how many language families are in europe

Full Answer

How many languages are there in Europe?

There are three main language families in Europe. The largest is the Indo-European language family, with six sub-families represented in Europe. The second is the Finno-Ugric family, with three languages represented in Northeast Europe and eastern Europe.

How many languages are in the Indo-European family?

The largest is the Indo-European language family, with six sub-families represented in Europe. The second is the Finno-Ugric family, with three languages represented in Northeast Europe and eastern Europe.

What is the largest language family in Europe?

The largest is the Indo-European language family, with six sub-families represented in Europe. The second is the Finno-Ugric family, with three languages represented in Northeast Europe and eastern Europe. The third family is represented by one language spoken in the northwestern Spain in the Pyrennees mountains, Basque.

How many languages are there in the world by family?

Major language families. By number of languages. Ethnologue 18 lists the following families as containing at least 1% of the 7,472 known languages in the world: Niger–Congo (1,538 languages) (20.6%) Austronesian (1,257 languages) (16.8%) Trans–New Guinea (480 languages) (6.4%) Sino-Tibetan (457 languages) (6.1%)

What are the main language families of Europe?

Most languages in Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. This family is divided into a number of branches, including Romance, Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Albanian, Celtic, Armenian and Hellenic.

What are the 7 language families?

Major language familiesNiger–Congo (1,542 languages) (21.7%)Austronesian (1,257 languages) (17.7%)Trans–New Guinea (482 languages) (6.8%)Sino-Tibetan (455 languages) (6.4%)Indo-European (448 languages) (6.3%)Australian [dubious] (381 languages) (5.4%)Afro-Asiatic (377 languages) (5.3%)More items...

How many language families are there?

According to Ethnologue there are 7,151 living human languages distributed in 142 different language families. A living language is defined as one that is the first language of at least one person.

What are the 2 largest language families?

Although the Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan language families two of the largest in the world, linguists have categorized more than one hundred language families around the globe.

What is the smallest language family?

Afro-Asiatic The Afro-Asiatic language family includes 381 languages, making it the smallest language family on this list. These languages are primarily spoken in Northern Africa, the Middle East, and several islands in Western Asia.

What are the 3 largest language families?

Language families by speakersLanguage familyApprox. # of speakers% of world population1. Indo-European2.562 billion44.78%2. Sino-Tibetan1.276 billion22.28%3. Niger-Congo358 million6.26%4. Afro-Asiatic340 million5.93%8 more rows

Which is the largest language family?

Based on speaker count, Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan are the largest two language families, with over 4.6 billion speakers between them. The two most spoken languages are in these families – English is classified as Indo-European, and Mandarin Chinese is classified as Sino-Tibetan.

What is the oldest language family?

the Dravidian familyThe Tamil language is recognized as the oldest language in the world and it is the oldest language of the Dravidian family. This language had a presence even around 5,000 years ago. According to a survey, 1863 newspapers are published in the Tamil language only every day.

What are the major language families of the world?

The six largest language families by language count are Niger-Congo, Austronesian, Trans-New Guinea, Sino-Tibetan, Indo-European, and Afro-Asiatic. for at least one language in the family. Each of these families has at least 5% of the world's languages, and together account for two-thirds of all languages.

What is the oldest language family?

the Dravidian familyThe Tamil language is recognized as the oldest language in the world and it is the oldest language of the Dravidian family. This language had a presence even around 5,000 years ago. According to a survey, 1863 newspapers are published in the Tamil language only every day.

What is the oldest dead language?

Sumerian languageThe archaeological proof we have today allows us to state that the oldest dead language in the world is the Sumerian language. Dating back to at least 3500 BC, the oldest proof of written Sumerian was found in today's Iraq, on an artifact known as the Kish Tablet.

How are language families classified?

The three basic classifications for languages of the world are: Genealogical. Typological. Areal.

How many languages are spoken in Europe?

There are 24 official languages in Europe, but this only accounts for the widely spoken languages. If you include the minority languages, there are...

What are the most spoken in Europe?

Spanish, Italian, French, German, Dutch, English

What are some lesser known languages in Europe?

Basque (Northern Spain), Catalan (second languages of Catalonia and Valencia), Flemish (Northern Belgium), Icelandic (Iceland's official language),...

How many Europeans speak Italian?

There's no excuse not to learn it. Italian: If you're dreaming of riding a gondola in Venice or feasting on pizza in Rome, Italian is for you. Sixty-nine million Europeans speak Italian in Italy and Switzerland. French: Up next is the language of love with eighty million speakers across Europe.

How many languages are spoken in Europe?

There are 24 official languages in Europe, but this only accounts for the widely spoken languages. If you include the minority languages, there are actually around 200 of them.

What is the second language of Valencia?

