Europe

Lovari

A Vlax Romani variety with strong Hungarian and Slavic influence. Spoken across Central Europe.

Kalderash

A Vlax Romani variety with a long history in Romania and the Balkans. Traditionally associated with coppersmith trades.

Arli

A Balkan Romani variety spoken widely across North Macedonia, Kosovo, southern Serbia, and Bulgaria.

Gurbeti

A Balkan Romani variety with communities across Bosnia, Serbia, and surrounding countries.

Sinte Manouche

also: Sinti, Manush, Sinté

A northwestern Romanes variety spoken by Sinti and Manouche communities across Germany, France, the Benelux, and northern Italy. Shaped by long contact with Germanic and Romance languages.

Polish-Baltic Romani

also: Polska Roma, Xaladitka Roma

A northern Romani variety historically rooted in Poland and the Baltic region, shaped by long contact with Slavic and Baltic languages.

Slovak Romani

also: Central Slovak Romani, Servika Roma

A Central European Romanes variety spoken by Romanes communities in Slovakia, with strong contact-influenced vocabulary from Slovak, Hungarian, and neighbouring languages.

Bairisch

also: Bavarian, Bavarian-Austrian

A large Upper German dialect group spoken across Bavaria and most of Austria, with distinctive vowel shifts and vocabulary far removed from Standard German.

Schwäbisch

also: Swabian

An Alemannic dialect spoken across Baden-Württemberg and parts of Bavaria. Recognisable for its diminutive "-le" suffix and softened consonants.

Sächsisch

also: Saxon, Upper Saxon

An East Central German dialect spoken in Saxony around Dresden and Leipzig, characterised by softened plosives and a distinctive intonation.

Berlinerisch

also: Berlin German, Berlinisch

The urban dialect of Berlin and surrounding Brandenburg. Mixes Low German substrate with Standard German, famous for its dry humour and clipped delivery.

Plattdüütsch

also: Low German, Niederdeutsch, Plattdeutsch

The Low German varieties of northern Germany and the eastern Netherlands. Linguistically closer to Dutch and English than to Standard German in several core features.

Hessisch

also: Hessian

A Central German dialect group covering Hesse around Frankfurt. The Frankfurt variety is widely recognisable from German television and theatre.

Kölsch

also: Cologne German, Ripuarian

A Ripuarian Central Franconian dialect spoken in Cologne and the surrounding Rhineland. Distinctive for its melodic intonation and rich local vocabulary.

Wienerisch

also: Viennese

The urban Bavarian dialect of Vienna, layered with Yiddish, Czech, and Italian loanwords from the city's long Habsburg history.

Schwyzerdütsch

also: Swiss German, Schweizerdeutsch

A cluster of High Alemannic varieties spoken across German-speaking Switzerland. Mutually unintelligible with Standard German for most non-Swiss listeners.

Received Pronunciation

also: RP, BBC English, Standard Southern British

The traditional prestige accent of southern England. Long carried by national broadcasting and higher education, but no longer dominant in everyday British speech.

Geordie

also: Tyneside English

The dialect of Newcastle and the Tyneside region. Retains a number of Old English and Norse-derived features lost elsewhere in England.

Scottish English

The variety of English spoken across Scotland. Distinct from Scots (which is sometimes counted as a separate language) but heavily influenced by it.

Hiberno-English

also: Irish English

The English of Ireland, shaped by long contact with Irish Gaelic. Distinctive grammar, intonation, and vocabulary set it apart from British and American varieties.

Castilian Spanish

also: Castellano, Peninsular Spanish

The standard variety of Spain, centred on Madrid and the historical kingdom of Castile. Distinguished from American varieties by the distinción between /θ/ and /s/.

Andalusian Spanish

also: Andaluz

The Spanish of southern Spain, marked by aspiration of /s/, the loss of final consonants, and a strong influence on the formation of Latin American varieties via the Atlantic ports.

Canarian Spanish

also: Canario

The Spanish of the Canary Islands. Linguistically a bridge between Andalusian and Caribbean varieties, with shared seseo and weakened final consonants.

European Portuguese

also: Portuguese (Portugal), Lisbon Portuguese

The standard variety of Portugal, centred on Lisbon. Distinguished from Brazilian Portuguese by reduced unstressed vowels and a denser consonant cluster system.

Northern Portuguese

also: Portuense, Norte de Portugal

The Portuguese of the north of Portugal around Porto. Preserves several older features lost in the standard, including the bilabial /β/ and the betacism that distinguishes <b> from <v>.

