Citizendia

Most of the many languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family Another major family is the Finno-Ugric. Finno-Ugric (ˌfɪnoʊˈjuːgɹɪk is a grouping of languages in the Uralic language family comprising Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian and The Turkic family also has several European members. The Turkic languages constitute a Language family of some thirty languages spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the The North and South Caucasian families are important in the southeastern extremity of geographical Europe. North Caucasian languages (sometimes called simply Caucasic as opposed to Kartvelian, and to avoid confusion with the concept of " Caucasian race " The South Caucasian languages (also known as Ibero-Caucasian or Kartvelian) are spoken primarily in Georgia, with smaller groups of speakers in Turkey Basque is a language isolate. A language isolate, in the absolute sense is a Natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic" relationship with other living languages that is

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

Simplified linguistic map of Europe
Simplified linguistic map of Europe
Main alphabets used in Europe. Dark blue: Latin; dark violet: mainly Latin, but some regions Cyrillic; red: Cyrillic; light green: Greek; turquoise: Greek and Latin
Main alphabets used in Europe. Dark blue: Latin; dark violet: mainly Latin, but some regions Cyrillic; red: Cyrillic; light green: Greek; turquoise: Greek and Latin

Contents

Altaic languages

Distribution of the Altaic languages across Eurasia.
Distribution of the Altaic languages across Eurasia. Altaic, according to its proponents is a language family that includes 66 Languages ref> Altaic languages spoken by about 348 million people mostly in and around

Mongolic languages

Turkic languages

Northwestern Turkic (Kypchak) languages

Southwestern Turkic (Oghuz) languages

Bolgar languages

Basque

The Basque language of the northern Iberian Peninsula is a language isolate, and as such is not related to any other language. Kalmyk (also known as Kalmuck Calmouk Qalmaq Kalmytskii Jazyk Khalmag Volga Oirat Weilate Western Mongol is the Language of the Kalmyks and Oirats The Karachay-Balkar language (Къарачай-Малкъар /Qarachay-Malqar/ is a Turkic language spoken by the Karachays and Balkars. The Karaim language (Crimean dialect къарай тили Trakai dialect karaj tili is a Turkic language with Hebrew influences in a similar manner to The Krymchak language (кърымчах тыльы Turkic Languages is the language spoken in Crimea by the Krymchak people. Kumyk (also Qumuq, Kumuk, Kumuklar or Kumyki) (Кумык is a Turkic language, spoken by about 200000 speakers (the Kumyks The Bashkir language is a Turkic language. Speakers The 2002 population census showed under 1000000 native speakers of the Bashkir language living in The Tatar language (,, Татар теле, Татарча) is a Turkic Language spoken by the Tatars. Kazakh (also Qazaq and variants natively kk Qazaq tili, kk Қазақ тілі; pronounced tˈlə is a Turkic language closely related to Nogai (also Nogay or Nogai Tatar) is a Turkic language spoken in southwestern Russia. The Crimean Tatar language (Qırımtatar tili Qırımtatarca also known as Crimean (Qırım tili Qırımca and Crimean Turkish (Qırım Türkçesi is the language Urum is a Turkic language spoken by several thousand people who inhabit a few villages in the Southeastern Ukraine and in Diaspora communities world The Gagauz language ( Gagauz dili) is a Turkic language, spoken by the Gagauz people, and the official language of Gagauzia, Republic Turkish ( tr Türkçe IPA) is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Chuvash (Chuvash Чӑвашла Čăvašla, ʨəʋaʂˈla also known as Chăvash, Chuwash, Chovash, Chavash, Çuvaş Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra A language isolate, in the absolute sense is a Natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic" relationship with other living languages that is This language may date back 7,000 years, before waves of Indo-European speaking peoples settled in Europe, but didn't penetrate the area of northern Spain and southwest France until the first millennia AD. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The language is also spoken by immigrants in Australia, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Philippines, and the USA. [1]

