-European languages. This large language-family is descended from a common language that was spoken thousands of years ago, which is referred to as Proto-Indo-European.

[edit] Albanian

The language, also known as Shiptar is made up of two major dialects, Geg and Tosk spoken in the country of Albania, but Albanian speaking minorities in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; as one of two major languages in Kosovo, Serbia; and some Albanian speakers living in parts of Montenegro.

[edit] Armenian

The Armenian language is widely spoken as the majority language in Armenia which was under the Soviet Union until 1991. There are Armenian speakers in globally scattered communities of the Armenian diaspora in Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas (in North and South America).

[edit] Baltic languages

[edit] Celtic languages

[edit] Brythonic

[edit] Goidelic (Gaelic)

[edit] Germanic languages

The Germanic languages in Europe      Low Franconian and Low German (West Germanic)      High German (West Germanic)      Insular Anglo-Frisian (West Germanic)      Continental Anglo-Frisian (West Germanic)      East North Germanic      West North Germanic      Line dividing the North and West Germanic languages.
The Germanic languages in Europe      Low Franconian and Low German (West Germanic)      High German (West Germanic)      Insular Anglo-Frisian (West Germanic)      Continental Anglo-Frisian (West Germanic)      East North Germanic      West North Germanic      Line dividing the North and West Germanic languages.

[edit] North Germanic

(descending from Old Norse)

[edit] West Germanic

[edit] East Germanic

[edit] Greek

The official language of Greece has a history as part of the legacy of ancient Greece. Greek and Latin, the language of the Roman Empire are used in professional fields such as science and literature. Greek speakers live in nearby countries, also an official language of Cyprus and small Greek enclaves in Albania, Bulgaria, Italy, FYROM, Romania and Turkey, and in Greek communities around the world in all six continents.

[edit] Italic languages

  • Latin (extinct except in special uses)

[edit] Romance languages

The Romance languages descended from the Vulgar Latin spoken across most of the lands of the Roman Empire.

[edit] Eastern Romance (Balkan Romance)

[edit] Southern Romance

[edit] Western Romance

[edit] Indo-Iranian languages

[edit] Indo-Aryan Languages

[edit] Iranian languages

[edit] Slavic languages

[edit] West Slavic languages

[edit] East Slavic languages

[edit] South Slavic languages

[edit] See also

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