Azorean Portuguese

also: Açoriano

The Portuguese of the Azores archipelago. Highly distinctive vowels and a strong island-by-island variation, often cited as one of the more divergent European varieties.

Metropolitan French

also: Parisian French, Standard French

The Paris-area standard of European French. Carried nationally by education and broadcasting; the reference point for most French taught abroad.

Meridional French

also: Southern French, Français méridional

The southern French of Marseille, Toulouse, and the broader Occitan-speaking belt. Marked by realisation of mute vowels and a distinct intonation contour.

Belgian French

also: Français de Belgique

The French of Wallonia and Brussels. Maintains a number of vocabulary and number forms (septante, nonante) that the Paris standard has dropped.

Swiss French

also: Romand French, Suisse romand

The French of western Switzerland. Like Belgian French, retains older numerals (septante, huitante, nonante) and shows long contact with German-Swiss varieties.

Standard Italian

also: Italiano standard, Tuscan-based

The national standard of Italy, historically based on Florentine Tuscan. The reference variety in education and national media.

Romanesco

also: Roman Italian

The Italian of Rome. A Central Italian variety widely heard through national cinema and television, occupying a middle position between Tuscan and Southern varieties.

Neapolitan

also: Napulitano

The variety of Naples and surrounding Campania. Often classified as a distinct Italo-Romance language; a major literary and operatic medium.

Sicilian

also: Sicilianu

The variety of Sicily, often counted as a separate Italo-Romance language. Carries strong Greek, Arabic, Norman, and Spanish influences from the island's history.

Venetian

also: Vèneto

The Romance variety of the Veneto region. Linguistically distinct enough from Italian that many linguists classify it as a separate language.

Lombard

also: Lombardo

The Gallo-Italic variety of Lombardy and Italian-speaking Switzerland. Internally split between Western (Milan) and Eastern (Bergamo) groupings.

Sardinian

also: Sardu

The Romance variety of Sardinia. The most conservative Romance language, often cited as the closest living variety to Latin in several phonological respects.

Moscow Russian

also: Standard Russian, Moskovskoye

The Moscow-area standard of Russian. The reference variety in education, broadcasting, and most second-language teaching.

Saint Petersburg Russian

also: Petersburg pronunciation

The traditional educated speech of Saint Petersburg. Distinct from Moscow Russian in clearer enunciation of unstressed vowels and a number of lexical preferences.

Northern Russian

The northern Russian dialect group around Vologda and Arkhangelsk. Preserves okanye (clear /o/ in unstressed positions) lost in standard varieties.

Southern Russian

The southern Russian dialect group spanning Voronezh, Rostov, and the broader steppe. Marked by fricative /ɣ/ and a distinct verb-ending system.

Pomor Russian

also: Pomorsky govor

The Russian of the Pomor coastal communities along the White Sea. A North Russian variety with a distinct lexicon shaped by maritime life, fishing, and contact with Karelian and Saami.

Volga Russian

also: Vladimir-Volga dialects, Middle Russian

The Central Russian dialects of the middle Volga, around Nizhny Novgorod and Vladimir. A transitional zone between the Northern and Southern dialect groups.

Ural Russian

also: Uralsky govor

The Russian of the Ural region around Yekaterinburg and Perm. Mixes Northern and Central Russian features with contact influence from local Finno-Ugric and Turkic languages.

Balkan Turkish

also: Rumelice

The Turkish varieties of the Balkans, surviving from Ottoman-era settlement. Spoken across pockets of Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and northern Greece.

Kalmyk

also: Kalmyk Oirat, Khalimag

The only Mongolic language of Europe, spoken in the Republic of Kalmykia by the descendants of 17th-century Oirat migrants from Dzungaria. Endangered but officially recognised.

Tatar

also: Tatarça, Volga Tatar

A Kipchak Turkic language of the Volga-Ural region of Russia, centred on Tatarstan and Kazan. The largest minority language of European Russia.

Bashkir

also: Başqortsa

A Kipchak Turkic language of Bashkortostan in the southern Urals. Closely related to Tatar but with distinct phonology and lexicon shaped by the Bashkir steppe heritage.

Crimean Tatar

also: Qırımtatarca

A mixed Turkic language of the Crimean peninsula, descended from contact between Kipchak and Oghuz varieties. Critically endangered after the 1944 Soviet deportation; subject of an active revitalisation effort.

Gagauz

also: Gagauz dili

An Oghuz Turkic language spoken by the Christian Gagauz people of southern Moldova. The official language of the autonomous Gagauz region (Gagauz Yeri), distinct from neighbouring Romanian and Bulgarian.