Finno-Ugric languages

The Finno-Ugric languages are a subfamily of the Uralic language family. The Uralic languages (jʊˈrælɨk constitute a language family of 39 Languages spoken by approximately 20 million people

North Caucasian languages

Ethno-Linguistic groups in the Caucasus region
Ethno-Linguistic groups in the Caucasus region

Northwest Caucasian languages

Northeast Caucasian languages

South Caucasian languages

Maltese

Maltese is a Semitic language spoken in Malta and related to Arabic but written with the Latin script. Ugric or Ugrian languages ˈjuːɡrɨk ˈjuːɡriən are a branch of the Finno-Ugric Language family. Hungarian ( magyar nyelv) is a Uralic language (more specifically a Ugric language) unrelated to most other languages in Europe. Khanty or Xanty language, also known as the Ostyak language, is a Language of the Khant peoples. The Mansi language (also Vogul, although this is obsolete is a Language of the Mansi people. The Finno-Permic languages form one of the main branches of the Finno-Ugric languages that split from it around 2500 - 3000 BC The Komi language, also known as Zyrian, or Komi-Zyrian, is a Finno-Permic language spoken by the Komi peoples in the northeastern European Komi-Permyak (Коми-Пермяцкӧй Komi-Permjacköj is spoken in Komi-Permyak Okrug of Perm Krai, Russia, in the basin of the Kama River Udmurt (udm удмурт кыл udm-Latn udmurt kyl) is a Finno-Permic language spoken by the Udmurts, natives of the Russian constituent republic of The Mari language (Mari chm марий йылме marii jylme, марийский язык spoken by more than 600000 people belongs to the Finno-Ugric The Mordvinic languages are a subgroup of the Volga-Finnic languages. Erzya language (эрзянь кель is spoken by about 500000 people in the northern and eastern and north-western parts of the Republic of Mordovia and adjacent The Moksha language (мокшень кяль is a Volga-Finnic language with about 500000 native speakers The Merya language was the Finno-Ugric language spoken by the Merya tribe which lived in what is today the Yaroslavl region northwest to Moscow (near Muromian was a Finno-Ugric language spoken by the Muromian tribe in what is today the Murom region in Russia. The Meshchera language was a Finno-Ugric language spoken by the Meshchera tribe in what is today the Oka River basin in Russia. Sami or Saami is a general name for a group of Finnic languages spoken by the Sami people in parts of northern Finland, Norway Southern Sami is the south-westernmost of the Sami languages. Ume Sami is a Sami language spoken in Sweden and Norway. It is a dying language with only about 10 native speakers left and is spoken mainly along Lule Sami (julevsámegiella is a Finno-Ugric, Sami Language spoken in Lule Lappmark i Pite Sami, also known as Arjeplog Sami is a Sami language spoken in Sweden and Norway. Northern or North Sami ( Davvisápmi, formerly Davvisámi or Davvisaami; improperly Lappish or Lapp) is the most widely Kemi Sami is a Sami language that was originally spoken in the southernmost district of Finnish Lapland as far south as the Sami siidas around Kuusamo Inari Sámi ( anarâškielâ) is a Finno-Ugric, Sami Language spoken in Finland by some 300-400 people the majority of which Akkala Sami is a Sami language that was spoken in the Sami villages of A´kkel and Ču´kksuâl in the inland parts of the Kola Peninsula in Russia Kildin Sami (also spelled Sámi or Saami; formerly Lappish) is a Sami language spoken by approximately 500 people on the Kola Peninsula Ter Sami is the easternmost of the Sami languages. It was traditionally spoken in the northeastern part of the Kola Peninsula, but now it is a dying language The Baltic-Finnic languages, spoken around the Baltic Sea by about 7 million people are a branch of Finnic languages belonging to the Finno-Ugric group Estonian (; ˈeːsti ˈkeːl is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1 South Estonian language refers to a language or dialect group spoken in