Languages of Europe

There are over 250 languages indigenous to Europe, and most belong to the Indo-European language family.^[1][2] Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. The three largest phyla of the Indo-European language family in Europe are Romance, Germanic, and Slavic; they have more than 200 million speakers each, and together account for close to 90% of Europeans.

A color-coded map of languages used throughout Europe.

Smaller phyla of Indo-European found in Europe include Hellenic (Greek, c. 13 million), Baltic (c. 7 million), Albanian (c. 5 million), Celtic (c. 4 million), and Armenian (c. 4 million). Indo-Aryan, though a large subfamily of Indo-European, has a relatively small number of languages in Europe, and a small number of speakers (Romani, c. 1.5 million). However, a number of Indo-Aryan languages not native to Europe are spoken in Europe today.^[2]

Of the approximately 45 million Europeans speaking non-Indo-European languages, most speak languages within either the Uralic or Turkic families. Still smaller groups — such as Basque (language isolate), Semitic languages (Maltese, c. 0.5 million), and various languages of the Caucasus — account for less than 1% of the European population among them. Immigration has added sizeable communities of speakers of African and Asian languages, amounting to about 4% of the population,^[3] with Arabic being the most widely spoken of them.

Five languages have more than 50 million native speakers in Europe: Russian, English, French, Italian, and German. Russian is the most-spoken native language in Europe,^[4] and English has the largest number of speakers in total, including some 200 million speakers of English as a second or foreign language. (See English language in Europe.)

Indo-European languages

See also: Indo-European languages and List of Indo-European languages

The Indo-European language family is descended from Proto-Indo-European, which is believed to have been spoken thousands of years ago. Early speakers of Indo-European daughter languages most likely expanded into Europe with the incipient Bronze Age, around 4,000 years ago (Bell-Beaker culture).

Germanic

 

The present-day distribution of the Germanic languages in Europe:

North Germanic languages

  Icelandic

  Faroese

  Norwegian

  Swedish

  Danish

West Germanic Languages

  English

  Scots

  Frisian

  Dutch

  Low German

  High German

Dots indicate areas where multilingualism is common.

The Germanic languages make up the predominant language family in Western, Northern and Central Europe. It is estimated that over 500 million Europeans are speakers of Germanic languages^{[citation needed]}, the largest groups being German (c. 95 million), English (c. 400 million)^{[citation needed]}, Dutch (c. 24 million), Swedish (c. 10 million), Danish (c. 6 million), Norwegian (c. 5 million)^[5] and Limburgish (c. 1.3 million).^{[citation needed]}

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 is divided into Anglo-Frisian (including English), Low German, Low Franconian (including Dutch) and High German (including Standard German).^[6]

Anglo-Frisian

Main articles: Anglo-Frisian languages and English language in Europe

The Anglo-Frisian language family is now mostly represented by English (Anglic), descended from the Old English language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons:

• English, the main language of the United Kingdom and the most widespread language in the Republic of Ireland, also spoken as a second or third language by many Europeans.^[7]
• Scots, spoken in Scotland and Ulster, recognized by some as a language and by others as a dialect of English.^[8] (Not to be confused with Scots-Gaelic of the Celtic language family.)

The Frisian languages are spoken by about 400,000 (as of 2015^[update]) Frisians,^[9][10] who live on the southern coast of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany. These languages include West Frisian, East Frisian (of which the only surviving dialect is Saterlandic) and North Frisian.^[9]

Dutch

Main articles: Dutch-speaking Europe, Dutch language, and Low Franconian

Dutch is spoken throughout the Netherlands, the northern half of Belgium, as well as the Nord-Pas de Calais region of France. The traditional dialects of the Lower Rhine region of Germany are linguistically more closely related to Dutch than to modern German. In Belgian and French contexts, Dutch is sometimes referred to as Flemish. Dutch dialects are numerous and varied.^[11]

German

Main articles: German language and Geographical distribution of German speakers

German is spoken throughout Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, much of Switzerland (including the northeast areas bordering on Germany and Austria), northern Italy (South Tyrol), Luxembourg, the East Cantons of Belgium and the Alsace and Lorraine regions of France.^[12]

There are several groups of German dialects:

• High German includes several dialect families:
  • Standard German
  • Central German dialects, spoken in central Germany and including Luxembourgish
  • High Franconian, a family of transitional dialects between Central and Upper High German
  • Upper German, including Bavarian and Swiss German
  • Yiddish is a Jewish language developed in Germany and Eastern Europe. It shares many features of High German dialects and Hebrew.^[13]

Low German

Low German is spoken in various regions throughout Northern Germany and the northern and eastern parts of the Netherlands. It is an official language in Germany. It may be separated into West Low German and East Low German.^[14]

North Germanic (Scandinavian)

The North Germanic languages are spoken in Nordic countries and include Swedish (Sweden and parts of Finland), Danish (Denmark), Norwegian (Norway), Icelandic (Iceland), Faroese (Faroe Islands), and Elfdalian (in a small part of central Sweden).^{[citation needed]}

English has a long history of contact with Scandinavian languages, given the immigration of Scandinavians early in the history of Britain, and shares various features with the Scandinavian languages.^[15] Even so, especially Dutch and Swedish, but also Danish and Norwegian, have strong vocabulary connections to the German language.^[16][17][18]

Limburgish

Limburgish (also called Limburgan, Limburgian, or Limburgic) Is a West Germanic language spoken in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands, Belgium and neighboring regions of Germany. It is distinct from German and Dutch, but originates from areas near where both are spoken.^[19]

Romance

Further information: Romance languages and Italic languages

 

The Distribution of the Romance languages, 20th century.

Roughly 215 million Europeans (primarily in Southern and Western Europe) are native speakers of Romance languages, the largest groups including:^{[citation needed]}

French (c. 72 million), Italian (c. 65 million), Spanish (c. 40 million), Romanian (c. 24 million), Portuguese (c. 10 million), Catalan (c. 7 million), Sicilian (c. 5 million, also subsumed under Italian), Venetian (c. 4 million), Galician (c. 2 million), Sardinian (c. 1 million),^[20][21][22] Occitan (c. 500,000), besides numerous smaller communities.

The Romance languages evolved from varieties of Vulgar Latin spoken in the various parts of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity. Latin was itself part of the (otherwise extinct) Italic branch of Indo-European.^{[citation needed]} Romance languages are divided phylogenetically into Italo-Western, Eastern Romance (including Romanian) and Sardinian. The Romance-speaking area of Europe is occasionally referred to as Latin Europe.^[23]

Italo-Western can be further broken down into the Italo-Dalmatian languages (sometimes grouped with Eastern Romance), including the Tuscan-derived Italian and numerous local Romance languages in Italy as well as Dalmatian, and the Western Romance languages. The Western Romance languages in turn separate into the Gallo-Romance languages, including Langues d'oïl such as French, the Francoprovencalic languages Arpitan and Faetar, the Rhaeto-Romance languages, and the Gallo-Italic languages; the Occitano-Romance languages, grouped with either Gallo-Romance or East Iberian, including Occitanic languages such as Occitan and Gardiol, and Catalan; Aragonese, grouped in with either Occitano-Romance or West Iberian, and finally the West Iberian languages, including the Astur-Leonese languages, the Galician-Portuguese languages, and the Castilian languages.^{[citation needed]}

Slavic

See also: Slavic languages and Slavs

 

Political map of Europe with countries where the national language is Slavic:

  West Slavic languages

  East Slavic languages

  South Slavic languages

Slavic languages are spoken in large areas of Southern, Central and Eastern Europe. An estimated 315 million people speak of Slavic languages,^[24] the largest groups being Russian (c. 110 million in European Russia and adjacent parts of Eastern Europe, Russian forming the largest linguistic community in Europe), Polish (c. 40.6 million^[25]), Ukrainian (c. 33 million^[26]), Serbo-Croatian (c. 21 million), Czech (c. 12 million^[27]), Bulgarian (c. 7.7 million^[28]), Slovak (c. 5 million^[29]) Belarusian (c. 3.7 million^[30]), Slovene (c. 2.3 million^[31]) and Macedonian (c. 1.3 million).^[32]

Phylogenetically, Slavic is divided into three subgroups:^[33]

• West Slavic includes Polish, Polabian, Czech, Knaanic, Slovak, Lower Sorbian, Upper Sorbian, Silesian and Kashubian.
• East Slavic includes Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Ruthenian, and Rusyn.
• South Slavic includes Slovene and Serbo-Croatian in the southwest and Bulgarian, Macedonian and Church Slavonic (a liturgical language) in the southeast, each with numerous distinctive dialects. South Slavic languages constitute a dialect continuum where standard Slovene, Macedonian and Bulgarian are each based on a distinct dialect, whereas pluricentric Serbo-Croatian boasts four mutually intelligible national standard varieties all based on a single dialect, Shtokavian.

Others

• Greek (c. 13 million) is the official language of Greece and Cyprus, and there are Greek-speaking enclaves in Albania, Bulgaria, Italy, North 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.^{[citation needed]}
  • Italiot Greek is, debatably, a Doric dialect of Greek. It is spoken in southern Italy only, in the southern Calabria region (as Grecanic)^{[34][35][36][37][38]} and in the Salento region (as Griko). It was studied by the German linguist Gerhard Rohlfs during the 1930s and 1950s.^{[citation needed]}
  • Tsakonian is a Doric dialect of the Greek language spoken in the lower Arcadia region of the Peloponnese around the village of Leonidio^[39]

 

Historic distribution of the Baltic languages in the Baltic (simplified).

