List of extinct languages of Europe
This is a list of extinct languages of Europe, languages which have undergone language death, have no native speakers and no spoken descendant. As the vast majority of Europeans speak Indo-European languages, a result of the westward portion of the prehistoric Indo-European migrations, the bulk of the indigenous languages of Europe became extinct thousands of years ago without leaving any record of their existence as they were superseded by Celtic, Italic, Germanic, Balto-Slavic, Hellenic, and Iranian Indo-European languages. A small minority of these extinct languages, however, survived long enough to be attested.
On the other hand, many European Indo-European languages themselves, such as Gothic, have also become extinct. In some cases however, it is not known whether a language has a spoken descendant or not. For example, because of the uncertain origin of the Albanian language—aside from its being an Indo-European language—and because little remains of the ancient languages in question, it is disputed whether Dacian, Thracian or Illyrian have a spoken descendant, Albanian. And because of the scarcity of the evidence, it is not known whether Basque is a descendant of the Aquitanian language.
Although the Pomeranian language has a spoken descendant, the Kashubian language, the other dialects of Pomeranian are extinct.
Balkans
France
- Celtic
- Germanic
- Italic
- Shuadit
- Zarphatic
- Old French Sign Language
- Unclassified
Italy
- Celtic languages
- Cisalpine Gaulish
- Lepontic
- Ligurian
- Germanic languages
- Illyrian languages
- Messapian
- Italic languages
- Aequian
- Faliscan
- Hernican
- Judæo-Piedmontese
- Lanuvian
- Marrucinian
- Marisan
- Oscan
- Paelignian
- Praenestinian
- Pre-Samnite
- Sabine
- Sidicini
- South Picene
- Venetic
- Vestinian
- Volscian
- Umbrian
- Semitic languages
- Sicilian Arabic
- Tyrsenian languages
- Unclassified
- Elymian
- North Picene
- Paleo-Sardinian
- Sicana
- Sicula
British Isles
Northern and Central Europe
- Indo-Aryan
- Iranian languages
- Germanic languages
- Celtic languages
- Italic languages
- West Baltic languages
- Galindan
- Old Prussian
- Skalvian
- Sudovian (Yotvingian)
- East Baltic languages
- Finnic languages
- Slavic languages
- Sami languages
- Akkala Sami
- Kemi Sami
- Kainuu Sami
- Turkic languages
- Unclassified
Iberian Peninsula
- Paleohispanic
- Classical Greek
- Germanic
- Celtic
- Common Brittonic
- Galician-Portuguese
- Mozarabic
- Navarro-Aragonese
- Old Provençal
- Old Spanish
- Romance-Jewish languages:
- Judeo-Aragonese
- Judeo-Catalan
- Judeo-Portuguese
- Semitic
Russia
- Slavic
- Iazychie
- Old Novgorod dialect
- Solombala English
- Uralic
- Merya
- Meshcherian
- Muromian
- Turkic
- Khazar
- Old Tatar
- Indo-Iranian
- Scythian
- Alanic
- Scythian
- Germanic
- Unclassified
Anatolia
Caucasus
- Alarodian
- Semitic
- Iranian
- Kilit
- Old Azeri
- Indo-Aryan
- Garachi
- Unclassified
Greenland (Denmark)
Canary Islands (Spain)
See also
- List of European languages
- List of endangered languages in Europe