Southern Estonia ( Võru, Põlva, Valga, Tartu, The Võro language ( võro kiil) is a language belonging to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. Seto or Setu language ( seto kiil´) is a dialect of the Finnic South Estonian or Võro language (or a separate language which is Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside Meänkieli (lit "our language" is a Finno-Ugric language spoken in the most northern parts of Sweden around the valley of the Torne River. The Kven language also known as Kvennish, ( suomi, kveenin kieli or recently proposed kainun kieli) is a Finno-Ugric language The Ingrian Finns (inkeriläinen or inkerinsuomalainen were the Finnish rural Peasant population of Ingria (now the central The Ingrian language (also called Izhorian) is a Finno-Ugric language spoken by the (mainly orthodox) Izhorians of Ingria. Karelian is a language closely related to Finnish, with which it is not necessarily Mutually intelligible. Karelian is a language closely related to Finnish, with which it is not necessarily Mutually intelligible. Ludic or Ludian or Ludic Karelian is a Baltic Finnic language in the Uralic language family Olonets Karelian (East Karelian Livvi is the variety of Karelian language spoken by Olonets Karelians, traditionally inhabiting the area between Livonian (Līvõ kēļ belongs to the Baltic Finnic branch of the Uralic languages. The Veps language (also known as Vepsian) spoken by the Vepsians (also known as Veps) belongs to the Baltic-Finnic group of the Finno-Ugric Votic or Votian is the language spoken by the Votes of Ingria. The Abaza language (Абаза Бызшва Abaza Byzšwa) is a language of the Caucasus mountains in the Russian Karachay-Cherkess Republic Abkhaz is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken mainly in Abkhazia and Turkey by the Abkhaz people. Adyghe language (ady адыгaбзэ adygabze, adəgăbză) is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Adygea in the Russian Federation The Kabardian language is closely related to the Adyghe language (see Adyghe people) both members of the Northwest Caucasian language family mainly Bats (also Batsi, Batsbi, Batsb, Batsaw, Tsova-Tush) is the Language of the Bats people, a Caucasian The Chechen language (Нохчийн мотт / Noxçiyn mott Medieval Chechen نوًچین موت) is spoken by more than 1 The Dargin or Dargwa language is spoken by the Dargin people of western Dagestan. Ingush is a Language spoken by approximately 415000 people (2005 known as the Ingush, across a region covering Ingushetia, Chechnya, Lak language (лакку маз lakku maz) is the language of the Lak people from the Russian autonomous republic of Dagestan, where it is one Lezgian, also called Lezgi, is a language spoken by the Lezgins who live in southern Dagestan (a republic of Russia) and northern Azerbaijan Tabasaran (or Tabassaran is a member of the Lezgian subfamily of the Northeast Caucasian languages. Tsez, also known as Dido ( цезйас мец cezyas mec or цез мец cez mec in Tsez is a Northeast Caucasian language The Udi language, spoken by the Udi people, is a member of the Northeast Caucasian language family. Georgian (ka ქართული ენა kartuli ena) is the Official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus. The Laz language (ლაზური ნენა lazuri nena; ლაზური lazuri, or ჭანური chanuri) is spoken by the Laz people Mingrelian, or Megrelian (მარგალურ ნინა margalur nina; მეგრული ენა megruli ena) is a Language The Svan language (ლუშნუ ნინ/შკა̈ნ lušnu nin/šḳän; სვანური ენა svanuri ena) is a language spoken in Northwest Maltese (Maltese Malti is the National language of Malta, and a co-official language of the country alongside English, The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islands Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language It is the smallest official language of the EU in terms of speakers. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in

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.