• The Baltic languages are spoken in Lithuania (Lithuanian (c. 3 million), Samogitian) and Latvia (Latvian (c. 2 million), Latgalian). Samogitian and Latgalian used to be considered dialects of Lithuanian and Latvian respectively.^{[citation needed]}
  • There are also several extinct Baltic languages, including: Curonian,^[40][41] Galindian, Jatvingian, Old Prussian,^[42] Selonian, Semigallian,^[43] and Sudovian.^[44]
• Albanian (c. 5 million) has two major dialects, Tosk Albanian and Gheg Albanian. It is spoken in Albania and Kosovo, neighboring North Macedonia, Serbia, Italy, and Montenegro. It is also widely spoken in the Albanian diaspora.^{[citation needed]}
• Armenian (c. 7 million) has two major forms, Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian. It is spoken in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (Samtskhe-Javakheti) and Abkhazia, also Russia, France, Italy, Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus. It is also widely spoken in the Armenian Diaspora. ^{[citation needed]}
• There 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:
  • Brittonic family: Welsh (Wales, c. 462,000^[45]), Cornish (Cornwall, c. 500^[46]) and Breton (Brittany, c. 206,000^[47])
  • Goidelic family: Irish (Ireland, c. 1.7 million^[48]), Scottish Gaelic (Scotland, c. 57,400^[49]), and Manx (Isle of Man, 1,660^[50])

Continental Celtic languages had previously been spoken across Europe from Iberia and Gaul to Asia Minor, but became extinct in the first millennium CE.^[51][52]

• The Indo-Aryan languages have one major representative: Romani (c. 1.5 million speakers), introduced in Europe during the late medieval period. Lacking a nation state, Romani is spoken as a minority language throughout Europe.^{[citation needed]}
• The Iranian languages in Europe are natively represented in the North Caucasus, notably with Ossetian (c. 600,000).^{[citation needed]}

Non-Indo-European languages

Turkic

Main article: Turkic languages

 

Distribution of Turkic languages in Eurasia

• Oghuz languages in Europe include Turkish, spoken in East Thrace and by immigrant communities; Azerbaijani is spoken in Northeast Azerbaijan and parts of Southern Russia and Gagauz is spoken in Gagauzia.^{[citation needed]}
• Kipchak languages in Europe include Karaim, Crimean Tatar and Krymchak, which is spoken mainly in Crimea; Tatar, which is spoken in Tatarstan; Bashkir, which is spoken in Bashkortostan; Karachay-Balkar, which is spoken in the North Caucasus, and Kazakh, which is spoken in Northwest Kazakhstan.^{[citation needed]}
• Oghur languages were historically indigenous to much of Eastern Europe; however, most of them are extinct today, with the exception of Chuvash, which is spoken in Chuvashia.^{[citation needed]}

Uralic

Main article: Uralic languages

 

Distribution of Uralic languages in Eurasia

Uralic language family is native to northern Eurasia. Finnic languages include Finnish (c. 5 million) and Estonian (c. 1 million), as well as smaller languages such as Kven (c. 8,000). Other languages of the Finno-Permic branch of the family include e.g. Mari (c. 400,000), and the Sami languages (c. 30,000).^{[citation needed]}

The Ugric branch of the language family is represented in Europe by the Hungarian language (c. 13 million), historically introduced with the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin of the 9th century.^{[citation needed]} The Samoyedic Nenets language is spoken in Nenets Autonomous Okrug of Russia, located in the far northeastern corner of Europe (as delimited by the Ural Mountains).^{[citation needed]}

Others

• The Basque language (or Euskara, c. 750,000) 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 in the Bronze Age.^{[citation needed]}
• North Caucasian languages is a geographical blanket term for two unrelated language families spoken chiefly in the north Caucasus and Turkey—the Northwest Caucasian family (including Abkhaz and Circassian) and the Northeast Caucasian family, spoken mainly in the border area of the southern Russian Federation (including Dagestan, Chechnya, and Ingushetia).^{[citation needed]}
• Kalmyk is a Mongolic language, spoken in the Republic of Kalmykia, part of the Russian Federation. Its speakers entered the Volga region in the early 17th century.^{[citation needed]}
• Kartvelian languages (also known as Southwest Caucasian languages), the most common of which is Georgian (c. 3.5 million), others being Mingrelian and Svan, spoken mainly in the Caucasus and Anatolia.^[53]
• Maltese (c. 500,000) is a Semitic language with Romance and Germanic influences, spoken in Malta.^{[54][55][56][57]} It is based on Sicilian Arabic, with influences from Sicilian, Italian, French and, more recently, English. It is the only Semitic language whose standard form is written in Latin script. It is also the second smallest official language of the EU in terms of speakers (after Irish), and the only official Semitic language within the EU.^{[citation needed]}
• 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.
• Dialects of Eastern Aramaic are spoken by Assyrian communities in the Caucasus and southern Russia who fled the Assyrian Genocide during World War I.^[58]

Sign languages

Main article: List of sign languages § Europe

Several dozen manual languages exist across Europe, with the most widespread sign language family being the Francosign languages, with its languages found in countries from Iberia to the Balkans and the Baltics. Accurate historical information of sign and tactile languages is difficult to come by, with folk histories noting the existence signing communities across Europe hundreds of years ago. British Sign Language (BSL) and French Sign Language (LSF) are probably the oldest confirmed, continuously used sign languages. Alongside German Sign Language (DGS) according to Ethnologue, these three have the most numbers of signers, though very few institutions take appropriate statistics on contemporary signing populations, making legitimate data hard to find.^{[citation needed]}

Notably, few European sign languages have overt connections with the local majority/oral languages, aside from standard language contact and borrowing, meaning grammatically the sign languages and the oral languages of Europe are quite distinct from one another. Due to (visual/aural) modality differences, most sign languages are named for the larger ethnic nation in which they are spoken, plus the words "sign language", rendering what is spoken across much of France, Wallonia and Romandy as French Sign Language or LSF for: langue des signes française.^[59]

Recognition of non-oral languages varies widely from region to region.^[60] Some countries afford legal recognition, even to official on a state level, whereas others continue to be actively suppressed.^[61]

Though "there is a widespread belief—among both Deaf people and sign language linguists—that there are sign language families,"^[62] the actual relationship between sign languages is difficult to ascertain. Concepts and methods used in historical linguistics to describe language families for written and spoken languages are not easily mapped onto signed languages.^[63] Some of the current understandings of sign language relationships, however, provide some reasonable estimates about potential sign language families:

• Francosign languages, such as LSF, ASL, Dutch Sign Language, Flemish Sign Language, and Italian Sign Language.^[64]
• BANZSL languages, including British Sign Language (BSL), New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL), Australian Sign Language (Auslan), and Swedish Sign Language.^[65]
• Isolate languages, such as Albanian Sign Language, Armenian Sign Language, Caucasian Sign Language, Spanish Sign Language (LSE), Turkish Sign Language (TİD), and perhaps Ghardaia Sign Language.
• Many other sign languages, such as Irish Sign Language (ISL), have unclear origins.^[66]

History of standardization

Further information: Ethnic groups in Europe § History, Vernacular, and De vulgari eloquentia

Language and identity, standardization processes

In the Middle Ages the two most important defining elements of Europe were Christianitas and Latinitas.^[67]

The earliest dictionaries were glossaries: more or less structured lists of lexical pairs (in alphabetical order or according to conceptual fields). The Latin-German (Latin-Bavarian) Abrogans was 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 in standardisation of languages).^{[citation needed]}

The concept of the nation state began to emerge in the early modern period. Nations adopted particular dialects as their national language. This, together with improved communications, led to official efforts to standardise the national language, and a number of language academies were established: 1582 Accademia della Crusca in Florence, 1617 Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft in Weimar, 1635 Académie française in Paris, 1713 Real Academia Española in Madrid. Language became increasingly linked to nation as opposed to culture, and was also used to promote religious and ethnic identity: e.g. different Bible translations in the same language for Catholics and Protestants.^{[citation needed]}

The first languages whose standardisation was promoted included Italian (questione della lingua: Modern Tuscan/Florentine vs. Old Tuscan/Florentine vs. Venetian → Modern Florentine + archaic Tuscan + Upper Italian), French (the standard is based on Parisian), English (the standard is based on the London dialect) and (High) German (based on the dialects of the chancellery of Meissen in Saxony, Middle German, and the chancellery of Prague in Bohemia ("Common German")). But several other nations also began to develop a standard variety in the 16th century.^{[citation needed]}

Lingua franca

Europe has had a number of languages that were considered linguae francae over some ranges for some periods according to some historians. Typically in the rise of a national language the new language becomes a lingua franca to peoples in the range of the future nation until the consolidation and unification phases. If the nation becomes internationally influential, its language may become a lingua franca among nations that speak their own national languages. Europe has had no lingua franca ranging over its entire territory spoken by all or most of its populations during any historical period. Some linguae francae of past and present over some of its regions for some of its populations are:

• Classical Greek and then Koine Greek in the Mediterranean Basin from the Athenian Empire to the Eastern Roman Empire, being replaced by Modern Greek.
• Koine Greek and Modern Greek, in the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire and other parts of the Balkans south of the Jireček Line.^[68]
• Vulgar Latin and Late Latin among the uneducated and educated populations respectively of the Roman Empire and the states that followed it in the same range no later than 900 AD; Medieval Latin and Renaissance Latin among the educated populations of western, northern, central and part of eastern Europe until the rise of the national languages in that range, beginning with the first language academy in Italy in 1582/83; Neo-Latin written only in scholarly and scientific contexts by a small minority of the educated population at scattered locations over all of Europe; ecclesiastical Latin, in spoken and written contexts of liturgy and church administration only, over the range of the Roman Catholic Church.^{[citation needed]}
• Lingua Franca or Sabir, the original of the name, an Italian-based pidgin language of mixed origins used by maritime commercial interests around the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages and early Modern Age.^[69]
• Old French in continental western European countries and in the Crusader states.^[70]
• Czech, mainly during the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (14th century) but also during other periods of Bohemian control over the Holy Roman Empire.^{[citation needed]}
• Middle Low German, around the 14th–16th century, during the heyday of the Hanseatic League, mainly in Northeastern Europe across the Baltic Sea.
• Spanish as Castilian in Spain and New Spain from the times of the Catholic Monarchs and Columbus, c. 1492; that is, after the Reconquista, until established as a national language in the times of Louis XIV, c. 1648; subsequently multinational in all nations in or formerly in the Spanish Empire.^[71]
• Polish, due to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (16th–18th centuries).^{[citation needed]}
• Italian due to the Renaissance, the opera, the Italian Empire, the fashion industry and the influence of the Roman Catholic church.^[72]
• French from the golden age under Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV c. 1648; i.e., after the Thirty Years' War, in France and the French colonial empire, until established as the national language during the French Revolution of 1789 and subsequently multinational in all nations in or formerly in the various French Empires.^[70]
• German in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe.^[73]
• English in Great Britain until its consolidation as a national language in the Renaissance and the rise of Modern English; subsequently internationally under the various states in or formerly in the British Empire; globally since the victories of the predominantly English speaking countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and others) and their allies in the two world wars ending in 1918 (World War I) and 1945 (World War II) and the subsequent rise of the United States as a superpower and major cultural influence.^{[citation needed]}
• Russian in the former Soviet Union and Russian Empire including Northern and Central Asia.^{[citation needed]}

