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.
Branches[change | change source]
There are three branches of Baltic languages. Two are extinct.
Western Baltic languages †[change | change source]
- (Western) Galindian †
- Old Prussian †
- Sudovian (Yotvingian) †
- ? Skalvian † (unattested)
Eastern Baltic languages[change | change source]
- Latvian (~2.2 million speakers, whereof ~1.75 million native speakers, 0.5 million second language speakers)
- Latgalian (150,000–200,000 speakers)
- Lithuanian (~3 million native speakers)
- Selonian †
- Semigallian †
- Old Curonian (sometimes considered Western Baltic) †
Dnieper Baltic languages †[change | change source]
- (Eastern) Galindian (the language of the Eastern Galindians, also known by its name in Ukrainian: Голядь, romanized: Golyad') †[1]
(† – extinct language)
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Dini, P.U. (2000). Baltų kalbos. Lyginamoji istorija. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. p. 61. ISBN 5-420-01444-0.