Albanian

Albanian language (also known as Shqip) is made up of two major dialects, Geg and Tosk spoken in Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, in Republic of Kosovo, Serbia, and Albanian speakers living in parts of Montenegro, also southern parts of Italy, northern part of Greece and many other European countries. Albanian (sq ''Gjuha shqipe'' ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ is an Indo-European language spoken by nearly 6 million peoplewhile others claim that it derives from Daco - Gheg (or Geg) is one of the two major dialects of the Albanian language. Tosk is the southern dialect of the Albanian language. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg (the northern dialect is the Shkumbin River. This article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Albania topics. The Republic of Macedonia (Република Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country Montenegro ( British English) Montenegrin / Serbian: PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE LANGUAGES WITHOUT CONSENSUS ON THE TALK PAGE! Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest

Armenian

The Armenian language is widely spoken as the majority language in Armenia. The Armenian language (hy հայերեն լեզու hajɛɹɛn lɛzu —, conventional short form) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani 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). The Armenian diaspora is a term used to describe the communities of Armenians living outside of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America

Baltic languages

Distribution of the Baltic languages in the Baltic (simplified).
Distribution of the Baltic languages in the Baltic (simplified).

Celtic languages

The Celtic nations where most Celtic speakers are now concentrated
The Celtic nations where most Celtic speakers are now concentrated

Brythonic

Goidelic (Gaelic)

Germanic languages

Main article: Germanic Europe

North Germanic

(descending from Old Norse)

The Germanic languages in Europe      Dutch (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      Dutch (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 term Curonian language (Kurisch kuršu valoda kuršių kalba may refer to two different but related Baltic languages. Galindian is a poorly attested extinct language considered to be a part of the Baltic languages group Latgalian language can mean one of the following It was a language spoken by Latgalians in a great part of the area which is now Latvia. Latvian language (latviešu valoda is the official state language of Latvia. Lithuanian ( lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. Prussian is an extinct Baltic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the area that later became East Prussia (now north-eastern Poland Samogitian (Samogitian Žemaitiu ruoda, Žemaičių tarmė is a dialect (considered as an independent Baltic language by some people outside academic literature Selonian was a Language appertaining to the Baltic languages group of the Indo-European languages family Semigallian is an Extinct language of the Baltic languages sub-family of Indo-European languages. Sudovian (otherwise known as Jatvingian or Yotvingian) is an extinct western Baltic language in Northeastern Europe. Celtic nations are areas of modern northwest Europe which identify themselves with the Celtic cultures specifically speakers of Celtic languages. For the Cornish-English dialect see West Country dialects and List of Cornish dialect words. Cumbric was the Brythonic Celtic language, often considered to be a Dialect of Welsh, spoken in Northern England and southern The Breton language ( Brezhoneg) formerly often called Armoric or Armorican, is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Manx ( Gaelg or Gailck, ɡilk or) also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language once spoken on the Isle Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Faroese ( føroyskt ˈføːɹɪst or) often also spelled Faeroese (cf Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken on Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Elfdalian ( Övdalsk or Övdalską in Elfdalian Älvdalska or Älvdalsmål in Swedish) is a linguistic variety of the

West Germanic

German
Main article: German-speaking Europe

Low Franconian

Anglo-Frisian
Main article: English-speaking Europe

East Germanic

Greek

Romance languages

Main article: Romance languages
Romance languages, 20th c.
Romance languages, 20th c. The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all

The Romance languages descended from the Vulgar Latin spoken across most of the lands of the Roman Empire. Vulgar Latin (in Latin sermo vulgaris, "folk speech" is a Blanket term covering the popular Dialects and Sociolects of the Latin The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial

Latin is usually classified as an Italic language of which the Romance languages are a subgroup. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. 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. Vatican City, officially the State of the Vatican City (Stato della Città del Vaticano is a Landlocked sovereign City-state whose territory Latin was the main language of literature, sciences and arts for many centuries and greatly influenced all European languages.

The French language is official in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland and the Channel Islands. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people It is also official in Canada, many African countries and overseas departments and territories of France. The French Overseas Departments and Territories ( French: départements d'outre-mer and territoires d'outre-mer or DOM-TOM) consist broadly of

The Italian language is official in Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican and several regions of Croatia and Slovenia. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy.