Catalan (second languages of Catalonia and Valencia)

How many people speak English in Europe?

English: Don't be surprised by this one. English is the world's most common language. Seventy million English speakers reside in Europe. Expats do contribute to this number. But Europeans also learn it in school and through TV shows.

What is the official language of Iceland?

Icelandic (Iceland's official language) Gaelic (Ireland) Europe prides itself on bilingualism and preserving the cultures of the 47 recognized countries. Knowing a second language helps Europeans compete in the global community. If you're ever nervous about your rusty language skills, don't panic.

Which European country has the largest spoken language?

German: The language known for really long words is the largest spoken language across the European continent. Ninety-five million speakers put it ahead of the Romance languages. Countries like Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, Austria and more recognize it as a second language.

Is Europe bilingual?

Luckily, most Europeans are bilingual, meaning you can get by with English. Now that we know how many languages are spoken in Europe. Let's find out which ones they are.

How Did the Languages of Europe Spread Around the World?from tomedes.com

Languages spread mainly through migration, whether as a result of conquest, exploration or, more recently, economic migration patterns . We can see an example of this within Europe with the spread of Latin. As the Romans conquered country after country, their language took hold, displacing and/or altering a host of native tongues along the way. We can see the impact of this in Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan, Romansh and other Romance languages to this day.

What are the two groups of Uralic languages?from tomedes.com

The Finnic languages group includes Finnish, Estonian, Sami, Mari, Moksha, Erzyz, Komi and Udmurt. The Urgic group, meanwhile, contains Hungarian, Khanty and Mansi. Samoyedic is also classed as one of Europe’s Uralic languages.

Why is English considered a Germanic language?from vividmaps.com

So why has English still considered a Germanic language? Two reasons. First, the most regularly used 80 percent of English words come from Germanic sources, not Latinate sources. Those famous Anglo-Saxon monosyllables live on! Second, although much simplified from its Old English origins, the syntax of English remains recognizable Germanic. The Norman conquering added French vocabulary to the language, and through pidginization, it arguably removed some Germanic grammar, but it did not add French grammar.

How many native speakers of Indo-European languages are there?from vividmaps.com

Out of a total population of 740 million, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language; within Indo-European, the three largest phyla are Slavic, Germanic, and Romance, with more than 200 million speakers each, between them accounting for close to 90% of Europeans. Five languages have more than 50 million native speakers in Europe: ...

How many languages are there in Tupian?from en.wikipedia.org

Tupian (71 languages) Language counts can vary significantly depending on what is considered a dialect; for example Lyle Campbell counts only 27 Otomanguean languages, although he, Ethnologue and Glottolog also disagree as to which languages belong in the family.

What is lexical distance?from vividmaps.com

The map below presents the lexical distance – that is, the degree of overall vocabulary difference – between the major languages of Europe.

How many people speak French?from tomedes.com

French has around 80 million native speakers, making it another of the most spoken languages in Europe. You can click the link below to discover where else French is spoken around the world.

How Did the Languages of Europe Spread Around the World?

Languages spread mainly through migration, whether as a result of conquest, exploration or, more recently, economic migration patterns . We can see an example of this within Europe with the spread of Latin. As the Romans conquered country after country, their language took hold, displacing and/or altering a host of native tongues along the way. We can see the impact of this in Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan, Romansh and other Romance languages to this day.

What are the two groups of Uralic languages?

The Finnic languages group includes Finnish, Estonian, Sami, Mari, Moksha, Erzyz, Komi and Udmurt. The Urgic group, meanwhile, contains Hungarian, Khanty and Mansi. Samoyedic is also classed as one of Europe’s Uralic languages.

How many languages are spoken in Europe?

Europe is home to 24 official languages, while as many as 200 languages are spoken across the continent. That might not seem like many, compared to some continents. Africa, for example, is home to 1,500 to 2,000 languages. However, Europe’s 200 or so languages still encompass a huge amount of variety. We can see why this is by looking back ...

How many people speak English in Europe?

Despite being one of the most spoken European languages globally, English has only around 60 million native speakers in Europe – fewer than half the number of native Russian speakers.

How many people speak French?

French has around 80 million native speakers, making it another of the most spoken languages in Europe. You can click the link below to discover where else French is spoken around the world.

What is the other language family in Europe?

The other distinct European language family is Basque. It contains only Basque , as a language isolate, though the language has five main dialects. Basque is spoken in the Basque Country, which includes the westernmost Pyrenees in Northern Spain and Southwestern France.

What is the oldest language in Europe?

Celtic. The Celtic languages in Europe include Welsh, Cornish, Gaelic and Breton. These languages are descended from the Common Brittonic language, which was spoken throughout Great Britain during the Iron Age. They are thus some of the oldest languages in Europe.

What alphabet do Slavic languages use?