Linguistic minorities

Historical attitudes towards linguistic diversity are illustrated by two French laws: the Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts (1539), which said that every document in France should be written in French (neither in Latin nor in Occitan) and the Loi Toubon (1994), which aimed to eliminate anglicisms from official documents. States and populations within a state have often resorted to war to settle their differences. There have been attempts to prevent such hostilities: two such initiatives were promoted by the Council of Europe, founded in 1949, which affirms the right of minority language speakers to use their language fully and freely.^[74] The Council of Europe is committed to protecting linguistic diversity. Currently all European countries except France, Andorra and Turkey have signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, while Greece, Iceland and Luxembourg have signed it, but have not ratified it; this framework entered into force in 1998. Another European treaty, the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, was adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe: it entered into force in 1998, and while it is legally binding for 24 countries, France, Iceland, Italy, North Macedonia, Moldova and Russia have chosen to sign without ratifying the convention.^{[citation needed]}

Scripts

 

Alphabets used in European national languages:

  Greek

  Greek & Latin

  Latin

  Latin & Cyrillic

  Cyrillic

  Georgian

  Armenian

The main scripts used in Europe today are the Latin and Cyrillic.^[75]

The Greek alphabet was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, and Latin was derived from the Greek via the Old Italic alphabet. In the Early Middle Ages, Ogham was used in Ireland and runes (derived from Old Italic script) in Scandinavia. Both were replaced in general use by the Latin alphabet by the Late Middle Ages. The Cyrillic script was derived from the Greek with the first texts appearing around 940 AD.^{[citation needed]}

See also: Antiqua–Fraktur dispute

Around 1900 there were mainly two typeface variants of the Latin alphabet used in Europe: Antiqua and Fraktur. Fraktur was used most for German, Estonian, Latvian, Norwegian and Danish whereas Antiqua was used for Italian, Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese, English, Romanian, Swedish and Finnish. The Fraktur variant was banned by Hitler in 1941, having been described as "Schwabacher Jewish letters".^[76] Other scripts have historically been in use in Europe, including Phoenician, from which modern Latin letters descend, Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs on Egyptian artefacts traded during Antiquity, various runic systems used in Northern Europe preceding Christianisation, and Arabic during the era of the Ottoman Empire.^{[citation needed]}

Hungarian rovás was used by the Hungarian people in the early Middle Ages, but it was gradually replaced with the Latin-based Hungarian alphabet when Hungary became a kingdom, though it was revived in the 20th century and has certain marginal, but growing area of usage since then.^{[citation needed]}

European Union

Main article: Languages of the European Union

The European Union (as of 2021) had 27 member states accounting for a population of 447 million, or about 60% of the population of Europe.^{[citation needed]}

The European Union has designated by agreement with the member states 24 languages as "official and working": Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.^[77] This designation provides member states with two "entitlements": the member state may communicate with the EU in any of the designated languages, and view "EU regulations and other legislative documents" in that language.^[78]

The European Union and the Council of Europe have been collaborating in education of member populations in languages for "the promotion of plurilingualism" among EU member states.^[79] The joint document, "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR)", is an educational standard defining "the competencies necessary for communication" and related knowledge for the benefit of educators in setting up educational programs. In a 2005 independent survey requested by the EU's Directorate-General for Education and Culture regarding the extent to which major European languages were spoken in member states. The results were published in a 2006 document, "Europeans and Their Languages", or "Eurobarometer 243". In this study, statistically relevant^{[clarification needed][Do you mean "significant"?]} samples of the population in each country were asked to fill out a survey form concerning the languages that they spoke with sufficient competency "to be able to have a conversation".^[80]

List of languages

Further information: List of European languages by number of speakers, List of endangered languages in Europe, and List of extinct languages of Europe

The following is a table of European languages. The number of speakers as a first or second language (L1 and L2 speakers) listed are speakers in Europe only;^{[nb 1]} see list of languages by number of native speakers and list of languages by total number of speakers for global estimates on numbers of speakers.^{[citation needed]}

The list is intended to include any language variety with an ISO 639 code. However, it omits sign languages. Because the ISO-639-2 and ISO-639-3 codes have different definitions, this means that some communities of speakers may be listed more than once. For instance, speakers of Bavarian are listed both under "Bavarian" (ISO-639-3 code bar) as well as under "German" (ISO-639-2 code de).^[81]