Chuvash

also: Çăvaşla

The sole surviving member of the Oghur branch of Turkic, spoken in Chuvashia in the Volga region. Linguistically the most divergent living Turkic language, with features lost everywhere else in the family.

Standard Polish

also: Język polski

The Warsaw-based standard of Polish. The official language of Poland and the largest Slavic language by speakers within the European Union.

Silesian

also: Ślōnskŏ gŏdka

The Slavic variety of Upper Silesia, often classified as a separate language from Polish. Carries strong contact features from German and Czech.

Standard Modern Greek

also: Demotic Greek

The Athens-based standard of modern Greek, derived from the Demotic vernacular and codified in the late 20th century.

Cypriot Greek

also: Kypriaki

The Greek of Cyprus, distinct from Standard Modern Greek in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Preserves a number of medieval features.

Cretan Greek

The Greek of Crete. The literary medium of the late-medieval Cretan Renaissance and the basis of a long oral and musical tradition.

Pontic Greek

also: Romeyka, Pontiaka

The Greek variety historically spoken along the Pontic coast of the Black Sea, brought to mainland Greece by refugees of the 1923 population exchange. Its Anatolian-resident form (Romeyka) survives among Muslim communities near Trabzon.

Tsakonian

also: Tsakonika

The only living descendant of ancient Doric Greek, spoken in a few villages of the Peloponnese around Leonidio. Critically endangered; structurally distinct from all other Greek varieties, which descend from Attic-Ionic.

Cappadocian Greek

The Greek of inner Anatolia, isolated for centuries before the 1923 population exchange brought its speakers to Greece. Heavily Turkic-influenced; once thought extinct but rediscovered in central Greece in the 2000s.

Griko

also: Italiot Greek, Salentino Greek

The Greek of southern Italy, spoken in two enclaves in Salento and Calabria. A direct descendant of the Magna Graecia varieties; one of the oldest continuously-spoken Greek varieties outside Greece.

Mariupolitan Greek

also: Rumeika, Azov Greek

The Greek of the Mariupol region in Ukraine, descended from communities resettled from Crimea by Catherine the Great in 1778. Endangered; structurally close to Pontic Greek.

Standard Dutch

also: Algemeen Nederlands

The Holland-based standard of Dutch. The official language of the Netherlands and one of the official languages of Belgium and Suriname.

Flemish

also: Belgian Dutch, Vlaams

The Dutch varieties of Flanders. Distinguished from Netherlands Dutch in pronunciation, lexicon, and a separate broadcasting standard (VRT-Nederlands).

Daco-Romanian

also: Standard Romanian

The Bucharest-based standard of Romanian, spoken across Romania and Moldova. The largest Eastern Romance language and the basis of the modern literary standard.

Aromanian

also: Arumun, Vlach

An Eastern Romance variety spoken across the southern Balkans. Often classified as a separate language; carries significant contact influence from Greek, Albanian, and Slavic.

Standard Ukrainian

also: Kyivan Ukrainian

The Kyiv-based standard of Ukrainian. The state language of Ukraine and the second-largest East Slavic language by speakers.

Western Ukrainian

also: Galician Ukrainian, Lviv Ukrainian

The Ukrainian of Galicia and the western regions around Lviv. Carries contact features from Polish and Slovak and was historically the prestige variety in Habsburg-era Galicia.

Polissian

also: Northern Ukrainian, Polissky govir

The Northern Ukrainian dialect group of the Polissia region, straddling northern Ukraine and southern Belarus. Forms a transitional zone between Ukrainian and Belarusian.

Bukovinian

also: Bukovyna Ukrainian, Pokuttia–Bukovinian

The Southwestern Ukrainian variety of the Bukovyna region around Chernivtsi. Shaped by long contact with Romanian, German, and Polish under Habsburg rule.

Carpathian Rusyn

also: Rusyn, Ruthenian, Lemko

The East Slavic varieties of the Carpathian highlands across Zakarpattia, eastern Slovakia, and southeastern Poland. Often classified as a separate language; historically grouped with Ukrainian.

Sloboda Ukrainian

also: Slobozhansky, Slobozhanshchyna Ukrainian

The Southeastern Ukrainian variety of the Sloboda region around Kharkiv and Sumy. Close to the standard, but with a distinctive lexicon shaped by long contact with Russian.

Surzhyk

The Russian-Ukrainian mixed colloquial register, widely spoken across central and eastern Ukraine. Treated by linguists as a code-mixing continuum rather than a fixed dialect.

