Map of languages and language families of Europe

The following map shows the language families present in Europe (distinguished by colour) and the major languages within those families. Some local languages with a tiny number of speakers (such as Karelian in Russia or Romansh in Switzerland) were not included, but all 

languages with more than 100,000 should be present in the map, unless they are generally considered dialects of another language or not tied to a single geographic area.

Please note: Serbo-Croatian is one language from the viewpoint of linguistics, but it is politically divided into four standardized dialects: Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. Similarly, Bulgarian and Macedonian are often not considered separate languages. Basque is not related to other European languages, and it is the last surviving pre-Indo-European language in Europe. Albanian forms its own branch of Indo-European languages. There is no consensus whether Silesian and Kashubian are dialects of Polish and Rusyn a dialect of Ukrainian or whether they are separate languages.

It is also worth noting that the term “language family” usually refers to the “top-level” families, and what the map shows are actually in many cases just “branches” of those families. Romance, Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Hellenic, and Celtic languages all belong to the Indo-European language family. Uralic languages and Turkic languages form their own respective language families. Arabic languages belong to the Afroasiatic language family.

Note: The underlying blank map was made by Tindo and licensed from fotolia.com. If you want to share the map, please share a link to this webpage instead of sharing just the picture.

Source: Jakub Marian's Language learning, Science and Art

Mapping the Link Between Linguistic Diversity and Genes

BY ELIZABETH BORNEMAN




Researchers are studying the link between language and genetics in a recent series of collaborations between European universities. Academics from the University of York, the University of Ferrara, the University of Modena, and the University of Reggio Emilia are working together to strengthen the link between genetics and the languages people speak.

The studies have shown that linguistic diversity is also a determining factor of genetic diversity. Although European languages are currently the only ones under the radar, the researchers hope to add additional languages around the world in the future. The difference in languages that people speak is a greater predictor of genetic diversity than the physical geography of languages.

Researchers study the linguistic history of populations; for instance French, Spanish and Italian have very close linguistic ties to one another, while languages like Russian are much different. These linguistic histories and differences can determine the genetic differences between populations of people.

There are some unique cases that deviate from this trend. For instance, Hungarian is a language without close ties to the language groups around it. Hungarian was likely brought in by a conquering people and was picked up by locals, meaning it isn’t quite the genetic marker other languages are. This is an important distinction in this area of study.

This research puts into question the diffusion of language across populations of people. Rather than a language slowly moving and changing from people group to people group, these languages actually travel with a specific group as it migrates. The genetics of that particular group are then spread as well.

Geneticists could, in the future, be able to observe the unique genetic differences of a group of people based on the language they speak rather than the geographic area they come from. This genetic research has implications for health as well as tracking future linguistic trends in the population.

Reference

Longobardi, G., Ghirotto, S., Guardiano, C., Tassi, F., Benazzo, A., Ceolin, A., & Barbujani, G. (2015). Across language families: Genome diversity mirrors linguistic variation within Europe. American journal of physical anthropology, 157(4), 630-640. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22758

EUROPA POLYGLOTTA (1741) BY GOTTFRIED HENSEL. SOURCE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.

Mapping the world’s linguistic diversity—scientists discover links between your genes and the language you speak– phys.org

Source