In ancient history, there were presumably a variety of language families spoken in Europe. However, today, the vast majority are Indo-European. Sub-families of Indo-European spoken in Europe are: Germanic, Balto-Slavonic, Italic, Greek, Celtic, and others. In addition to the Indo-European languages there are also the non-Indo-European language family Finno-Urgic and the Basque language.

Living languages edit

These are all living languages spoken in Europe.

Eastern Europe edit

Languages currently spoken in Eastern Europe are:

  • Belarussian (in Belarus)
  • Czech (in the Czech Republic)
  • Estonian (in Estonia)
  • Hungarian (in Hungary and Romania)
  • Latvian (in Latvia)
    • Latgalian
  • Lithuanian (in Lithuania)
    • Aukštaitian (Highland)
    • Samogitian (Lowland)
  • Polish (in Poland)
    • Greater Polish
    • Lesser Polish
    • Masovian
    • Silesian
  • Romanian (in Romania)
  • Russian (in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus)
  • Sami (in Finland and Russia, also Norway and Sweden)
    • many dialects/languages
  • Slovak (in Slovakia)
  • Ukrainian (in Ukraine)

Northern Europe edit

  • Danish (in Denmark and the Faroe Islands)
  • Faroese (in the Faroe Islands)
  • Finnish (in Finland)
  • Icelandic (in Iceland)
  • Norwegian (in Norway)
  • Sami (in Finland, Norway, and Sweden)
  • Swedish (in Sweden and Finland)

Southern Europe edit

Languages currently spoken in Southern Europe are:

  • Armenian (in Armenia)
  • Basque (in Spain)
  • Catalan (in Spain)
  • Croation (in Croatia)
  • German (in Italy)
  • Italian (in Italy)
  • Greek (in Greece)
  • Lombard (in Italy)
  • Maltese (in Malta)
  • Portuguese (in Portugal)
  • Serbian (in Serbia)
  • Sicilian (in Italy)
  • Spanish (in Spain)

Western Europe edit

Languages currently spoken in Western Europe are:

  • Basque (in France and Spain)
  • Breton (in France)
  • Dutch (in the Netherlands and Belgium)
  • Catalan (in France)
  • Cornish (in England)
  • English (in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales)
  • French (in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland)
  • Franco-Provençal languages/dialects (in France, Italy, and Switzerland)
  • Frisian languages (in the Netherlands and Germany)
  • German (in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and Luxembourg)
  • High German languages/dialects (in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland)
  • Irish Gaelic (in Ireland)
  • Italian (in Switzerland)
  • Low German languages/dialects (in Germany and the Netherlands)
  • Manx Gaelic (on the Isle of Man)
  • Romansh (in Switzerland)
  • Scots (in Scotland)
  • Scottish Gaelic (in Scotland)
  • Walloon (in Belgium)
  • Welsh (in Wales)

Not area-specific edit

  • Yiddish (many countries)

Dead languages edit

These are documented languages that were once spoken in Europe. There are certainly many other now-dead languages once spoken in Europe that were not documented. Languages that died without transitioning into another language, are marked (d) for "dead"; languages that died by or after transitioning into another stage, are marked (t) for "transitioned" or "transformed". The approximate date of death is given where possible, and broad language family groups that the languages belong to.

  • Andalusian Arabic (d) (1600AD) (Semitic)
  • Classical Greek (t) (300BC) (Greek)
  • Classical Latin (t) (200AD) (Italic)
  • Crimean Gothic (d) (1900AD) (Germanic)
  • Gothic (t) (700AD-800AD?) (Germanic)
  • Koine Greek (t) (300AD) (Greek)
  • Late Latin (t) (500AD) (Italic)
  • Marsi (150BC) (Italic)
  • Middle English (t) (1400AD) (Germanic)
  • Old Church Slavonic (t) (1000AD) (Balto-Slavic)
  • Old English (t) (1100AD) (Germanic)
  • Old Irish (t) (900AD) (Celtic)
  • Old Welsh (t) (1100) (Celtic)
  • Oscan (d) (100BC) (Italic)
  • South Picene (d) (400BC) (Italic)
  • Umbrian (d) (100BC) (Italic)
  • Volscian (300BC?) (Italic)