Slavic Languages: Uncover the three Branches of the Slavic Language Household

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Practically everybody dwelling in Jap Europe speaks a Slavic language, together with individuals from nations that had been as soon as a part of the Soviet Union. However what are the Slavic languages, and the place do they slot in with the remainder of the European dialects? Study all concerning the Slavic language household and what languages they embody in the present day.

What’s a Slavic language?

Slavic languages belong to the Indo-European language household. Linguists group them within the Baltic-Slavic department of the Indo-European tree, together with Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian. 

All Slavic languages come from a Proto-Slavic ancestor language, which branched from an earlier Proto-Baltic-Slavic language. Historic populations who spoke these languages probably lived round modern-day Lithuania and Greece, alongside the Adriatic Sea. 

As these languages developed across the sixth century C.E., Slavic languages separated from Baltic languages of their inflectional endings (Slavic phrases led to vowels solely, whereas Baltic languages didn’t) and cut up into completely different branches of the Slavic language household. Right this moment, there are over 20 dwelling Slavic languages spoken by practically 400 million individuals the world over. 

Fashionable Slavic languages record

Students divide this language household into three branches: 

• East Slavic languages  (between western Poland and japanese Russian)
• West Slavic languages  (between japanese Germany and western Ukraine)
• South Slavic languages (between southern Romania and northern Greece)

The vast majority of Slavic languages are nonetheless spoken in the present day, primarily in Jap Europe. They vary from 1 / 4 of a billion audio system (Russian) to only over 7,000 audio system (Decrease Sorbian), and embody the extinct language Polabian.

*Inhabitants knowledge from worlddata.data, ethnologue.com, and britannica.com

East Slavic languages

Practically 75% of Slavic language audio system communicate one of many 4 East Slavic languages, and most of them communicate Russian. East Slavic languages are primarily spoken in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, and use Cyrillic script of their written type.

Russian

With over a quarter of a billion audio system on this planet, Russian is the ninth mostly spoken language in the present day. Because the widespread language of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union, it had a wide-reaching influence throughout Jap Europe that continues in the present day.

Ukrainian

The Ukrainian language has had a rebirth within the final century after being banned in Ukraine through the 18th and nineteenth centuries. Ukrainian continued to flourish via literature and regional dialects, nevertheless, resulting in a standardized language type within the early twentieth century. Regardless of political strain to interchange Ukrainian with Russian, 37 million individuals communicate Ukrainian in the present day.

Belarusian

Together with Russian, Belarusian is an official language of Belarus. It has Russian influences, together with its use of the Cyrillic alphabet, and Polish loanwords from its proximity to Poland. Russian was usually spoken in Belarus, particularly through the period of the Soviet Union. After the autumn of the usS.R., Belarusian grew to become outstanding within the nation as soon as once more, and in the present day 7 million individuals communicate the language.

Carpatho-Rusyn

Generally known as Rusyn, Carpatho-Ukrainian, Rusnak, or Lemko (in Poland), Carpatho-Rusyn is one other East Slavic language. Carpatho-Rusyn audio system dwell in areas spanning Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. The language has sturdy Polish, Slovak, and Hungarian influences, although it nonetheless stays categorised as an East Slavic language because of its connections to Russian and Ukrainian.

West Slavic languages

In contrast to East Slavic languages, West Slavic languages use the Latin script of their writing. West Slavic writing programs had been created by Catholic monks in these areas, who recurrently used Latin of their studying and writing. Most West Slavic languages live in the present day aside from Polabian, a language spoken in present-day Germany till the 18th century.

Polish

With 50 million audio system worldwide, Polish is the second commonest Slavic language spoken in the present day. Attributable to its location between Russia and West Europe, fashionable Polish has heavy influences from Russian, German, and Lithuanian. Polish is taken into account one of many harder Slavic languages for English audio system to study due to its consonant clusters and distinctive pronunciation.

Czech

Czech can be thought-about a arduous language for English audio system to study, primarily as a result of it contains few Western loanwords and a extra advanced grammatical construction. Right this moment, there are round 10 million Czech audio system within the Czech Republic, in addition to the nations the place Czech is a minority language (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Austria, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia).

Slovak

Most of Slovak’s 5 million audio system dwell in Slovakia, the place it’s the official language. Also referred to as Slovakian, Slovak is carefully associated to Czech and Polish, and has historic influences from Hungarian, German, Latin, and English. There are three primary Slovak dialects—Jap, Western, and Central—that are mutually intelligible, which means audio system of those dialects can perceive one another.

Silesian

Practically half 1,000,000 individuals communicate Silesian, a language spoken within the Higher Silesian area of Poland and the Czech Republic. Some linguists take into account Silesian to be a dialect of Polish, as its construction is similar to the primary Polish language and most Silesian audio system additionally communicate Polish. Nevertheless, Silesian additionally has sturdy influences from German and Czech, giving it distinct language traits of its personal.