Slavic European languages either use the Latin alphabet, like English, or the Cyrillic alphabet, like in Russian. Which alphabet they use depends on whether the national languages developed under western Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Catholicism, based in Rome, transcribed local languages in the Latin alphabet. Orthodoxy transcribed local languages in Cyrillic alphabets, which are based on the Greek alphabet. There are more official Slavic languages than those mentioned below.

What is the official language of Greece?

Greek is written in the Greek alphabet. It is the official language of Greece and one of the official languages of Cyprus (with Turkish). Albanian is written in the Latin alphabet and is the official language of Albania.

What is the largest language in Europe?

Indo-European is the largest language family in Europe. Indo-European languages are spoken throughout Europe, western Asia and, because of colonization, throughout North and South America and Oceania. Each sub-family of Indo-European represents a different part of the larger, Indo-European family of languages.

Where is Basque spoken?

BASQUE Basque is spoken in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. It is a "language isolate", which means people do not know of any other languages to which it is related. It is thought that it was the language of the original inhabitants of Europe.

Where did the official languages of the Roman Empire come from?

The official languages of these countries came from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. All use the Latin alphabet, which is what we use in English. The main languages from this group are as follows. There are a few others spoken by fewer people.

Is Irish a language?

Ireland is the only country in Europe where a Celtic language ( Irish) is an official language, but it is a co-official language with English. Welsh is a co-official language with English in the British republic of Wales. Breton in spoken in the French province of Brittany. Scots Gaelic is spoken by very few people in northwestern Scotland. Celtic languages used to be spoken throughout Europe and what is now Turkey but most are now either extinct or seriously endangered.

How many languages are there in Tupian?

Tupian (71 languages) Language counts can vary significantly depending on what is considered a dialect; for example Lyle Campbell counts only 27 Otomanguean languages, although he, Ethnologue and Glottolog also disagree as to which languages belong in the family.

Why are sign language families not well established?

The family relationships of sign languages are not well established due to a lagging in linguistic research, and many are isolates (cf. Wittmann 1991).

What is an international auxiliary language?

International auxiliary language – Language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common first language. Glottolog#Language families. Language isolate#List of language isolates by continent. Lists of languages.

What is a language isolate?

Language isolates are languages which are not part of any known family, and they can be alternatively described as being their own families' sole representants.

What is a mixed language?

A mixed language often refers to a particular combination of existing ones, which may stem from different families : a pidgin is a simple language used for communication between groups; this may involve simplification and/or mixing of multiple languages.

What is the purpose of geographic headings?

The geographic headings over them are meant solely as a tool for grouping families into collections, more comprehensible than an unstructured list of a few hundred independent families. Geographic relationship is convenient for that purpose, but these headings are not a suggestion of any "super-families" phylogenetically relating the families named.

Why are some languages unclassified?

Languages are considered unclassified either because, for one reason or another, little effort has been made to compare them with other languages, or more commonly because they are too poorly documented to permit reliable classification: most such languages are extinct and, most likely, will never be known well enough to classify.

How many phonemes does Visaya have?

As an example, Cebuano Visaya has 18 consonant phonemes, 5 vowel phonemes (in reality only 3 vowel phonemes) and 3 diphthongs. Note that there is no letter for the glottal stop in Cebuano Visaya! The Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters!

What is the original word order in the Austronesian languages?

The original word order in the Austronesian languages is considered to be VSO, which is the case in all Philippine languages as well as in the Formosan languages. Malay (Indonesian/Malasian) has changed this word order to SVO, probably influenced by Arabic and Sanskrit in older times, and by Dutch (Indonesian) and English (Malaysian) more recently.

How many Basques speak Spanish?

The distinct language is a point of pride for Basques. An estimated 700,000 of them, or 35% of the Basque population, speak it today. But it was a target for Spanish dictator Gen Francisco Franco, who enforced the use of Spanish and forbade other languages, including Euskara (also called Basque), during his rule from 1939 to 1975.

Which language has a high number of affixes?

Most Austronesian languages are agglutinative with a high number of affixes. I will use Cebuano Visaya as an example here as well, as it is the Austronesian language that I know better. Cebuano Visaya has many prefixes, an abundance of suffixes and some infixes. Here are some examples:

What are the only European languages that are not Indo-European or Uralic?

The only European languages I can think of that are neither Indo-European or Uralic are Basque, which is a language isolate (it does not provably belong to the same family as any other still living language), and Maltese, which is a Semitic language related to Arabic.

What are the two major languages in Europe?

The two major language families in Europe are Indo-European and Uralic.

Why is it important to have good English writing skills?

First off, the fact that you want to improve is terrific! English writing skills are vitally important if you’re thinking of going on to further education in an English-speaking c(Continue reading)

How many languages are spoken in Austronesian?