Name	ISO- 639	Classification	Speakers in Europe		Official status
			Native	Total	National^[nb 2]	Regional
Abaza	abq	Northwest Caucasian, Abazgi	49,800^[82]			Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia)
Adyghe	ady	Northwest Caucasian, Circassian	117,500^[83]			Adygea (Russia)
Aghul	agx	Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic	29,300^[84]			Dagestan (Russia)
Akhvakh	akv	Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic	210^[85]
Albanian (Shqip) Arbëresh Arvanitika	sq	Indo-European	5,367,000^[86] 5,877,100^[87] (Balkans)		Albania, Kosovo^[nb 3], North Macedonia	Italy, Arbëresh dialect: Sicily, Calabria,^[88] Apulia, Molise, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Campania Montenegro (Ulcinj, Tuzi)
Andi	ani	Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic	5,800^[89]
Aragonese	an	Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian	25,000^[90]	55,000^[91]		Northern Aragon (Spain)^[nb 4]
Archi	acq	Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic	970^[92]
Aromanian	rup	Indo-European, Romance, Eastern	114,000^[93]			North Macedonia (Kruševo)
Asturian (Astur-Leonese)	ast	Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian	351,791^[94]	641,502^[94]		Asturias^[nb 4]
Avar	av	Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic	760,000			Dagestan (Russia)
Azerbaijani	az	Turkic, Oghuz	500,000^[95]		Azerbaijan	Dagestan (Russia)
Bagvalal	kva	Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic	1,500^[96]
Bashkir	ba	Turkic, Kipchak	1,221,000^[97]			Bashkortostan (Russia)
Basque	eu	Basque	750,000^[98]			Basque Country: Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre (Spain), French Basque Country (France)^[nb 4]
Bavarian	bar	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Bavarian	14,000,000^[99]		Austria (as German)	South Tyrol
Belarusian	be	Indo-European, Slavic, East	3,300,000^[100]		Belarus
Bezhta	kap	Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic	6,800^[101]
Bosnian	bs	Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian	2,500,000^[102]		Bosnia and Herzegovina	Kosovo^[nb 3], Montenegro
Botlikh	bph	Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic	210^[103]
Breton	br	Indo-European, Celtic, Brittonic	206,000^[104]			None, de facto status in Brittany (France)
Bulgarian	bg	Indo-European, Slavic, South, Eastern	7,800,000^[105]		Bulgaria	Mount Athos (Greece)
Catalan	ca	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Occitano-Romance	4,000,000^[106]	10,000,000^[107]	Andorra	Balearic Islands (Spain), Catalonia (Spain), Valencian Community (Spain), easternmost Aragon (Spain)^[nb 4], Pyrénées-Orientales (France)^[nb 4], Alghero (Italy)
Chamalal	cji	Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic	500^[108]
Chechen	ce	Northeast Caucasian, Nakh	1,400,000^[109]			Chechnya & Dagestan (Russia)
Chuvash	cv	Turkic, Oghur	1,100,000^[110]			Chuvashia (Russia)
Cimbrian	cim	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Bavarian	400^[111]
Cornish	kw	Indo-European, Celtic, Brittonic	563^[112]			Cornwall (United Kingdom)^[nb 4]
Corsican	co	Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian	30,000^[113]	125,000^[113]		Corsica (France), Sardinia (Italy)
Crimean Tatar	crh	Turkic, Kipchak	480,000^[114]			Crimea (Ukraine)
Croatian	hr	Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian	5,600,000^[115]		Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia	Burgenland (Austria), Vojvodina (Serbia)
Czech	cs	Indo-European, Slavic, West, Czech–Slovak	10,600,000^[116]		Czech Republic
Danish	da	Indo-European, Germanic, North	5,500,000^[117]		Denmark	Faroe Islands (Denmark), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)^[118]
Dargwa	dar	Northeast Caucasian, Dargin	490,000^[119]			Dagestan (Russia)
Dutch	nl	Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Franconian	22,000,000^[120]		Belgium, Netherlands
Elfdalian	ovd	Indo-European, Germanic, North	2000
Emilian	egl	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic
English	en	Indo-European, Germanic, West, Anglo-Frisian, Anglic	63,000,000^[121]	260,000,000^[122]	Ireland, Malta, United Kingdom
Erzya	myv	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Mordvinic	120,000^[123]			Mordovia (Russia)
Estonian	et	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic	1,165,400^[124]		Estonia
Extremaduran	ext	Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian	200,000^[125]
Fala	fax	Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian	11,000^[126]
Faroese	fo	Indo-European, Germanic, North	66,150^[127]			Faroe Islands (Denmark)
Finnish	fi	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic	5,400,000^[128]		Finland	Sweden, Norway, Republic of Karelia (Russia)
Franco-Provençal (Arpitan)	frp	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance	140,000^[129]			Aosta Valley (Italy)
French	fr	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl	81,000,000^[130]	210,000,000^[122]	Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland, Jersey	Aosta Valley^[131] (Italy
Frisian	fry frr stq	Indo-European, Germanic, West, Anglo-Frisian	470,000^[132]			Friesland (Netherlands), Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)^[133]
Friulan	fur	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic	600,000^[134]			Friuli (Italy)
Gagauz	gag	Turkic, Oghuz	140,000^[135]			Gagauzia (Moldova)
Galician	gl	Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian	2,400,000^[136]			Galicia (Spain), Eo-Navia (Asturias)^[nb 4], Bierzo (Province of León)^[nb 4] and Western Sanabria (Province of Zamora)^[nb 4]
German	de	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German	97,000,000^[137]	170,000,000^[122]	Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland	South Tyrol,^[138] Friuli-Venezia Giulia^[139] (Italy)
Godoberi	gin	Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic	130^[140]
Greek	el	Indo-European, Hellenic	13,500,000^[141]		Cyprus, Greece	Albania (Himara, Finiq, Dervican and other southern townships)
Hinuq	gin	Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic	350^[142]
Hungarian	hu	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Ugric	13,000,000^[143]		Hungary	Burgenland (Austria), Vojvodina (Serbia), Romania, Slovakia, Subcarpathia (Ukraine), Prekmurje, (Slovenia)
Hunzib	bph	Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic	1,400^[144]
Icelandic	is	Indo-European, Germanic, North	330,000^[145]		Iceland
Ingrian	izh	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic	120^[146]
Ingush	inh	Northeast Caucasian, Nakh	300,000^[147]			Ingushetia (Russia)
Irish	ga	Indo-European, Celtic, Goidelic	240,000^[148]	2,000,000	Ireland	Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)
Istriot	ist	Indo-European, Romance	900^[149]
Istro-Romanian	ruo	Indo-European, Romance, Eastern	1,100^[150]
Italian	it	Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian	65,000,000^[151]	82,000,000^[122]	Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City	Istria County (Croatia), Slovenian Istria (Slovenia)
Italiot Greek	mis	Indo-European, Hellenic, Greek, Attic-Ionic	20,000 native speakers in 1981^[152]	50,000		Calabria^[153] (Bovesia), Apulia^[citation needed] (Salento), (Italy)
Judeo-Italian	itk	Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian	250^[154]
Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino)	lad	Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian	320,000^[155]	few^[156]		Bosnia and Herzegovina^[nb 4], France^[nb 4]
Kabardian	kbd	Northwest Caucasian, Circassian	530,000^[157]			Kabardino-Balkaria & Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia)
Kaitag	xdq	Northeast Caucasian, Dargin	30,000^[158]
Kalmyk	xal	Mongolic	80,500^[159]			Kalmykia (Russia)
Karata	kpt	Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic	260^[160]
Karelian	krl	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic	36,000^[161]			Republic of Karelia (Russia)
Karachay-Balkar	krc	Turkic, Kipchak	300,000^[162]			Kabardino-Balkaria & Karachay-Cherkessia (Russia)
Kashubian	csb	Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechitic	50,000^[163]			Poland
Kazakh	kk	Turkic, Kipchak	1,000,000^[164]		Kazakhstan	Astrakhan Oblast (Russia)
Khwarshi	khv	Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic	1,700^[165]
Komi	kv	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Permic	220,000^[166]			Komi Republic (Russia)
Kubachi	ugh	Northeast Caucasian, Dargin	7,000^[167]
Kumyk	kum	Turkic, Kipchak	450,000^[168]			Dagestan (Russia)
Kven	fkv	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic	2000-8000			Norway
Lak	lbe	Northeast Caucasian, Lak	152,050^[169]			Dagestan (Russia)
Latin	la	Indo-European, Italic, Latino-Faliscan	extinct	few^[170]	Vatican City
Latvian	lv	Indo-European, Baltic	1,750,000^[171]		Latvia
Lezgin	lez	Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic	397,000^[172]			Dagestan (Russia)
Ligurian	lij	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic	500,000^[173]		Monaco (Monégasque dialect is the "national language")	Liguria (Italy), Carloforte and Calasetta (Sardinia, Italy)^[174]^[175]
Limburgish	li lim	Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Franconian	1,300,000 (2001)^[176]			Limburg (Belgium), Limburg (Netherlands)
Lithuanian	lt	Indo-European, Baltic	3,000,000^[177]		Lithuania
Livonian	liv	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic	1^[178]	210^[179]	Latvia^[nb 4]
Lombard	lmo	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic	3,600,000^[180]			Lombardy (Italy)
Low German (Low Saxon)	nds wep	Indo-European, Germanic, West	1,000,000^[181]	2,600,000^[181]		Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)^[182]
Ludic	lud	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic	300^[183]
Luxembourgish	lb	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German	336,000^[184]	386,000^[184]	Luxembourg	Wallonia (Belgium)
Macedonian	mk	Indo-European, Slavic, South, Eastern	1,400,000^[185]		North Macedonia
Mainfränkisch	vmf	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper	4,900,000^[186]
Maltese	mt	Semitic, Arabic	520,000^[187]		Malta
Manx	gv	Indo-European, Celtic, Goidelic	230^[188]	2,300^[189]		Isle of Man
Mari	chm mhr mrj	Uralic, Finno-Ugric	500,000^[190]			Mari El (Russia)
Megleno-Romanian	ruq	Indo-European, Romance, Eastern	3,000^[191]
Minderico	drc	Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian	500^[192]
Mirandese	mwl	Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian	15,000^[193]			Miranda do Douro (Portugal)
Moksha	mdf	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Mordvinic	2,000^[194]			Mordovia (Russia)
Montenegrin	cnr	Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian	240,700^[195]		Montenegro
Neapolitan	nap	Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian	5,700,000^[196]			Campania (Italy)^[197]
Nenets	yrk	Uralic, Samoyedic	4,000^[198]			Nenets Autonomous Okrug (Russia)
Nogai	nog	Turkic, Kipchak	87,000^[199]			Dagestan (Russia)
Norman	nrf	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl	50,000^[200]			Guernsey (United Kingdom), Jersey (United Kingdom)
Norwegian	no	Indo-European, Germanic, North	5,200,000^[201]		Norway
Occitan	oc	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Occitano-Romance	500,000^[202]			Catalonia (Spain)^[nb 5]
Ossetian	os	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern	450,000^[203]			North Ossetia-Alania (Russia), South Ossetia
Palatinate German	pfl	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central	1,000,000^[204]
Picard	pcd	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl	200,000^[205]			Wallonia (Belgium)
Piedmontese	pms	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic	1,600,000^[206]			Piedmont (Italy)^[207]
Polish	pl	Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechitic	38,500,000^[208]		Poland
Portuguese	pt	Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian	10,000,000^[209]		Portugal
Rhaeto-Romance	fur lld roh	Indo-European, Romance, Western	370,000^[210]		Switzerland	Veneto Belluno, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, South Tyrol,^[211] & Trentino (Italy)
Ripuarian (Platt)	ksh	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central	900,000^[212]
Romagnol	rgn	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Italic
Romani	rom	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Western	1,500,000^[213]			Kosovo^[nb 3]^[214]
Romanian	ro	Indo-European, Romance, Eastern	24,000,000^[215]	28,000,000^[216]	Moldova, Romania	Mount Athos (Greece), Vojvodina (Serbia)
Russian	ru	Indo-European, Slavic, East	106,000,000^[217]	160,000,000^[217]	Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia	Mount Athos (Greece), Gagauzia (Moldova), Left Bank of the Dniester (Moldova), Ukraine
Rusyn	rue	Indo-European, Slavic, East	70,000^[218]
Rutul	rut	Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic	36,400^[219]			Dagestan (Russia)
Sami	se	Uralic, Finno-Ugric	23,000^[220]		Norway	Sweden, Finland
Sardinian	sc	Indo-European, Romance	1,350,000^[221]			Sardinia (Italy)
Scots	sco	Indo-European, Germanic, West, Anglo-Frisian, Anglic	110,000^[222]			Scotland (United Kingdom), County Donegal (Republic of Ireland), Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)
Scottish Gaelic	gd	Indo-European, Celtic, Goidelic	57,000^[223]			Scotland (United Kingdom)
Serbian	sr	Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western, Serbo-Croatian	9,000,000^[224]		Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo^[nb 3], Serbia	Croatia, Mount Athos (Greece), North Macedonia, Montenegro
Sicilian	scn	Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian	4,700,000^[225]			Sicily (Italy)
Silesian	szl	Indo-European, Slavic, West, Lechitic	522,000^[226]
Silesian German	sli	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central	11,000^[227]
Slovak	sk	Indo-European, Slavic, West, Czech–Slovak	5,200,000^[228]		Slovakia	Vojvodina (Serbia), Czech Republic
Slovene	sl	Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western	2,100,000^[229]		Slovenia	Friuli-Venezia Giulia^[139] (Italy)
Sorbian (Wendish)	wen	Indo-European, Slavic, West	20,000^[230]			Brandenburg & Sachsen (Germany)^[231]
Spanish	es	Indo-European, Romance, Western, West Iberian	47,000,000^[232]	76,000,000^[122]	Spain	Gibraltar (United Kingdom)
Swabian German	swg	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Alemannic	820,000^[233]
Swedish	sv	Indo-European, Germanic, North	11,100,000^[234]	13,280,000^[234]	Sweden, Finland, Åland and Estonia
Swiss German	gsw	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Alemannic	5,000,000^[235]		Switzerland (as German)
Tabasaran	tab	Northeast Caucasian, Lezgic	126,900^[236]			Dagestan (Russia)
Tat	ttt	Indo-European, Iranian, Western	30,000^[237]			Dagestan (Russia)
Tatar	tt	Turkic, Kipchak	4,300,000^[238]			Tatarstan (Russia)
Tindi	tin	Northeast Caucasian, Avar–Andic	2,200^[239]
Tsez	ddo	Northeast Caucasian, Tsezic	13,000^[240]
Turkish	tr	Turkic, Oghuz	15,752,673^[241]		Turkey, Cyprus	Northern Cyprus
Udmurt	udm	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Permic	340,000^[242]			Udmurtia (Russia)
Ukrainian	uk	Indo-European, Slavic, East	32,600,000^[243]		Ukraine	Left Bank of the Dniester (Moldova)
Upper Saxon	sxu	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Central	2,000,000^[244]
Vepsian	vep	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic	1,640^[245]			Republic of Karelia (Russia)
Venetian	vec	Indo-European, Romance, Italo-Dalmatian	3,800,000^[246]			Veneto (Italy)^[247]
Võro	vro	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic	87,000^[248]			Võru County (Estonia)
Votic	vot	Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Finnic	21^[249]
Walloon	wa	Indo-European, Romance, Western, Gallo-Romance, Oïl	600,000^[250]			Wallonia (Belgium)
Walser German	wae	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, Upper, Alemannic	20,000^[251]
Welsh	cy	Indo-European, Celtic, Brittonic	562,000^[252]	750,000		Wales (United Kingdom)
Wymysorys	wym	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German	70^[253]
Yenish	yec	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German	16,000^[254]			Switzerland^[nb 4]
Yiddish	yi	Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German	600,000^[255]			Bosnia and Herzegovina^[nb 4], Netherlands^[nb 4], Poland^[nb 4], Romania^[nb 4], Sweden^[nb 4], Ukraine^[nb 4]
Zeelandic	zea	Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Franconian	220,000^[256]

