European Free School

Languages of Europe

Most of the languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family divided into a number of branches, including Romance,Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Albanian, Celtic, Armenian and Greek, and also the Uralic (Hungro-Finn) languages, which include Hungarian,Finnish, and Estonian.
The Turkic and Mongolic families also have several European members, while the North Caucasian and Kartvelian (Georgian) families are important in the southeastern extremity of geographical Europe.
The Basque language of the western Pyrenees is an isolate unrelated to any other group.
Maltese is the only (partly) Semitic language in Europe with national language status.

Indo-European languages

See also: List of Indo-European languages The Indo-European language family descended from Proto-Indo-European, believed to have been spoken thousands of years ago. Indo-European languages are spoken throughout Europe, but particularly dominate Western Europe.

Albanian

Albanian has two major dialects, Gheg and Tosk. It is spoken in Albania, Kosovo (Kosovar Albanians) and parts of Montenegro (Albanians in Montenegro), Serbia (mainly in Preševo Valley), Turkey, southern Italy (Arbëresh), western parts of Macedonia, Greece (Arvanitika andCham Albanians) and Albanian diaspora.

Armenian

Armenian has two major dialects, Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian. It is spoken in Armenia, where it has sole official status, and is also spoken in neighboring Georgia, Iran, and Azerbaijan (mainly in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic). It is also spoken in Turkey by a very small minority (Western Armenian and Homshetsi), and by small minorities in many other countries where members of the widely dispersed Armenian diaspora reside.

Baltic languages

Distribution of the Baltic languages in the Baltic (simplified).The Baltic languages are spoken in Lithuania (Lithuanian, Samogitian) and Latvia (Latvian, Latgalian). Samogitian and Latgalian are usually considered to be dialects of Lithuanian and Latvian respectively.New Curonian is nearly extinct: it was spoken in the Curonian Spit which is now divided between Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Oblast. There are also several extinct Baltic languages, including Old Prussian and Sudovian.

Celtic

The Celtic nations, where most Celtic speakers are now concentratedThere are six living Celtic languages, spoken in areas of northwestern Europe dubbed the "Celtic nations". All six are members of the Insular Celtic family, which in turn is divided into:

Brythonic family: Welsh (Wales), Cornish (Cornwall) and Breton (Brittany)
Goidelic family: Irish (Ireland), Scottish Gaelic (Scotland), and Manx (Isle of Man)

Continental Celtic languages had previously been spoken across Europe from Iberia and Gaul to Asia Minor, but became extinct in the first millennium AD.

Germanic

The present-day distribution of the Germanic languages in Europe:
North Germanic languages Icelandic Faroese Norwegian Swedish DanishWest Germanic languages Scots English Frisian Dutch Low German German Dots indicate areas where multilingualism is common.The Germanic languages make up the predominant language family in northwestern Europe, reaching from Iceland to Sweden and from parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland to Austria. There are two extant major sub-divisions: West Germanic and North Germanic. A third group, East Germanic, is now extinct; the only known surviving East Germanic texts are written in the Gothic language.

West Germanic

There are three major groupings of West Germanic languages: Anglo-Frisian, Low Franconian (now primarily modern Dutch) and High German.

Anglo-Frisian

Main articles: Anglo-Frisian languages and English-speaking Europe The Anglo-Frisian language family has two major groups:

The English languages descended from the Old English language of the Anglo-Saxons and include:
- English, the de facto language of United Kingdom, also used in English-speaking Europe
- Modern Scots, spoken in Scotland and Ulster.
The Frisian languages are spoken by about 500,000 Frisians, who live on the southern coast of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany, and include West Frisian, Saterlandic, and North Frisian.

German

Main articles: German language and German-speaking Europe German is spoken throughout Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, the East Cantons of Belgium and much of Switzerland (including the northeast areas bordering on Germany and Austria).There are several groups of German dialects:

High German include several dialect families:
- Standard German (High German)
- Central German dialects, spoken in central Germany and include Luxembourgish
- High Franconian, a family of transitional dialects between Central and Upper High German
- Upper German, including Austro-Bavarian and Swiss German
Low German
- Low Saxon
- East Low German

Low Franconian

Main articles: Low Franconian and Dutch-speaking Europe

Dutch is spoken throughout the Netherlands, northern Belgium, as well as the Nord-Pas de Calais region of France, and aroundDüsseldorf in Germany. In Belgian and French contexts, Dutch is sometimes referred to as Flemish. Dutch dialects are varied and cut across national borders. In Germany it is called East Bergish.
Afrikaans is spoken by South African emigrant communities in Europe, most notably in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.

