Baltic languages

The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. The language group is sometimes divided into two sub-groups: Western Baltic, containing only extinct languages, and Eastern Baltic, containing both extinct and the two living languages in the group: Lithuanian and Latvian. While related, the Lithuanian, the Latvian, and particularly the Old Prussian vocabularies differ substantially from each other and are not mutually intelligible. The now extinct Old Prussian language has been considered the most archaic of the Baltic languages.

Geographic distribution

Note that although the term Baltic states is commonly used to refer collectively to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the Estonian language is a Finno-Ugric language, not shown to be related to Lithuanian, Latvian or any of the Indo-European languages.

Related Topics:
Baltic states - Estonia - Latvia - Lithuania - Estonian language - Finno-Ugric language

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Speakers of modern Baltic languages are generally concentrated within the borders of Lithuania and Latvia, and in emigrant communities in the United States, Canada, Australia and former Soviet states. Historically the languages were spoken over a larger area: West to the mouth of the Vistula river in present-day Poland, at least as far East as the Dniepr river in present-day Belarus, perhaps even to Moscow, perhaps as far South as Kiev. Key evidence of Baltic language presence in these regions is found in hydronyms (names of bodies of water) in the regions that are characteristically Baltic. Use of hydronyms is generally accepted to determine the extent of these cultures' influence, but not the date of such influence. Historical expansion of the usage of Slavic languages in the South and East, and Germanic languages in the West reduced the geographic distribution of Baltic languages to a fraction of the area which they had formerly covered.

Related Topics:
Lithuania - Latvia - United States - Canada - Australia - Soviet - Vistula - Poland - Dniepr - Belarus - Moscow - Kiev - Slavic languages - Germanic languages

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