Upper Sorbian

also: Hornjoserbsce, Obersorbisch

A West Slavic language spoken by the Sorb minority of Upper Lusatia in Saxony, centred on Bautzen (Budyšin). Around 13,000 speakers; carries a continuous literary tradition since the 16th century.

Lower Sorbian

also: Dolnoserbski, Niedersorbisch, Wendish

A West Slavic language spoken by the Sorb minority of Lower Lusatia in Brandenburg, centred on Cottbus (Chóśebuz). Critically endangered, with revitalisation efforts in bilingual schools and the Witaj programme.

Serbian

also: Srpski, Standard Serbian

The Belgrade-based standard of Serbian. Part of the Štokavian dialect continuum that underlies all four BCMS national standards (Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Serbian); written in both Cyrillic and Latin scripts.

Croatian

also: Hrvatski, Standard Croatian

The Zagreb-based standard of Croatian, built on a Štokavian basis. Distinguished from Serbian by lexical preferences and a strict Latin-script orthography.

Čakavian

also: Čakavski

A South Slavic dialect group of the Adriatic coast and islands of Croatia, named for its pronoun "ča". Older than Štokavian and the medium of significant medieval Croatian literature.

Bosnian

also: Bosanski

The Sarajevo-based standard of Bosnian. A Štokavian-based BCMS standard, distinguished by retention of Turkish, Arabic, and Persian loanwords from Ottoman rule and the use of both Latin and Cyrillic scripts.

Montenegrin

also: Crnogorski

The most recently codified BCMS national standard, declared official in Montenegro in 2007. Distinguished from Serbian by the recognition of two additional Montenegrin-specific letters and a number of lexical preferences.

Standard Bulgarian

also: Bălgarski

The Sofia-based standard of Bulgarian. A South Slavic language with one of the most analytical grammars in the family, having lost most case marking in favour of articles and prepositions.

Rhodope Bulgarian

also: Rodopski govori

The Bulgarian dialects of the Rhodope mountains in southern Bulgaria. Among the most conservative South Slavic varieties; some sub-dialects retain features lost in the standard a millennium ago.

Standard Macedonian

also: Makedonski

The Skopje-based standard of Macedonian, codified after the Second World War. Closely related to Bulgarian; written in Cyrillic with several letters unique to Macedonian.

Ohrid Macedonian

also: Western Macedonian, Ohridsko-prespanski

The Western Macedonian dialect group around Lake Ohrid and Prespa. Provided much of the structural basis for the modern literary standard, especially in stress placement and verb morphology.

Standard Slovenian

also: Slovenščina, Ljubljana Slovenian

The Ljubljana-based standard of Slovenian. A South Slavic language with a strikingly diverse internal dialect landscape — historically grouped into seven major dialect bases.

Prekmurje Slovenian

also: Prekmurščina

The Slovenian variety of the Prekmurje region between the Mura and the Hungarian border. Carries a separate literary tradition that developed independently from the central standard until the 20th century.

Tosk Albanian

also: Toskërishte, Standard Albanian basis

The southern Albanian dialect group, centred on Tirana and the south. The basis of the modern Albanian literary standard codified in 1972.

Gheg Albanian

also: Gegërishte

The northern Albanian dialect group, spoken across northern Albania, Kosovo, and parts of North Macedonia and Montenegro. Distinguished by nasal vowels and the retention of older Albanian features.

Arbëresh

also: Italo-Albanian

The Albanian variety of the Arbëreshë communities of southern Italy, descended from 15th-century settlers fleeing the Ottoman conquest. A medieval Tosk Albanian preserved through five centuries of relative isolation.

Standard Czech

also: Spisovná čeština

The Prague-based literary and broadcast standard of Czech. The official language of Czechia and a West Slavic counterpart to Slovak with which it is highly mutually intelligible.

Moravian Czech

also: Moravské nářečí

The Czech varieties of Moravia. Internally diverse; eastern Moravian dialects sit close to Slovak in several features.

Standard Danish

also: Rigsdansk

The Copenhagen-based standard of Danish. A North Germanic language, widely cited for its highly reduced vowels and famously challenging stød (a quasi-tonal feature) for learners.

Standard Swedish

also: Rikssvenska

The Stockholm-based standard of Swedish. The largest North Germanic language; mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish, particularly in writing.

Finland Swedish

also: Finlandssvenska

The Swedish of Finland's Swedish-speaking minority, co-official with Finnish. More conservative than Standard Swedish in pronunciation, retaining several older features.

Eastern Norwegian

also: Oslo Norwegian, Bokmål-aligned

The Oslo-area variety, the most widely heard spoken Norwegian in national broadcasting. Closely associated with Bokmål, the more Danish-influenced of the two written standards.