Languages spoken in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, and Turkey

There are various definitions of Europe, which may or may not include all or parts of Turkey, Cyprus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. For convenience, the languages and associated statistics for all five of these countries are grouped together on this page, as they are usually presented at a national, rather than subnational, level.

Name	ISO- 639	Classification	Speakers in expanded geopolitical Europe		Official status
			L1	L1+L2	National^[nb 6]	Regional
Abkhaz	ab	Northwest Caucasian, Abazgi	Abkhazia/Georgia:^[257] 191,000^[258] Turkey: 44,000^[259]		Abkhazia	Abkhazia
Adyghe (West Circassian)	ady	Northwest Caucasian, Circassian	Turkey: 316,000^[259]
Albanian	sq	Indo-European, Albanian	Turkey: 66,000 (Tosk)^[259]
Arabic	ar	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, West	Turkey: 2,437,000 Not counting post-2014 Syrian refugees^[259]
Armenian	hy	Indo-European, Armenian	Armenia: 3 million^[260] Azerbaijan: 145,000 ^[citation needed] Georgia: around 0.2 million ethnic Armenians (Abkhazia: 44,870^[261]) Turkey: 61,000^[259] Cyprus: 668^[262]^: 3		Armenia Azerbaijan	Cyprus
Azerbaijani	az	Turkic, Oghuz	Azerbaijan 9 million^[citation needed]^[263] Turkey: 540,000^[259] Georgia 0.2 million		Azerbaijan
Batsbi	bbl	Northeast Caucasian, Nakh	Georgia: 500^[264]^[needs update]
Bulgarian	bg	Indo-European, Slavic, South	Turkey: 351,000^[259]
Crimean Tatar	crh	Turkic, Kipchak	Turkey: 100,000^[259]
Georgian	ka	Kartvelian, Karto-Zan	Georgia: 3,224,696^[265] Turkey: 151,000^[259] Azerbaijan: 9,192 ethnic Georgians^[266]		Georgia
Greek	el	Indo-European, Hellenic	Cyprus: 679,883^[267]^: 2.2 Turkey: 3,600^[259]		Cyprus
Juhuri	jdt	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Southwest	Azerbaijan: 24,000 (1989)^[268]^[needs update]
Kurdish	kur	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Northwest	Turkey: 15 million^[269] Azerbaijan: 9,000^[citation needed]
Kurmanji	kmr	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Northwest	Turkey: 8.13 million^[270] Armenia: 33,509^[271] Georgia: 14,000 ^[citation needed]			Armenia
Laz	lzz	Kartvelian, Karto-Zan, Zan	Turkey: 20,000^[272] Georgia: 2,000^[272]
Megleno-Romanian	ruq	Indo-European, Italic, Romance, East	Turkey: 4–5,000^[273]
Mingrelian	xmf	Kartvelian, Karto-Zan, Zan	Georgia (including Abkhazia): 344,000^[274]
Pontic Greek	pnt	Indo-European, Hellenic	Turkey: greater than 5,000^[275] Armenia: 900 ethnic Caucasus Greeks^[276] Georgia: 5,689 Caucasus Greeks^[265]
Romani language and Domari language	rom, dmt	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indic	Turkey: 500,000^[259]
Russian	ru	Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic	Armenia: 15,000^[277] Azerbaijan: 250,000^[277] Georgia: 130,000^[277]	Armenia: about 0.9 million^[278] Azerbaijan: about 2.6 million^[278] Georgia: about 1 million^[278] Cyprus: 20,984^[279]	Abkhazia South Ossetia	Armenia Azerbaijan
Svan	sva	Kartvelian, Svan	Georgia (incl. Abkhazia): 30,000^[280]
Tat	ttt	Indo-European, Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Southwest	Azerbaijan: 10,000^[281]^[needs update]
Turkish	tr	Turkic, Oghuz	Turkey: 66,850,000^[259] Cyprus: 1,405^[282] + 265,100 in the North^[283]		Turkey Cyprus Northern Cyprus
Zazaki	zza	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Northwest	Turkey: 3–4 million (2009)^[284]^[285]

Immigrant communities

Recent (post–1945) immigration to Europe introduced substantial communities of speakers of non-European languages.^[3]

The largest such communities include Arabic speakers (see Arabs in Europe) and Turkish speakers (beyond European Turkey and the historical sphere of influence of the Ottoman Empire, see Turks in Europe).^[286] Armenians, Berbers, and Kurds have diaspora communities of c. 1–2,000,000 each. The various languages of Africa and languages of India form numerous smaller diaspora communities.

List of the largest immigrant languages

Name	ISO 639	Classification	Native	Ethnic diaspora
Arabic	ar	Afro-Asiatic, Semitic	5,000,000^[287]	12,000,000^[288]
Turkish	tr	Turkic, Oghuz	3,000,000^[289]	7,000,000^[290]
Armenian	hy	Indo-European	1,000,000^[291]	3,000,000^[292]
Kurdish	ku	Indo-European, Iranian, Western	600,000^[293]	1,000,000^[294]
Bengali–Assamese	bn as syl	Indo-European, Indo-Aryan	600,000^[295]	1,000,000^[296]
Azerbaijani	az	Turkic, Oghuz	500,000^[297]	700,000^[298]
Kabyle	kab	Afro-Asiatic, Berber	500,000^[299]	1,000,000^[300]
Chinese	zh	Sino-Tibetan, Sinitic	300,000^[301]	2,000,000^[302]
Urdu	ur	Indo-European, Indo-Aryan	300,000^[303]	1,800,000^[304]
Uzbek	uz	Turkic, Karluk	300,000^[305]	2,000,000^[306]
Persian	fa	Indo-European, Iranian, Western	300,000^[307]	400,000^[308]
Punjabi	pa	Indo-European, Indo-Aryan	300,000^[309]	700,000^[310]
Gujarati	gu	Indo-European, Indo-Aryan	200,000^[311]	600,000^[312]
Tamil	ta	Dravidian	200,000^[313]	500,000^[314]
Somali	so	Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic	200,000^[315]	400,000^[316]

See also

•  Europe portal
•  Language portal

• Ethnic groups in Europe
• Eurolinguistics
• European Day of Languages
• Greek East and Latin West
• List of endangered languages in Europe
• List of multilingual countries and regions of Europe
• Standard Average European
• Travellingua

Notes

1. "Europe" is taken as a geographical term, defined by the conventional Europe-Asia boundary along the Caucasus and the Urals. Estimates for populations geographically in Europe are given for transcontinental countries.
2. Sovereign states, defined as United Nations member states and observer states. 'Recognised minority language' status is not included.
3. The Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognized state (recognized by 111 out of 193 UN member states as of 2017).
4. Recognized and protected, but not official.
5. The Aranese dialect, in Val d'Aran county.
6. Sovereign states, defined as United Nations member states and observer states. 'Recognised minority language' status is not included.