North Germanic

The North Germanic languages are spoken in Scandinavian countries and include Danish (Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands),Norwegian (Norway), Swedish (Sweden and parts of Finland), Elfdalian or Övdalian (in a small part of central Sweden), Faroese (Faroe Islands), and Icelandic (Iceland).

Greek

Main article: Hellenic languages

Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus, and there are Greek-speaking enclaves in Albania, Bulgaria, Italy, the Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Georgia, Ukraine, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Turkey, and in Greek communities around the world. Dialects of modern Greek that originate from Attic Greek (through Koine and then Medieval Greek) are Cappadocian, Pontic, Cretan, Cypriot, Katharevousa, and Yevanic
Griko is, debatably, a Doric dialect of Greek. It is spoken in the lower Calabria region and in the Salento region of Southern Italy.
Tsakonian is a Doric dialect of the Greek language spoken in the lower Arcadia region of the Peloponnese around the village ofLeonidio

Indo-Iranian languages

The Indo-Iranian languages have two major groupings, Indo-Aryan languages including Romani, and Iranian languages, which includeKurdish, Persian, and Ossetian.

Romance languages

Author ArnoldPlaton, png: Hayden120

Romance languages, 20th century The Romance languages descended from the Vulgar Latin spoken across most of the lands of the Roman Empire. Some of the Romance languages are official in the European Union and the Latin Union and the more prominent ones are studied in many educational institutions worldwide. Three of the Romance languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese) are spoken by one billion speakers worldwide. Many other Romance languages and their local varieties are spoken throughout Europe, and some are recognized as regional languages.The list below is a summary of Romance languages commonly encountered in Europe:

Aragonese is recognized, but not official, in Aragon (Spain).
Asturian is recognized, but not official, in the Spanish region of Asturias.
Catalan is official in Andorra; co-official in the Spanish regions of Catalonia, Valencian Community (as Valencian) and Balearic Islands; and recognized, but not official, in La Franja of Aragon. It is also natively spoken in Northern Catalonia, France, in theLanguedoc-Roussillon region (Llengadoc-Rosselló) and in the city of Alghero, Sardinia, Italy (as Alguerese).
Corsican is spoken on the French island of Corsica and is much more closely related to the Italian or Central Italian regional languages (its origins are in Pisan dialect, it is spoken in the northern coast of Sardinia as well, and it transitions smoothly to Tuscan Italian through the islands between Corsica and the peninsula. Its prospects of survival are better than most French minority languages but it still suffers from the lack of promotion.
Franco-Provençal, sometimes called "Arpitan", protected by statutes in the Aosta Valley Autonomous Region of Italy, also spoken alpine valleys of the province of Turin, two communities in province of Foggia, Romandy region of western Switzerland, and in east central France (i.e., between standard French and Occitan domains). It is in serious danger of extinction.
French is official in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland and the Channel Islands. It is also official in Canada, inmany African countries and in overseas departments and territories of France.
Galician, akin to Portuguese, is co-official in Galicia, Spain. It is also spoken by Galician diaspora.
Italian is official in Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City and Istria (in Croatia and Slovenia).
Latin is usually classified as an Italic language of which the Romance languages are a subgroup. It is extinct as a spoken language, but it is widely used as a liturgical language by the Roman Catholic Church and studied in many educational institutions. It is also the official language of the Holy See. Latin was the main language of literature, sciences, and arts for many centuries and greatly influenced all European languages.
Leonese is recognized in Spain's autonomous Castile and León region
Mirandese is officially recognized by the Portuguese Parliament.
Norman has been debatedly referred to as a language in its own right or a dialect of standard French with its own regional character. Its use is recognized in the Channel Islands, remnants of the historical Duchy of Normandy, and since 2008 it is among the regional languages recognised in the French constitution.
Occitan is spoken principally in France, but is only officially recognized in Spain as one of the three official languages of Catalonia (termed there Aranese), and in Italy as a minority language. Its use was severely reduced due to the once de jure and currently de facto promotion of French.
Picard is spoken in two regions in the far north of France - Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy - and in parts of the Belgian region of Wallonia. Belgium's French Community gave full official recognition to Picard as a regional language.
Portuguese is official in Portugal. It is also official in several former Portuguese colonies in Africa, Eastern Asia as well as inAmerica (see Geographic distribution of Portuguese and Community of Portuguese Language Countries).
Romanian is official in Romania, Moldova (as Moldovan), and Vojvodina (Serbia).
Romansh is an official language of Switzerland.
Spanish (also termed "Castilian") is official in Spain. It is also official in most Latin American countries with the exception of Brazil, French Guyana and Haiti.

Slavic

Slavic languages in EuropeSee also: Slavic languages Slavic languages are spoken in large areas of Central Europe, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe including Russia.

East Slavic languages include Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn.