Kashubian

Like Silesian, Kashubian (typically known as Cassubian) is commonly thought-about a Polish dialect. However to Polish audio system, Kashubian appears and seems like a totally completely different language—and vice versa. Right this moment, fewer than 100,000 individuals communicate the ethnic-minority language in Kashubia, a area of Poland, 

Higher and Decrease Sorbian

Simply over 30,000 individuals communicate these Sorbian dialects, also called Lusatian. They primarily dwell in Lusatia, a area in japanese Germany, and most Sorbian audio system additionally communicate German. Higher Sorbian has extra audio system (25,000) than Decrease Sorbian and is extra much like Czech, whereas Decrease Sorbian shares extra in widespread with Polish.

South Slavic languages

The South Slavic languages symbolize the cultures and dialects of the previous nation of Yugoslavia (Land of the South Slavs). After Yugoslavia broke into the nations of Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro within the Nineteen Nineties, every area adopted its personal South Slavic language.

South Slavic languages incorporate each Cyrillic and Latin components into their alphabets, with some languages utilizing a mix and others utilizing one or the opposite. Right this moment, greater than 30 million individuals all over the world communicate one of many South Slavic languages, most of which had been spoken within the former nation of Yugoslavia

Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian/Montenegrin

Though Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, and Montenegrin are often known as the 4 forms of the Serbo-Croatian language (additionally characterised as BCMS), Round 20 million individuals communicate considered one of these languages in the present day. Their related grammar programs and vocabularies make them mutually intelligible—however not precisely the identical.

• Bosnian has Turkish and Arabic influences from its Islamic historical past within the Ottoman Empire, and it makes use of each Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.
• Serbian primarily makes use of the Cyrillic alphabet, but additionally incorporates Latin. It contains influences from different Slavic languages, significantly Russian.
• Croatian makes use of solely the Latin alphabet, and it contains influences from the unfold of Roman Catholicism 
• Montenegrin is much like Serbian in that it makes use of each Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. Efforts to standardize Montenegrin started within the early twenty first century, and proceed in the present day.

Most linguists agree that the variations between these 4 languages are extra dialectical than foundational, much like Australian English and American English. A speaker of 1 language can perceive the vast majority of what a speaker of one other language is saying. 

Bulgarian

Round 8 million individuals communicate Bulgarian in the present day. Most of them dwell in Bulgaria, the one South Slavic nation that didn’t be part of Yugoslavia after World Conflict I, and the place Bulgaria is the nationwide language. Bulgarian is the oldest recorded Slavic language, and like Serbian and Montenegrin, Bulgarian makes use of a Cyrillic alphabet and a Latin alphabet.

Slovenian

With practically 50 dialects and over 2.1 million audio system, Slovenian (also called Slovene) is a various language centered in Slovenia. The nation declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and made Slovenian its nationwide language quickly after. Slovenian makes use of the Latin alphabet in its writing, and is carefully associated to the Serbo-Croatian varieties.

Macedonian

North Macedonia, the northern area of the world traditionally often known as Macedonia, is at an fascinating language crossroads. It displays centuries of influences within the space, together with rule by the Ottoman Empire, the affect of the Orthodox church, and Macedonia’s geographical division into Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia after the Balkan Wars. 

The Serbian a part of Macedonia grew to become the present-day Republic of North Macedonia. Right this moment, over 1 million individuals communicate Macedonian, which primarily makes use of a Cyrillic alphabet (much like Serbian).

Similarities between Slavic languages

Some Slavic languages, corresponding to Bosnian and Serbian or Czech and Slovak, are so related that audio system of 1 language can simply perceive the opposite. However even throughout branches of the Slavic language tree, you possibly can see the similarities.

Russian and Polish, the 2 mostly spoken Slavic languages, belong to completely different language branches and use completely different alphabets. However while you evaluate them within the Latin alphabet, you possibly can see similarities from their Proto-Slavic roots.

Russian and Polish might not be mutually intelligible, however studying Russian can assist you study Polish extra effectively (and vice versa). Understanding the connections between these Slavic languages takes a language learner to a language grasp—and one step nearer to turning into a polyglot.

Are Slavic languages arduous to study?

Most Slavic languages are ranked as Class III on the language problem rankings, which means they’ll take round 44 weeks (or 1,100 hours) to grasp. However with instruments like Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion methodology that makes use of language immersion to assist with mastery, in addition to the TruAccent speech recognition engine that will help you sound like a local speaker, studying Slavic languages like Polish and Russian is usually a enjoyable and fulfilling expertise.