European languages

Most of the many languages of Europe 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 and Maltese is the only national language in Europe that is Semitic.

This list does not include languages spoken by relatively recently-arrived migrant communities.

Indo-European languages

Most European languages are Indo-European languages. This large language family is descended from Proto-Indo-European, spoken thousands of years ago.

Slavic languages

East Slavic languages

• Russian
• Ukrainian
• Belarusian
• Rusyn
  • Carpatho-Rusyn (Ruthenian)
  • Pannonian-Rusyn (Rusnak)

West Slavic languages

• Polish
• Czech
• Slovak
• Sorbian
  • Lower Sorbian
  • Upper Sorbian
• Polabian (extinct)
• Pomeranian (extinct)

South Slavic languages

• Serbian
• Bulgarian
• Croatian
• Slovene
• Bosnian
• Macedonian

• Montenegrin (no international standardization)
• Old Church Slavonic (a liturgical language)
• Romano-Serbian (a mixed language)

Germanic languages

West Germanic

German

• High German languages
  • Standard German (High German)
  • Central German
    • East Central German
    • West Central German
      • Luxembourgish
  • Lower Silesian
  • Upper German
    • Alemannic German
      • Alsatian
    • Austro-Bavarian
    • Yiddish
• Low German
  • West Low German
  • East Low German

Anglo-Frisian

• Anglo-Frisian
  • Frisian
    • West Frisian
    • Saterland Frisian
    • North Frisian
  • Anglic (descending from Anglo-Saxon)
    • Modern English
      • Hiberno-English
    • Modern Scots in Scotland and Ulster
    • Yola (extinct 19th century)
    • Shelta (mixed with Irish)

Low Franconian

• Low Franconian
  • Dutch

North Germanic

(descending from Old Norse)

• Continental Scandinavian
  • Swedish
  • Danish
  • Norwegian
  • Elfdalian
• Insular Scandinavian
  • Icelandic
  • Faroese
  • Norn (extinct)

East Germanic

• Gothic (extinct)
• Burgundian (extinct)
• Crimean Gothic (extinct in the 1800s)
• Lombardic (extinct)
• Vandalic (extinct)

Romance languages

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

• French is official in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland and the Channel Islands. It is also official in Canada, many African countries and overseas departments and territories of France.

• Italian is official in Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican and several regions of Croatia and Slovenia.

• Spanish (also termed Castilian) is official in Spain. It is also official in most Latin American countries.

• Romanian is official in Romania, Moldova (as Moldovan), Mount Athos (Greece) and Vojvodina (Serbia).

• 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 Vatican City. Latin was the main language of literature, sciences and arts for many centuries and greatly influenced all European languages.

• Portuguese is official in Portugal. It is also official in Brazil and several former Portuguese colonies in Africa and Eastern Asia (see Geographic distribution of Portuguese and Community of Portuguese Language Countries).

• Catalan is official in Andorra, and co-official in in the Spanish regions of Catalonia, Valencian Community (as Valencian), Balearic Islands. It is also natively spoken in France in the Languedoc-Rousillon region (Llengadoc-Rosselló) and in Sardinia, Italy (as Alguerese).

• Galician, akin to Portuguese, is co-official in Galicia, Spain. It is also spoken by Galician diaspora (more than local population).

• 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). Its use was severely reduced due to the once de jure and currently de facto promotion of French; since 2008 it is among the regional languages recognised in the French constitution.

• 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.

• 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.

• Corsican is spoken exclusively on the French island of Corsica and is much more closely related to the Italian or northern Italian regional languages. Unlike other French minority languages, it has a healthier outlook, but still suffers from a lack of promotion.

• Romansh is an official language of Switzerland.

• Mirandese is officially recognized by the Portuguese Parliament.

• Asturian is recognized, but not official, in the Spanish region of Asturias.

• Aragonese is recognized, but not official, in Aragon (Spain).

• Leonese is recognized in Castile and León (Spain).

Some of the above languages are official in the European Union and the Latin Union and the more prominent ones are studied in many educational institutions worldwide. This is due to the fact that just three of the Romance languages, French, Spanish, and Portuguese are spoken by close to a billion speakers.

Many other Romance languages and their local varieties are spoken throughout Europe. Some of them are recognized as regional languages.

Romance languages are divided into many subgroups and dialects. For an exhaustive list, see List of Romance languages.

Greek

• Greek: official language of Greece and Cyprus; and 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 the Ionian Koine are Cappadocian, Pontic, Cretan, Cypriot, Katharevousa, and Yevanic.

• Tsakonian language: Doric dialect of the Greek language spoken in the lower Arcadia region of the Peloponnese around the village of Leonidio.

• Griko: Debatably a Doric dialect of the Greek Language spoken in the lower Calabria region and in the Salento region of Southern Italy.

Armenian

The Armenian language is widely spoken as the majority language in Armenia. 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).

Albanian

Albanian language is made up of two major dialects, Gheg and Tosk spoken in Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo and Albanian speakers living in parts of Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, also southern parts of Italy, northern part of Greece and many other European countries.

Baltic languages

• Lithuanian
• Latvian
• Curonian
• Latgalian
• Samogitian
• Galindian (extinct)
• Old Prussian (extinct)
• Selonian (extinct)
• Semigallian (extinct)
• Sudovian (extinct)

Indo-Iranian languages

Indo-Aryan Languages

• Romany

Iranian languages

• Kurdish
• Ossetian language

Celtic languages

Brythonic

• Welsh
• Breton
• Cornish
• Cumbric (extinct)

Goidelic (Gaelic)

• Irish
• Scottish Gaelic
• Manx

Semitic languages

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 being the only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet in its standard form. It is the smallest official language of the EU in terms of speakers, and the only official Semitic language within the EU.

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.

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