References

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2. "European Day of Languages > Facts > Language Facts". edl.ecml.at. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
3. "International migrant stock: By destination and origin". United Nations.
4. Emery, Chad (15 December 2022). "34 of the Most Spoken Languages in Europe: Key Facts and Figures". Langoly. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
5. Sipka, Danko (2022). "The Geography of Words" (PDF). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
6. Versloot, Arjen; Adamczyk, Elzbieta (1 January 2017). "The Geography and Dialects of Old Saxon: River-basin communication networks and the distributional patterns of North Sea Germanic features in Old Saxon". Frisians and Their North Sea Neighbours: 125.
7. "The Evolution of English: Contribution of European Languages". www.98thpercentile.com. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
8. "Scots language | History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
9. Kuipers-Zandberg, Helga; Kircher, Ruth (1 November 2020). "The Objective and Subjective Ethnolinguistic Vitality of West Frisian: Promotion and Perception of a Minority Language in the Netherlands". Sustainable Multilingualism. 17 (1): 1–25. doi:10.2478/sm-2020-0011. S2CID 227129146.
10. Winter, Christoph (21 December 2022), "Frisian", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.938, ISBN 978-0-19-938465-5, retrieved 21 May 2023
11. "Dutch language | Definition, Origin, History, Countries, Examples, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
12. "German, Standard | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 23 December 2023.
13. "Origins of Yiddish". sites.santafe.edu. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
14. Russ, Charles (13 September 2013). The Dialects of Modern German. doi:10.4324/9781315001777. ISBN 9781315001777.
15. "Linguist makes sensational claim: English is a Scandinavian language". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
16. "Linguistic variety in the Nordics". nordics.info. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
17. Gooskens, Charlotte; Kürschner, Sebastian; Heuven, Vincent J. van (4 August 2021). "The role of loanwords in the intelligibility of written Danish among Swedes". Nordic Journal of Linguistics. 45 (1): 4–29. doi:10.1017/S0332586521000111. hdl:1887/3205273. ISSN 0332-5865.
18. Gooskens, Charlotte; van Heuven, Vincent J.; Golubović, Jelena; Schüppert, Anja; Swarte, Femke; Voigt, Stefanie (3 April 2018). "Mutual intelligibility between closely related languages in Europe". International Journal of Multilingualism. 15 (2): 169–193. doi:10.1080/14790718.2017.1350185. hdl:1887/79190. ISSN 1479-0718.
19. "Limburgish- Limburgse taal & Limburgs dialect | Limburgs.org". Limbörgse Academie. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
20. Ti Alkire; Carol Rosen (2010). Romance languages: a Historical Introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 3.
21. Sergio Lubello (2016). Manuale Di Linguistica Italiana, Manuals of Romance linguistics. De Gruyter. p. 499.
22. This includes all of the varieties of Sardinian, written with any orthography (the LSC, used for all of Sardinian, or the Logudorese, Nugorese and Campidanese orthographies, only used for some dialects of it) but does not include Gallurese and Sassarese, that even though they have sometimes been included in a supposed Sardinian "macro-language" are actually considered by all Sardinian linguists two different transitional languages between Sardinian and Corsican (or, in the case of Gallurese, are sometimes classified as a variant of Corsican). For Gallurese: ATTI DEL II CONVEGNO INTERNAZIONALE DI STUDI Ciurrata di la Linga Gadduresa, 2014 , for Sassarese: Maxia, Mauro (2010). Studi sardo-corsi. Dialettologia e storia della lingua tra le due isole (in Italian). Sassari: Taphros. p. 58. La tesi che individua nel sassarese una base essenzialmente toscana deve essere riesaminata alla luce delle cospicue migrazioni corse che fin dall'età giudicale interessarono soprattutto il nord della Sardegna. In effetti, che il settentrione della Sardegna, almeno dalla metà del Quattrocento, fosse interessato da un forte presenza corsa si può desumere da diversi punti di osservazione. Una delle prove più evidenti è costituita dall'espressa citazione che di questo fenomeno fa il cap. 42 del secondo libro degli Statuti del comune di Sassari, il quale fu aggiunto nel 1435 o subito dopo. Se si tiene conto di questa massiccia presenza corsa e del fatto che la presenza pisana nel regno di Logudoro cessò definitivamente entro il Duecento, l'origine del fondo toscano non andrà attribuita a un influsso diretto del pisano antico ma del corso che rappresenta, esso stesso, una conseguenza dell'antica toscanizzazione della Corsica). They are legally considered two different languages by the Sardinian Regional Government too (Autonomous Region of Sardinia (15 October 1997). (in Italian). pp. Art. 2, paragraph 4. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2008.).
23. Friedman, Lawrence; Perez-Perdomo, Rogelio (2003). Legal Culture in the Age of Globalization: Latin America and Latin Europe. Stanford University Press. p. 1. ISBN 0-8047-6695-9.
24. "Slavic languages | List, Definition, Origin, Map, Tree, History, & Number of Speakers | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
25. "Polish | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
26. "Ukrainian | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
27. "Czech | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
28. "Bulgarian | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
29. "Slovak | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
30. "Belarusian | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
31. "Slovene | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
32. "Macedonian Language". Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
33. "Slavic | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
34. F. Violi, Lessico Grecanico-Italiano-Grecanico, Apodiafàzzi, Reggio Calabria, 1997.
35. Paolo Martino, L'isola grecanica dell'Aspromonte. Aspetti sociolinguistici, 1980. Risultati di un'inchiesta del 1977
36. Filippo Violi, Storia degli studi e della letteratura popolare grecanica, C.S.E. Bova (RC), 1992
37. Filippo Condemi, Grammatica Grecanica, Coop. Contezza, Reggio Calabria, 1987;
38. "In Salento e Calabria le voci della minoranza linguistica greca". Treccani, l'Enciclopedia italiana.
39. Dansby, Angela (16 December 2020). "The last speakers of ancient Sparta". BBC Home. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
40. Pronk, Tijmen (2017). USQUE AD RADICES Indo-European studies in honour of Birgit Anette Olsen: Curonian accentuation. Copenhagen, Denmark: Museum Tusculanum Press. p. 659. ISBN 9788763545761.
41. Vaba, Lembit (July 2014). "Curonian linguistic elements in Livonian". Eesti ja Soome-Ugri Keeleteaduse Ajakiri. 5 (1): 173–191. doi:10.12697/jeful.2014.5.1.09. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
42. Nomachi, Motoki (2019). "Placing Kashubian in the Circum-Baltic (CB) area". Prace Filologiczne. LXXIV (2019): 315–328. doi:10.32798/pf.470. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
43. Mažiulis, Vytautas J. (26 July 1999). "Baltic Languages". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
44. Szatkowski, Piotr (January 2022). "Language Practices in a Family of Prussian Language Revivalists: Conclusions Based on Short-Term Participant Observation". Adeptus (2626): 173. doi:10.11649/a.2626. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
45. "Welsh | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 23 December 2023.
46. "Cornish | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 23 December 2023.
47. "Breton | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 23 December 2023.
48. "Irish | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 23 December 2023.
49. "Scottish Gaelic | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 23 December 2023.
50. "Manx | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 23 December 2023.
51. "Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic". www.asnc.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
52. "Celtic languages | History, Features, Origin, Map, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
53. "Kartvelian languages | Kartvelian, Georgian, Svan & Laz". Britannica. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
54. Alexander, Marie; et al. (2009). . International Association of Maltese Linguistics. Archived from the original on 23 June 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
55. Aquilina, J. (1958). "Maltese as a Mixed Language". Journal of Semitic Studies. 3 (1): 58–79. doi:10.1093/jss/3.1.58.
56. Aquilina, Joseph (July–September 1960). "The Structure of Maltese". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 80 (3): 267–68. doi:10.2307/596187. JSTOR 596187.
57. Werner, Louis; Calleja, Alan (November–December 2004). . Saudi Aramco World. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
58. "Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | Ethnologue Free". Ethnologue (Free All). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
59. "La Langue des signes française (LSF) | Fondation pour l'audition". www.fondationpourlaudition.org. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
60. Reagan, Timothy (2014). "Language Policy for Sign Languages". The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. pp. 1–6. doi:10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1417. ISBN 9781405194730.
61. Murray, Joseph J. (2015). "Linguistic Human Rights Discourse in Deaf Community Activism". Sign Language Studies. 15 (4): 379–410. doi:10.1353/sls.2015.0012. JSTOR 26190995. PMC 4490244. PMID 26190995.
62. Reagan, Timothy (2021). "Historical Linguistics and the Case for Sign Language Families". Sign Language Studies. 21 (4): 427–454. doi:10.1353/sls.2021.0006. ISSN 1533-6263. S2CID 236778280.
63. Power, Justin M. (2022). "Historical Linguistics of Sign Languages: Progress and Problems". Frontiers in Psychology. 13. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.818753. ISSN 1664-1078. PMC 8959496. PMID 35356353.
64. Andrews, Bruce. "The rich diversity of sign languages explained". news.csu.edu.au. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
65. "BANZSL". www.signcommunity.org.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
66. "Chapter 2. The Linguistic Setup of Sign Languages – The Case of Irish Sign Language (ISL)", Mouth Actions in Sign Languages (in German), De Gruyter Mouton, 28 July 2014, pp. 4–30, doi:10.1515/9781614514978.4, ISBN 978-1-61451-497-8
67. Mark, Joshua (28 June 2019). "Religion in the Middle Ages". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
68. Counelis, James Steve (March 1976). "Review [untitled] of Ariadna Camariano-Cioran, Les Academies Princieres de Bucarest et de Jassy et leur Professeurs". Church History. 45 (1): 115–116. doi:10.2307/3164593. JSTOR 3164593. S2CID 162293323. ...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.
69. Wansbrough, John E. (1996). "Chapter 3: Lingua Franca". Lingua Franca in the Mediterranean. Routledge.
70. Calvet, Louis Jean (1998). Language wars and linguistic politics. Oxford [England]; New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 175–76.
71. Jones, Branwen Gruffydd (2006). Decolonizing international relations. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 98.
72. Kahane, Henry (September 1986). "A Typology of the Prestige Language". Language. 62 (3): 495–508. doi:10.2307/415474. JSTOR 415474.
73. Darquennes, Jeroen; Nelde, Peter (2006). "German as a Lingua Franca". Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 26: 61–77. doi:10.1017/s0267190506000043. S2CID 61449212.
74. "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: Strasbourg, 5.XI.1992". Council of Europe. 1992.
75. Dimitrov, Bogoya (19 May 2023). "Book Exhibition Dedicated to the Day of the Cyrillic Alphabet". The EUI Library Blog. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
76. Facsimile of Bormann's Memorandum (in German)
    The memorandum itself is typed in Antiqua, but the NSDAP letterhead is printed in Fraktur.
    "For general attention, on behalf of the Führer, I make the following announcement:
    It is wrong to regard or to describe the so‑called Gothic script as a German script. In reality, the so‑called Gothic script consists of Schwabach Jew letters. Just as they later took control of the newspapers, upon the introduction of printing the Jews residing in Germany took control of the printing presses and thus in Germany the Schwabach Jew letters were forcefully introduced.
    Today the Führer, talking with Herr Reichsleiter Amann and Herr Book Publisher Adolf Müller, has decided that in the future the Antiqua script is to be described as normal script. All printed materials are to be gradually converted to this normal script. As soon as is feasible in terms of textbooks, only the normal script will be taught in village and state schools.
    The use of the Schwabach Jew letters by officials will in future cease; appointment certifications for functionaries, street signs, and so forth will in future be produced only in normal script.
    On behalf of the Führer, Herr Reichsleiter Amann will in future convert those newspapers and periodicals that already have foreign distribution, or whose foreign distribution is desired, to normal script".
77. "Languages Policy: Linguistic diversity: Official languages of the EU". European Commission, European Union. 4 June 2009. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
