Baltic languages

Baltic
Ethnicity:Balts
Geographic
distribution:
Northern Europe
Linguistic classification:Indo-European
Subdivisions:
Western Baltic †
Eastern Baltic
Dnieper Baltic †
ISO 639-5:bat

The Baltic languages are part of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. Baltic languages are mostly spoken in the Baltics, around the Baltic sea.[1]

Branches

There are three branches of Baltic languages, two of which are extinct.[1]

Western Baltic languages †

Extinct languages

  • Old Prussian
  • (Western) Galindian †
  • Sudovian (Yotvingian) †
  • ? Skalvian † (unattested)

Eastern Baltic languages

  • Latvian (~2.2 million speakers, whereof ~1.75 million native speakers, 0.5 million second language speakers)
  • Lithuanian (~3 million native speakers)
  • Latgalian (150,000–200,000 speakers)

Extinct languages

  • Selonian †
  • Semigallian †
  • Old Curonian (sometimes considered Western Baltic) †

Dnieper Baltic languages †

  • (Eastern) Galindian (the language of the Eastern Galindians, also known by its name in Ukrainian: Голядь, romanizedGolyad') †[2]

†: Extinct language

References

  1. 1.0 1.1
    • Endzelīns, Jānis (1972). Jānis Endzelīns' comparative phonology and morphology of the Baltic languages. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-90-279-1915-1. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
    • Benjamins B.V., John (2001). Circum-Baltic Languages. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
    • Holvoet, Axel (2011). "1: The Baltic Languages". The Languages and Linguistics of Europe. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 3–30. doi:10.1515/9783110220261.3. ISBN 978-3-11-022025-4. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
    • "Baltic languages | History, Characteristics & Classification". Britannica. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
    • "Baltic Languages". ScienceDirect. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  2. Dini, P.U. (2000). Baltų kalbos. Lyginamoji istorija. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. p. 61. ISBN 5-420-01444-0.