Lingualia LingualiaEurope’s regional and minority languages

Lingualia

Europe’s regional and minority languages, explained simply.

Breton, Basque, Frisian, Sorbian, Sami, Yiddish… Dozens of languages are spoken in Europe alongside the national languages. Some have millions of speakers, others only a few hundred.

Lingualia presents 45 of them: where they are spoken, how many people use them, and what place they have in schools, the media and public administration. Each page also offers a poem with its translation, and often a recording to listen to. All recent figures come with their sources.

Explore the languages Explore by country

  • 45 languages
  • 14 countries
  • 32 poems
  • 21 languages to listen to

Languages you can see every day

Road signs, schools, hiking trails: in many regions the local language is displayed alongside the official one.

Bilingual French–Breton town sign in Inguiniel (Morbihan)
Bilingual French–Breton town sign in Inguiniel (Morbihan) © Florian Psc, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Trilingual Ladin–German–Italian road sign in Val Gardena
Trilingual Ladin–German–Italian road sign in Val Gardena © Sextum, CC BY-SA 2.5 IT, Wikimedia Commons
Bilingual Irish–English “Go Mall / Slow” road sign on the Dingle Peninsula (Kerry)
Bilingual Irish–English “Go Mall / Slow” road sign on the Dingle Peninsula (Kerry) © MucklaghC, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Bilingual Welsh–English sign of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park
Bilingual Welsh–English sign of Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park © Runner1928, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Bilingual Spanish–Basque sign on Mount Bianditz (Gipuzkoa): no grazing, hunting or fishing
Bilingual Spanish–Basque sign on Mount Bianditz (Gipuzkoa): no grazing, hunting or fishing © Orereta, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

What you will find here

A page per language

Number of speakers, legal status, education, media: the essentials on each language, with recent, sourced data.

Poems and voices

A poem in the language, shown next to its translation, and for 21 languages a recorded reading.

Browse by country

Which regional or minority languages are spoken in France, Italy, Spain or Finland?

Key notions

Language or dialect? Official or minority language? A few definitions to find your way.

The 45 languages

Albanianaudio recordingAlbanianAragoneseRomance languagesAromanianRomance languagesAsturianRomance languagesBasqueaudio recordingBasque (isolate)Bretonaudio recordingCeltic languagesCatalanaudio recordingRomance languagesCornishCeltic languagesCorsicanRomance languagesCroatianSlavic languagesCzechSlavic languagesDanishaudio recordingGermanic languagesDutchaudio recordingGermanic languagesFinnishFinno-Ugric languagesFranco-ProvençalRomance languagesFrenchRomance languagesFrisianaudio recordingGermanic languagesFriulianaudio recordingRomance languagesGalicianaudio recordingRomance languagesGermanaudio recordingGermanic languagesGreekGreekHungarianaudio recordingFinno-Ugric languagesIrishaudio recordingCeltic languagesJudeo-Spanishaudio recordingRomance languagesLadinRomance languagesLimburgishGermanic languagesLuxembourgishGermanic languagesMacedonianSlavic languagesOccitanaudio recordingRomance languagesOïl languagesaudio recordingRomance languagesPomakaudio recordingSlavic languagesRomaniIndo-Iranian languagesRussianaudio recordingSlavic languagesSamiFinno-Ugric languagesSardinianaudio recordingRomance languagesScotsGermanic languagesScottish GaelicCeltic languagesSlovakSlavic languagesSloveneaudio recordingSlavic languagesSorbianSlavic languagesSwedishaudio recordingGermanic languagesTatarTurkic languagesTurkishTurkic languagesWelshCeltic languagesYiddishaudio recordingGermanic languages

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Definitions

  1. What is a 'minority' or 'regional' language?
  2. What is an 'official' language?
  3. What are these languages for?
  4. Languages or dialects?
  5. The main language families spoken in Europe
  6. What is writing?
  7. Spelling