The Romanian language is official in Romania, Moldova (as Moldovan), Mount Athos (Greece) and Vojvodina (Serbia). Romanian or Daco-Romanian ( dated: Rumanian or Roumanian; self designation limba română, ˈlimba roˈmɨnə is a Romance Romania ( dated: Rumania, Roumania Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova ( Republica Moldova) is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania History and politics Mount Athos (Όρος Άθως is a mountain on the Peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece, called in Greek Άγιον The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina ( Serbian: Аутономна Покрајина Војводина or Autonomna Pokrajina Vojvodina; Hungarian: Vajdaság

The Spanish language is official in Spain. It is also spoken in the Philippines and official in most Latin American countries. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP

The Portuguese language is official in Portugal. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. It is also official in Brazil and several former Portuguese colonies in Africa and Eastern Asia (see Geographic distribution of Portuguese). |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld The Portuguese Empire was the earliest and longest lived of the modern European colonial empires spanning almost six centuries from the capture of Ceuta Europe Portugal Portuguese is spoken as a first language in Portugal by 10

The Galician language, akin to Portuguese, is co-official in Galicia, Spain. Galicia (occasionally Galiza) is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is also spoken by Galician diaspora (more than local population).

The Catalan language is official in Andorra, and co-official in Catalonia, Valencian Community (as Valencian), Balearic Islands and several other regions. Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to Valencian ( valencià) is the historical traditional and official name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the region's native language The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean

All of the above languages are official in the European Union and the Latin Union and they are studied in many educational institutions worldwide. The Latin Union is an International organization of nations that use a Romance language.

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. The Romance languages include 47 ( SIL estimate Languages and Dialects spoken in Europe; this language group is a part of the Italic

Indo-Iranian languages

Indo-Aryan Languages

Iranian languages

Slavic languages

Slavic languages
Slavic languages

West Slavic languages

East Slavic languages

South Slavic languages

General issues

Linguas Francas—past and present

Europe’s history is characterized by six linguas francas:

Linguas francas that were characteristic of parts of Europe at some periods:

First dictionaries and grammars

The first type of dictionaries are glossaries, i. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Warsaw Pact (see Nomenclature) was an organization of Communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. e. more or less structured lists of lexical pairs (in alphabetical order or according to conceptual fields). The Latin-German (Latin-Bavarian) Abrogans is among the first. A new wave of lexicography can be seen from the late 15th century onwards (after the introduction of the printing press, with the growing interest for standardizing languages).

Language and identity, standardization processes

In the Middle Ages the two most important definitory elements of Europe were Christianitas and Latinitas. Thus language—at least the supranational language—played an elementary role. This changed with the spread of the national languages in official contexts and the rise of a national feeling. Among other things, this led to projects of standardizing national language and gave birth to a number of language academies (e. g. 1582 Accademia della Crusca in Florence, 1617 Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, 1635 Académie française, 1713 Real Academia de la Lengua in Madrid). “Language” was then (and still ist today) more connected with “nation” than with “civilization” (particularly in France). “Language” was also used to create a feeling of “religious/ethnic identity” (e. g. different Bible translations by Catholics and Protestants of the same language).

Among the first standardization discussions and processes are the ones for Italian (“questione della lingua”: Modern Tuscan/Florentine vs. Old Tuscan/Florentine vs. Venetian > Modern Florentine + archaic Tuscan + Upper Italian), French (standard is based on Parisian), English (standard is based on the London dialect) and (High) German (based on: chancellery of Meißen/Saxony + Middle German + chancellery of Prague/Bohemia [“Common German”]). But also a number of other nations have begun to look for and develop a standard variety in the 16th century.