78. . European Commission, European Union. 2009. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
79. . Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 30 October 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
80. "Europeans and Their Languages" (PDF). European Commission. 2006. p. 8. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
81. "Relationships to other parts of ISO 639 | ISO 639-3". iso639-3.sil.org. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
82. Abaza at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
83. Adyghe at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
84. Aghul at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
85. Akhvakh at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
86. Albanian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
87. "Albanian". Ethnologue. Retrieved 12 December 2018. Population total of all languages of the Albanian macrolanguage.
88. . Archived from the original on 6 August 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
89. Andi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
90. https://zaguan.unizar.es/record/60448 Report about Census of population 2011 of Aragonese Sociolinguistics Seminar and University of Zaragoza
91. . Aragón Digital. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015.
92. Archi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
93. Aromanian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
94. III Sociolinguistic Study of Asturias (2017). Euskobarometro.
95. c. 130,000 in Dagestan. In addition, there are about 0.5 million speakers in immigrant communities in Russia, see #Immigrant communities. Azerbaijani at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
96. Bagvalal at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
97. Bashkort at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
98. (in French) VI° Enquête Sociolinguistique en Euskal herria (Communauté Autonome d'Euskadi, Navarre et Pays Basque Nord) 21 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine (2016).
99. German dialect, Bavarian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
100. Belarusian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
101. Bezhta at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
102. Bosnian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
103. Botlikh at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
104. Breton at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
105. Bulgarian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
106. "Catalan". 19 November 2019.
107. "Informe sobre la Situació de la Llengua Catalana | Xarxa CRUSCAT. Coneixements, usos i representacions del català". blogs.iec.cat.
108. Chamalal at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
109. Chechen at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
110. Chuvash at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
111. German dialect, Cimbrian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
112. "Main language (detailed)". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 July 2023. (UK 2021 Census)
113. Corsican at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
114. Crimean Tatar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
115. Croatian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
116. Czech at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
117. Danish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
118. recognized as official language in Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Flensburg and Rendsburg-Eckernförde (§ 82b LVwG)
119. Dargwa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
120. Dutch at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
121. English at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
122. Europeans and their Languages 6 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Data for EU27 29 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine, published in 2012.
123. Erzya at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
124. Estonian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
125. Extremaduran at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
126. Fala at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
127. Faroese at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
128. Finnish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
129. Franco-Provençal at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
130. French at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
131. . Region Vallée d'Aoste. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
132. Frisian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
133. recognized as official language in the Nordfriesland district and in Helgoland (§ 82b LVwG).
134. e18|fur|Friulan
135. Gagauz at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
136. Galician at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
137. includes: bar Bavarian, cim Cimbrian, ksh Kölsch, sli Lower Silesian, vmf Mainfränkisch, pfl Palatinate German, swg Swabian German, gsw Swiss German, sxu Upper Saxon, wae Walser German, wep Westphalian, wym Wymysorys, yec Yenish, yid Yiddish; see German dialects.
138. Statuto Speciale Per Il Trentino-Alto Adige 26 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine (1972), Art. 99–101.
139. "Official website of the Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia".
140. Godoberi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
141. 11 million in Greece, out of 13.4 million in total. Greek at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
142. Hinuq at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
143. Hungarian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
144. Hunzib at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
145. Icelandic at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
146. Ingrian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
147. Ingush at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
148. Irish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
149. Istriot at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
150. Istro-Romanian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
151. Italian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
152. N. Vincent, Italian, in B. Comrie (ed.) The world's major languages, London, Croom Helm, 1981. pp. 279–302.
153. "Consiglio regionale della Calabria". www.consiglioregionale.calabria.it.
154. Judeo-Italian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
155. Judaeo-Spanish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
156. SIL Ethnologue: "Not the dominant language for most. Formerly the main language of Sephardic Jewry. Used in literary and music contexts." ca. 100k speakers in total, most of them in Israel, small communities in the Balkans, Greece, Turkey and in Spain.
157. Kabardian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
158. Kaitag at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
159. Oirat at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
160. Karata at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
161. Karelian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
162. Karachay-Balkar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
163. Kashubian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
164. About 10 million in Kazakhstan. Kazakh at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required). Technically, the westernmost portions of Kazakhstan (Atyrau Region, West Kazakhstan Region) are in Europe, with a total population of less than one million.
165. Khwarshi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
166. 220,000 native speakers out of an ethnic population of 550,000. Combines Komi-Permyak (koi) with 65,000 speakers and Komi-Zyrian (kpv) with 156,000 speakers. Komi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
167. Kubachi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
168. . Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
169. Lak at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
170. Contemporary Latin: People fluent in Latin as a second language are probably in the dozens, not hundreds. Reginald Foster (as of 2013) estimated "no more than 100" according to Robin Banerji, Pope resignation: Who speaks Latin these days?, BBC News, 12 February 2013.
171. Latvian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
172. Lezgic at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
173. Ligurian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
174. . Regione autonoma della Sardegna – Regione Autònoma de Sardigna. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
175. . Regione autonoma della Sardegna – Regione Autònoma de Sardigna. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
176. "Redirected". Ethnologue. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
177. Lithuanian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
178. ""Kūldaläpš. Zeltabērns" – izdota lībiešu valodas grāmata bērniem un vecākiem". Latvijas Sabiedriskie Mediji (LSM.lv). 18 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
179. . Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
180. Lombard at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
181. 2.6 million cited as estimate of all Germans who speak Platt "well or very well" (including L2; 4.3 million cited as the number of all speakers including those with "moderate" knowledge) in 2009. Heute in Bremen. „Ohne Zweifel gefährdet". Frerk Möller im Interview, taz, 21. Februar 2009. However, Wirrer (1998) described Low German as "moribund".Jan Wirrer: Zum Status des Niederdeutschen. In: Zeitschrift für Germanistische Linguistik. 26, 1998, S. 309. The number of native speakers is unknown, estimated at 1 million by SIL Ethnologue. Low German at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required), Westphalian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
182. The question whether Low German should be considered as subsumed under "German" as the official language of Germany has a complicated legal history. In the wake of the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1998), Schleswig-Holstein has explicitly recognized Low German as a regional language with official status (§ 82b LVwG).
183. Ludic at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
184. Luxembourgish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
185. Macedonian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
186. German dialect, Main-Franconian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
187. Maltese at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
188. Manx at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
189. Whitehead, Sarah (2 April 2015). "How the Manx language came back from the dead". theguardian.com. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
190. Mari at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
191. Megleno-Romanian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
192. Minderico at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
193. Mirandese at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
194. Moksha at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
195. "Montenegro". Ethnologue. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
196. Neapolitan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
197. In 2008, law was passed by the Region of Campania, stating that the Neapolitan language was to be legally protected. . Il Denaro (in Italian). 15 October 2008. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
198. total 22,000 native speakers (2010 Russian census) out of an ethnic population of 44,000. Most of these are in Siberia, with about 8,000 ethnic Nenets in European Russia (2010 census, mostly in Nenets Autonomous Okrug)
199. Nogai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
200. Jèrriais at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
201. "Norwegian". Ethnologue. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
202. Occitan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required). Includes Auvergnat, Gascon, Languedocien, Limousin, Provençal, Vivaro-Alpine. Most native speakers are in France; their number is unknown, as varieties of Occitan are treated as French dialects with no official status.
203. Total 570,000, of which 450,000 in the Russian Federation. Ossetian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
204. German dialect, Palatinate German at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
205. Picard at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
206. Piedmontese at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
207. Piedmontese was recognised as Piedmont's regional language by the regional parliament in 1999. Motion 1118 in the Piedmontese Regional Parliament, Approvazione da parte del Senato del Disegno di Legge che tutela le minoranze linguistiche sul territorio nazionale – Approfondimenti, approved unanimously on 15 December 1999, Text of motion 1118 in the Piedmontese Regional Parliament, Consiglio Regionale del Piemonte, Ordine del Giorno 1118.
208. Polish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
209. Portuguese at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
210. Includes Friulian, Romansh, Ladin. Friulian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Ladin at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Romansch at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
211. Statuto Speciale Per Il Trentino-Alto Adige 26 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine (1972), Art. 102.