Austronesian Languages - 386 Million. The Austronesian language family is the fourth largest in the world in terms of the number of speakers. It is made up of 1,224 daughter languages and has approximately 386 million speakers spread throughout Oceania, Maritime Southeast Asia, and a few regions of mainland Asia.

What languages did the Austronesian people speak?

Some of the most widespread Austronesian languages include Javanese, Tagalog, and Malay. This language family once covered the largest area on earth, until it was surpassed by the Euro-Indonesian family during the era of European colonization.

What is the third largest language in Africa?

The third largest language family in the world and the largest in Africa is the Niger-Congo. It consists of 1,524 daughter languages and has around 437 million speakers throughout Africa. This language family is further divided into 6 subgroups: Katla, Atlantic-Congo, Ijo, Dogon, Mande, and Rashad. Of the Niger-Congo languages, Swahili is the most widely used, with between 2 and 15 million native speakers and between 50 and 100 million second language speakers. It is the official language of Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Other languages, however, have a larger number of native speakers, including Igbo, Shona, Yoruba, and Fula.

What is the largest language family in the world?

The Indo-European language family is the largest in the world. It consists of 437 daughter languages and has an estimated 2.91 billion speakers across Europe and Asia. This number of speakers represents nearly half of the total global population. many languages in the Indo-European family are widely used, including English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Punjabi, Bengali, and Hindustani. All of these modern languages descend from Proto-Indo-European, which developed during the Neolithic age. As the human population dispersed throughout the region, distance and geographic barriers created isolated pockets of civilizations. Over time, new languages and dialects formed. Some of the most important of these early languages include Latin, Mycenaean Greek, and Vedic Sanskrit.

What are some examples of languages that are not part of any family?

With this happens, it is called a language isolate. Examples of languages that are language isolates include Korean, Sumerian, and Elamite.

How many languages are there in the world?

At least 135 languages families have been identified throughout the world, each of them belonging to a different linguistic family.

What is the official language of Niger?

Of the Niger-Congo languages, Swahili is the most widely used, with between 2 and 15 million native speakers and between 50 and 100 million second language speakers. It is the official language of Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Other languages, however, have a larger number of native speakers, including Igbo, Shona, ...

How Do We Know Which Languages Belong To Which Languages?

The further back you go, the harder it is to figure out who’s related to who. If two languages are very similar — take, for example, any of the Scandinavian languages, which are practically mutually intelligible — it’s not too hard to determine that they’re related. But what if there are just a few things in common?

How to determine a language family?

This is done by comparing old forms of languages and seeing how similar the grammar and vocabulary are, and then coming up with a theoretical Proto- language. Linguists examine Indo-European languages and see that certain words are very similar across languages. “Father,” for example, is believed to come from the Proto-Indo-European “pehter.” There is no actual written evidence of this word, but linguists survey various languages and see Sanskrit pitar, Latin pater, Old Persian pitar and Old Irish athir. From that, linguists can determine that they all likely come from the same root word. One word doesn’t make a language family, though, and so historical reconstruction needs to look at much more vocabulary before being able to decide on the classification of a language.

Why are Amerindian languages so hard to learn?

The Amerindian Language Family — A catch-all for the languages spoken in North and South America before the arrival of the Europeans, the Amerindian languages are some of the hardest in the world to study because so much of their history was destroyed by colonialism.

How many languages are there in the Mayan language family?

The Mayan Language Family — A group of 32 languages that are indigenous to North America, the Mayan languages has survived better than any other language family in the Americas.

Why is the Romance language family used as an example?

The Romance language family is so often used as an example not only because the languages are widely spoken, but also because there is a clear history showing how they evolved from Vulgar Latin to their modern iterations. As far as language families go, this clarity is uncommon.

What languages are spoken in Europe?

The Germanic Language Family — The family of English and German, the Germanic languages also include the Nordic and Scandinavian languages, as well as a few others spoken in Europe. The Slavic Language Family — Spoken throughout Russia and in parts of Eastern and Northern Europe, the Slavic languages are another part of ...

Why are branches useful?

The concept of branches is also useful because usually these new languages form by splitting off from each other. And within any large language family, there might be smaller language families. Without extending the tree metaphor any further, the simplest definition of a language family is simply “any group of languages ...

A Quick History of European Languages

• Europe is home to 24 official languages, while as many as 200 languages are spoken across the continent. That might not seem like many, compared to some continents. Africa, for example, is home to 1,500 to 2,000 languages. However, Europe’s 200 or so languages still encompass a huge amount of variety. We can see why this is by looking back at their...

See more on tomedes.com

The Most Common Languages in Europe

The Complete List of The Languages Spoken in Europe by Region

How Did The Languages of Europe Spread Around The World?

The Link Between Cultures and The Languages of Europe

Summary