West Slavic languages include Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Sorbian. Some dialects of Polish, such as Kashubian and Silesian, have often been called separate languages.

South Slavic languages include Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Old Church Slavonic (a liturgical language), Serbian, and Slovene.

Languages not from the Indo-European family

Basque

Main article: Basque language
The Basque language (or Euskara) is a language isolate and the ancestral language of the Basque people who inhabit the Basque Country, a region in the western Pyrenees mountains mostly in northeastern Spain and partly in southwestern France of about 3 million inhabitants, where it is spoken fluently by about 750,000 and understood by more than 1.5 million people.Basque is directly related to ancient Aquitanian, and it is likely that an early form of the Basque language was present in Western Europe before the arrival of the Indo-European languages in the area. The language may have been spoken since Paleolithic times.Basque is also spoken by immigrants in Australia, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Philippines and the United States, especially in the states of Nevada, Idaho, and California.^[1]

Kartvelian languages

Ethno-Linguistic groups in the Caucasus regionThe Kartvelian language family consists of Georgian and the related languages of Svan, Mingrelian, and Laz. Proto-Kartvelian is believed to be a common ancestor language of all Kartvelian languages, with the earliest split occurring in the second millennium BC or earlier when Svan was separated. Megrelian and Laz split from Georgian roughly a thousand years later, roughly at the beginning of the first millennium BC (e.g., Klimov, T. Gamkrelidze, G. Machavariani).The group is considered as isolated, and although for simplicity it is at times grouped with North Caucasian languages, no linguistic relationship exists between the two language families.

North Caucasian

North Caucasian languages (sometimes called simply "Caucasic", as opposed to Kartvelian, and to avoid confusion with the concept of the "Caucasian race") is a blanket term for two language families spoken chiefly in the north Caucasus and Turkey-the Northwest Caucasian family (including Abkhaz, spoken in Abkhazia, and Circassian) and the Northeast Caucasian family, spoken mainly in the border area of the southern Russian Federation (including Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia).Many linguists, notably Sergei Starostin and Sergei Nikolayev, believe that the two groups sprang from a common ancestor about 5,000 years ago.^[2] However this view is difficult to evaluate, and remains controversial.

Uralic

Main article: Uralic languages

Author ArnoldPlaton, png: Hayden120

Distribution of Uralic languages
Europe has a number of Uralic languages and language families, including Estonian, Finnish, and Hungarian.

Turkic

Main article: Turkic languages

Turkic languages

Oghuz languages in Europe include Turkish which is spoken mainly in Turkey, Balkans, Cyprus and amongst Turkish minority in Western and Central Europe, along with Azeri in Azerbaijan and Gagauz in Gagauzia.
Kypchak languages are also found in Europe, namely Crimean Tatar, Karaim, Krymchak which can be found in parts of Ukraine(Crimea), Lithuania, and Poland. Kypchak languages such as Tatar and Kumyk language are also present in European parts of Russian Federation.
Oghur languages were historically spoken over the eastern parts of continent, however most of them are extinct today, with exception of Chuvash.

Mongolic

The Mongolic languages originated in Asia, and most did not proliferate west to Europe. Kalmyk is spoken in the Republic of Kalmykia, part of the Russian Federation, and is thus the only native Mongolic language spoken in Europe.

Semitic

Main article: Semitic languages

Cypriot Maronite Arabic

Cypriot Maronite Arabic (also known as Cypriot Arabic) is a variety of Arabic spoken by Maronites in Cyprus. Most speakers live in Nicosia, but others are in the communities of Kormakiti and Lemesos. Brought to the island by Maronites fleeing Lebanon over 700 years ago, this variety of Arabic has been influenced by Greek in both phonology and vocabulary, while retaining certain unusually archaic features in other respects.

Hebrew

Hebrew has been written and spoken by the Jewish communities of all of Europe in liturgical, educational, and often conversational contexts since the entry of the Jews into Europe some time during the late antiquity. Its restoration as the official language of Israel has accelerated its secular use. It also has been used in educational and liturgical contexts by some segments of the Christian population. Hebrew has its own consonantal alphabet, in which the vowels may be marked by diacritical marks termed pointing in English and Niqqud in Hebrew. The Hebrew alphabet was also used to write Yiddish, a West Germanic language, and Ladino, a Romance language, formerly spoken by Jews in northern and southern Europe respectively, but now nearly extinct in Europe itself.

Maltese

Maltese is a Semitic language with Romance and Germanic influences, spoken in Malta. It is based on Sicilian Arabic, with influences from Italian (particularly Sicilian), French, and, more recently, English.It is unique in that it is the only Semitic language whose standard form is written in the Latin alphabet. It is also the smallest official language of the EU in terms of speakers, and the only official Semitic language within the EU.