212. German dialect, Kölsch at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
213. Romani, Balkan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Romani, Baltic at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Romani, Carpathian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Romani, Finnish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Romani, Sinte at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Romani, Vlax at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Romani, Welsh at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
214. Constitution of Kosovo, p. 8 11 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine
215. Romanian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
216. "Româna". unilat.org (in Romanian). Latin Union. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
217. L1: 119 million in the Russian Federation (of which c. 83 million in European Russia), 14.3 million in Ukraine, 6.67 million in Belarus, 0.67 million in Latvia, 0.38 million in Estonia, 0.38 million in Moldova. L1+L2: c. 100 million in European Russia, 39 million in Ukraine, 7 million in Belarus, 7 million in Poland, 2 million in Latvia, c. 2 million in the European portion of Kazakhstan, 1.8 million in Moldova, 1.1 million in Estonia. Russian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required).
218. Rusyn at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
219. Rutul at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
220. mostly Northern Sami (sma), ca. 20,000 speakers; smaller communities of Lule Sami (smj, c. 2,000 speakers) and other variants. Northern Sami at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required), Lule Sami at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Southern Sami at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required), Kildin Sami at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required), Skolt Sami at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required), Inari Sami at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required).
221. AA. VV. Calendario Atlante De Agostini 2017, Novara, Istituto Geografico De Agostini, 2016, p. 230
222. Scots at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
223. Gaelic, Scottish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
224. Serbian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
225. Sicilian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
226. Silesian at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)  
227. German dialect, Lower Silesian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
228. Slovak at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
229. Slovene at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
230. Sorbian, Upper at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
231. GVG § 184 Satz 2; VwVfGBbg § 23 Abs. 5; SächsSorbG § 9, right to use Sorbian in communication with the authorities guaranteed for the "Sorbian settlement area" (Sorbisches Siedlungsgebiet, Lusatia).
232. Spanish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
233. German dialect, Swabian German at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
234. Swedish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
235. German dialect, Swiss German at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
236. Tabassaran at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
237. Tat at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required), Judeo-Tat at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) 2,000 speakers in the Russian Federation according to the 2010 census (including Judeo-Tat). About 28,000 speakers in Azerbaijan; most speakers live along or just north of the Caucasus ridge (and are thus technically in Europe), with some also settling just south of the Caucasus ridge, in the South Caucasus.
238. Tatar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
239. Tindi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
240. Tsez at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
241. c. 12 million in European Turkey, 0.6 million in Bulgaria, 0.6 million in Cyprus and Northern Cyprus; and 2,679,765 L1 speakers in other countries in Europe according to a Eurobarometer survey in 2012: https://languageknowledge.eu/languages/turkish
242. Udmurt at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
243. Ukrainian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
244. German dialect, Upper Saxon German at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
245. Russian Census 2010. Veps at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
246. Venetian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
247. A motion to recognise Venetian as an official regional language has been approved by the Regional Council of Veneto in 2007. "Consiglio Regionale Veneto – Leggi Regionali". Consiglioveneto.it. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
248. Võro at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
249. [Results of the All-Russian population census 2020. Table 6. population according to native language.]. rosstat.gov.ru. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
250. Walloon at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
251. Highest Alemannic dialects, Walser German at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
252. Welsh at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
253. Moribund German dialect spoken in Wilamowice, Poland. 70 speakers recorded in 2006. Wymysorys at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
254. Yenish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
255. Total population estimated at 1.5 million as of 1991, of which c. 40% in the Ukraine. Yiddish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required), Eastern Yiddish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required), Western Yiddish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
256. Zeelandic at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
257. Abkhazia is a de facto state recognized by Russia and a handful of other states, but considered by Georgia to be ruling over a Georgian region
258. Abkhazian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
259. Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (2009). . Ethnologue: Languages of the World. SIL International. Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
260. "Armenian 2011 census data, chapter 5" (PDF).
261. "Ethno-Caucasus – Население Кавказа – Республика Абхазия – Население Абхазии".
262. Council of Europe (16 January 2014). European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Fourth periodical presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in accordance with Article 15 of the Charter. CYPRUS (PDF) (Report).
263. Azeri community in Dagestan excluded
264. "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
265. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2017.
266. Censuses of Republic of Azerbaijan 1979, 1989, 1999, 2009 30 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
267. "Cyprus" (PDF). Euromosaic III. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
268. . Tedsnet.de. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
269. SIL Ethnologue gives estimates, broken down by dialect group, totalling 31 million, but with the caveat of "Very provisional figures for Northern Kurdish speaker population". Ethnologue estimates for dialect groups: Northern: 20.2M (undated; 15M in Turkey for 2009), Central: 6.75M (2009), Southern: 3M (2000), Laki: 1M (2000). The Swedish Nationalencyklopedin listed Kurdish in its "Världens 100 största språk 2007" (The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007), citing an estimate of 20.6 million native speakers.
270. Ozek, Fatih; Saglam, Bilgit; Gooskens, Charlotte (1 December 2021). "Mutual intelligibility of a Kurmanji and a Zazaki dialect spoken in the province of Elazığ, Turkey". Applied Linguistics Review. 14 (5). De Gruyter academic publishing: 1411–1449. doi:10.1515/applirev-2020-0151. S2CID 244782650.
271. "Article" (PDF). armstat.am.
272. "Laz". Ethnologue.
273. Thede Kahl (2006): The islamisation of the Meglen Vlachs (Megleno-Romanians): The village of Nânti (Nótia) and the "Nântinets" in present-day Turkey, Nationalities Papers, 34:01, p80-81: "Assuming that nearly the total population of Nânti emigrated, then the number of emigrants must have been around 4,000. If the reported number of people living there today is added, the whole Meglen Vlachs population is c. 5,000. Although that number is only a rough estimate and may be exaggerated by the individual interviewees, it might correspond to reality."
274. "Endangered Languages Project: Mingrelian".
275. Özkan, Hakan (2013). "The Pontic Greek spoken by Muslims in the villages of Beşköy in the province of present-day Trabzon". Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. 37 (1): 130–150. doi:10.1179/0307013112z.00000000023.
276. "2011 Armenian Census" (PDF).
277. Падение статуса русского языка на постсоветском пространстве. Demoscope.ru. from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
278. Русскоязычие распространено не только там, где живут русские. demoscope.ru. from the original on 23 October 2016.
279. Στατιστική Υπηρεσία – Πληθυσμός και Κοινωνικές Συνθήκες – Απογραφή Πληθυσμού – Ανακοινώσεις – Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού, 2011 (in Greek). Demoscope.ru. from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
280. "Endangered Languages Project: Svan".
281. John M. Clifton, Gabriela Deckinga, Laura Lucht, Calvin Tiessen, "Sociolinguistic Situation of the Tat and Mountain Jews in Azerbaijan," In Clifton, ed., Studies in Languages of Azerbaijan, vol. 2 (Azerbaijan & St Petersburg, Russia: Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan & SIL International 2005). Page 3.
282. "Population enumerated by age, sex, language spoken and district (1.10.2011) (sheet D1A)". Population – Country of Birth, Citizenship Category, Country of Citizenship, Language, 2011. CYstat. June 2013.^{[permanent dead link]}
283. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
284. "Multitree | The LINGUIST List". linguistlist.org. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
285. "Glottolog 4.5 - Zaza". glottolog.org. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
286. Cole, Jeffrey (2011), Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, p. 367, ISBN 978-1-59884-302-6
287. France: 4,000,000, Germany: 500k (2015), Spain: 200k UK: 159k (2011 census)
288. Arab diaspora, mostly in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, UK, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, current size unknown due to the European migrant crisis of 2015–present.
289. Germany: 1,510k, France: 444k, Netherlands: 388k, Austria: 197k, Russia: 146k, UK: 99k, Switzerland: 44k, Sweden: 44.
290. See Turks in Europe: only counting recent (post-Ottoman era) immigration: Germany: 4,000,000, France: 1,000,000, UK: 500,000, Netherlands: 500,000, Austria: 400,000, Switzerland, Sweden and Russia: 200,000 each.
291. 830k in Russia (2010 census), 100k in Ukraine (SIL Ethnologue 2015).
292. 2,000,000 Armenians in Russia. France 750k, Ukraine 100k, Germany 100k, Greece 60-80k, Spain 40k, Belgium 30k, Czechia 12k, Sweden 12k, Bulgaria 10-22k, Belarus 8k, Austria 6k, Poland 3-50k, Hungary 3-30k, Netherlands 3-9k, Switzerland 3-5k, Cyprus 3k, Moldova 1-3k, UK 1-2k.
293. Germany: 541k
294. Kurdish population: mostly Kurds in Germany, Kurds in France, Kurds in Sweden.
295. Sylheti: 300k in the UK, Bengali: 221k in the UK.
296. see British Indian, Bangladeshi diaspora, Bengali diaspora.
297. 515k in Russia (2010 census)
298. Azerbaijani diaspora: Russia 600k, Ukraine 45k, not counting 400,000 in Azerbaijan's Quba-Khachmaz Region (Shabran District, Khachmaz District, Quba District, Qusar District, Siyazan District) technically in Europe (being north of the Caucasus watershed).
299. France: 500k
300. Kabyle people in France: 1,000,000.
301. Germany 120k, Russia: 70k, UK 66k, Spain 20k.
302. Overseas Chinese: France 700,000, UK: 500,000, Russia: 300,000, Italy: 300,000, Germany: 200,000, Spain: 100,000.
303. UK: 269k (2011 census).
304. Pakistani diaspora, the majority Pakistanis in the UK.
305. Russia: 274k (2010 census)
306. see Uzbeks in Russia.
307. UK: 76k, Sweden: 74k, Germany: 72k, France 40k.
308. Iranian diaspora: Germany: 100k, Sweden: 100k, UK: 50k, Russia: 50k, Netherlands: 35k, Denmark: 20k.
309. UK: 280k
310. see British Punjabis
311. UK: 213k
312. see Gujarati diaspora
313. UK: 101k, Germany: 35k, Switzerland: 22k.
314. Tamil diaspora: UK 300k, France 100k, Germany 50k, Switzerland 40k,u Netherlands, 20k, Norway 10k.
315. UK: 86k, Sweden: 53k, Italy: 50k
316. Somali diaspora: UK: 114k, Sweden: 64k, Norway: 42k, Netherlands: 39k, Germany: 34k, Denmark: 21k, Finland: 19k.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Languages of Europe.

• Everson, Michael (2001). "The Alphabets of Europe". evertype.com. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
• Haarmann, Harald (2011). "Europe's Mosaic of Languages". Institute of European History. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
• Reissmann, Stefan; Argador, Urion (2006). (in Esperanto, English, and German). Reissmann & Argador. Archived from the original on 22 June 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
• Map of Minorities & Regional and Minority Languages of Europe, Language Diversity (2017) 9 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine
• Zikin, Mutur (2007). "Europako Mapa linguistikoa" (in Basque). muturzikin.com. Retrieved 2 November 2009.