Western Norwegian

also: Bergen Norwegian, Vestlandsk

The Norwegian of the western fjords, centred on Bergen. The basis of much of Nynorsk, the second written Norwegian standard built from rural dialects rather than Dano-Norwegian.

Trøndersk

also: Trøndelag Norwegian

The Norwegian of Trøndelag in central Norway, around Trondheim. Distinct from both eastern and western varieties in vowel realisation and intonation.

Icelandic

also: Íslenska

The most conservative living North Germanic language, retaining a complex inflectional system close to Old Norse. Modern Icelanders can still read 13th-century sagas with limited difficulty.

Faroese

also: Føroyskt

The North Germanic language of the Faroe Islands. Closely related to Icelandic and Western Norwegian; co-official with Danish in the islands.

Elfdalian

also: Övdalian, Älvdalska

A heavily archaic North Germanic variety spoken in Älvdalen in northern Dalarna, Sweden. Often classified as a separate language; preserves Old Norse features lost in all other living varieties.

Welsh

also: Cymraeg

A Brittonic Celtic language and the most-spoken Celtic language. Co-official in Wales, with around 900,000 speakers and a strong contemporary literary and broadcast presence.

Irish

also: Gaeilge

A Goidelic Celtic language and the first official language of Ireland. Daily-spoken communities (the Gaeltachtaí) survive in pockets along the western seaboard, around Galway, Donegal, and Kerry.

Scottish Gaelic

also: Gàidhlig

A Goidelic Celtic language closely related to Irish, spoken across the Outer Hebrides and parts of the Highlands of Scotland. Around 60,000 speakers, with sustained revitalisation through Gaelic-medium education.

Breton

also: Brezhoneg

A Brittonic Celtic language of Brittany in north-western France. The only continental Celtic survivor; brought from south-western Britain in the 5th-6th centuries.

Manx

also: Gaelg

A Goidelic Celtic language of the Isle of Man. Functionally extinct in 1974 with the death of its last native speaker; revived through education and now spoken as a second language by hundreds.

Finnish

also: Suomi

A Finnic Uralic language and an official language of Finland and the EU. Famous for its agglutinative grammar and vowel harmony, with a rich oral tradition recorded in the Kalevala.

Estonian

also: Eesti

A Finnic Uralic language and the official language of Estonia. Closely related to Finnish but distinct in vocabulary and a partially restructured case system.

Hungarian

also: Magyar

A Ugric Uralic language, the largest of the Uralic family by speakers and the official language of Hungary. Reached its current location through the Magyar migrations of the 9th century.

Northern Sami

also: Davvisámegiella

The largest Sami language, spoken by the indigenous Sami people across northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The most documented and standardised of the Sami languages.

Karelian

also: Karjala

A Finnic Uralic language spoken across the Republic of Karelia in Russia and adjacent parts of eastern Finland. Closely related to Finnish but distinct enough to be classified as a separate language.

Komi

also: Komi-Zyrian

A Permic Uralic language of the Komi Republic in northern European Russia. One of the oldest written Uralic languages, with a literary tradition going back to the 14th-century missionary Stephen of Perm.

Maltese

also: Malti

A Semitic language descended from medieval Maghrebi Arabic, with extensive Italian and English influence. The only Semitic language written in Latin script and the only one official in the EU.

Yiddish

A High German language with substantial Hebrew, Aramaic, and Slavic vocabulary, written in the Hebrew alphabet. The historical vernacular of Ashkenazi Jewry; now spoken mainly by Hasidic communities in the United States, Israel, and Western Europe.

Catalan

also: Català

A Western Romance language, official in Andorra and co-official across Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community of Spain. Around 10 million speakers, with strong literary tradition since the medieval period.

Galician

also: Galego

A Western Romance language closely related to Portuguese, co-official in Galicia in north-western Spain. The two were a single language as late as the 13th century.

Occitan

also: Lenga dʼòc, Provençal

A Romance language of southern France, the Aran valley in Catalonia, and a few alpine valleys of Italy. The language of the medieval troubadours; now endangered in everyday use.

Romansh

also: Rumantsch

A Rhaeto-Romance language and the fourth official language of Switzerland, spoken across the canton of Graubünden. Around 60,000 speakers; the federal standard (Rumantsch Grischun) bridges five regional varieties.

Basque

also: Euskara

A language isolate of the western Pyrenees, with no proven relatives anywhere in the world. The only pre-Indo-European language to survive in Western Europe; co-official in the Basque Country and Navarre.