Treatment of linguistic minorities

Despite the dominance of English, Europe is always associated with its linguistic diversity, which also includes the special protection of minority languages, e. g. by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ( ECRML) is a European Treaty (CETS 148 adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe This underlines that the popular view of “one nation = one language” is mostly false, despite attempts at national linguistic homogenization in France during the Revolution or in Franco's Spain or Metaxas's Greece. A minority language can be defined as a language used by a group that defines itself as an ethnic minority group, whereby the language of this group is typologically different and not a dialect of the standard language. In Europe some languages are in quite a strong position, in the sense that they are given special status, (e. g. Basque, Irish, Welsh, Catalan, Rhaeto-Romance/Romansh), whereas others are in a rather weak position (e. g. Frisian, Scottish Gaelic, Turkish)—especially allochthonous minority languages are not given official status in the EU (in part because they are not part of the cultural heritage of a civilization). Some minor languages don’t even have a standard yet, i. e. they have not even reached the level of an ausbausprache yet, which could be changed, e. The Ausbausprache - Abstandsprache - Dachsprache ( framework is a tool developed by sociolinguists for analysing and categorising the status of language varieties g. , if these languages were given official status. (cf. also next section).

Proficiency of English, French, Spanish and German in EU

France is the origin of two laws, or decrees, concerning language: the Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts (1539), which says that every document in France should be written in French (i. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts is an extensive piece of reform Legislation signed into law by Francis I of France on August 10, e. not in Latin nor Occitan) and the Loi Toubon (1994), which aims to eliminate Anglicisms from official documents. The Toubon Law (full name law 94-665 of 4 August 1994 relating to usage of the French language) is a law of the French government mandating An illustrative proof of the promotion of linguistic diversity is the translation school in Toledo, founded in the 12th century (in medieval Toledo the Christian, the Jewish and the Arab civilizations lived together remarkably peacefully).

This tolerant linguistic attitude is also the reason why the EU’s general rule is that every official national language is also an official EU language. However Luxembourgish for instance is not an official EU language, because there are also other (stronger) official languages with “EU status” in the respective nation. Luxembourgish (lb Lëtzebuergesch Luxembourgeois Luxemburgisch Luxemburgs Lussimbordjwès also called Luxembourgian, also spelled Luxemburgish, is one of Several concepts for an EU language policy are being debated:

New immigrants in European countries are expected to learn the host nation's language, but are still speaking and reading their native languages (i. e. Arabic, Hindustani/Urdu, Mandarin Chinese, Swahili and Tahitian) in Europe's increasingly multiethnic/multicultural profile. But, those languages aren't native or indigenous to Europe, therefore aren't considered important in the issue of allowing them printed in European countries' official documents.

Knowledge of English

Knowledge of German (different scale from English)

Knowledge of French (same scale as German)

Knowledge of Spanish (same scale as German)

Notes

  1. ^ UCLA — Language Materials Project
  2. ^ cf. Jireček Line; ". The Jireček Line is an imaginary line through the ancient Balkans that divided the influences of the Latin (in the north and Greek (in the south languages . . Greek, the lingua franca of commerce and religion, provided a cultural unity to the Balkans. . . Greek penetrated Moldavian and Wallachian territories as early as the fourteenth century. . . . The heavy influence of Greek culture upon the intellectual and academic life of Bucharest and Jassy was longer termed than historians once believed. Iaşi (pronunciation in Romanian: /jaʃʲ/ or Jassy, is a city and municipality in north-eastern Romania. " James Steve Counelis, review of Ariadna Camariano-Cioran, Les Academies Princieres de Bucarest et de Jassy et leur Professeurs in Church History 45:1:115-116 (March 1976) at JSTOR
  3. ^ Jeroen Darquennes and Peter Nelde, "German as a Lingua Franca", Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 26:61-77 (2006)

See also

External links

Only living languages are listed - that is languages that are currently spoken as a native tongue Eurolinguistics is a comparatively young branch of Linguistics which deals with questions on the languages of Europe The languages of the European Union are Languages used by people within the member states of the European Union.
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