European Languages
European Languages
► A Romanian translation of this page is now available, thanks to Alexander.
 
The Indo-European family of languages (please note that not every language          is included):
Italic (Latin)
Pashto (Afghan)
Sogdian
You may have noticed that a few languages spoken on the European continent          are not included in the Indo-European family of languages.  Finnish,          Hungarian and Estonian belong to the Uralic (also called Finno-Ugric)          family, and Basque (spoken in the Pyrenees region) has no genetic relation          to any other language.   Two branches, Anatolian and Tocharian, are          also not included in this diagram because they are considered extinct.  Anatolian languages include Hittite, Luwian, Palaic, Lydian and          Lycian.  Tocharian is classified as two dialects, East Tocharian          or Turfan and West Tocharian or Kuchean.  There are other extinct          languages related to the above languages as well, such as Gothic of the          East Germanic group, Old Prussian of the Baltic group, and Manx Gaelic          of the Goidelic group.
 
So far I have only studied languages in the Romance, Germanic and Slavic          branches so that is what the following analyses will include.
Romance Languages
The Romance languages are spoken by about 600 million people across          the globe.  All of these languages derive from Latin, and the five          national standard languages that are recognized include French, Spanish,          Italian, Portuguese and Romanian.  There are other languages as well,          such as Catalan, Occitan, Romansh, Galician, Corsican, Sicilian and Rhaeto-Romance,          but unfortunately, these are not recognized as national languages (except          Romansh, which is the fourth official language of Switzerland). 
The modern Romance languages have a high number of lexical overlap.  French and Italian share 89% lexical similarity, as do Spanish and          Portuguese.  (It should be noted that Sicilian is as different from          standard Italian as Portuguese is from Spanish.)  However, Spanish          and Portuguese have borrowed from Arabic, French from Germanic, and Romanian          from Slavic because of historical and geographical reasons.
Phonemic nasals are found in French and Portuguese, and the palatalization          and affrication of velar and dental consonants before front vowels is          a departure from Latin.  The western languages generally use /s/          as a plural marker, though it is silent in spoken French, while the eastern          languages such as Italian and Romanian use vowels.  All languages recognize two genders, masculine          and feminine, and use articles before the noun (except in Romanian, where          they follow the noun).  Word order is generally subject-verb-object          except when the object is a pronoun, then the pronoun precedes the verb.  Most adjectives follow the noun they describe as well as agree with          it in gender and number.
Because of its geographic isolation from the other four main languages,          Romanian is a unique Romance language.  Although attempts to write          the language in the Cyrillic alphabet failed, the Slavic languages still          contribute to the lexicon, pronunciation and morphology.  Romanian          still uses three distinct cases: nominative/accusative, genitive/dative          and vocative.  Occasionally, object-verb-subject word order is used          as in other Balkan languages.
More people learn French as a second language than any other language in the world           except English, although there are several other languages spoken by more          people (Mandarin Chinese, English, Hindi/Urdu, Russian, Spanish, Japanese,          German, Indonesian and Portuguese.)  The grammar and pronunciation          can be difficult at times, and there is a great difference between the          spoken and written forms, but it is not too hard to learn.  French          used to be the lingua franca of the world, and is still respected as the          language of great literature and diplomacy.
Spanish is the other obvious choice for learning a Romance language.  The Hispanic influence on the United States continually grows, and          more people are finding Spanish a necessity.  Spanish pronunciation          is closer to English, but the grammar is similar to French.  Once          you've learned Spanish, Portuguese will be simple.  Portuguese is          one of those languages that is spoken by many, many people, yet no one          seems to learn it as a second language.  The grammar is slightly          harder than Spanish, but the pronunciation is easier than French.
In my opinion, Italian is the easiest language to learn.  The pronunciation          is very clear compared to French, and the grammar is slightly easier than Spanish.  If you're          interested in opera, cuisine, history, archaeology, or art then Italian          is a good choice.
Germanic Languages
The Germanic languages are spoken on every continent by about 450 million          people.  Most people speak English, but German, Dutch and even the          Scandinavian languages remain spoken in former colonies all over the world.  Afrikaans is actually a variety of Dutch spoken in South Africa,          and Flemish is the form of Dutch spoken in Belgium.  Faroese is spoken          in the Faroes Islands, and Frisian (spoken in the Netherlands) is the          language that is the most closely related to English.  However, out          of the five major languages in this branch, Dutch is closest to English.
One third of the vocabulary of the Germanic languages is not of Indo-European          origin.  The stress of words is primarily on the first syllable,          and several vowel shifts separate the Germanic languages from other Indo-European          languages.  Originally, there were three numbers (singular, plural,          dual), three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), and four noun cases          (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) but these only remain in German          (minus the dual) and Icelandic.  Word order in German is less strict          because of the cases, but it is also much more complicated because of          the verb final position in subordinate clauses.  Dutch has combined          the three genders into common and neuter, common being the former masculine          and feminine.  English has no genders or noun cases except for changes          among a few personal pronouns.  As well as strong and weak verbs,          there are also strong and weak adjectives that decline before nouns.
German retains most of the Proto-Germanic language, but is least like          the other languages in its group.  Consequently, it is the most difficult          to learn.  The noun cases are easier than those of the Slavic languages,          but they still give English speakers several problems. German is the          most used language among the eastern countries of Europe, so it can be          used a lingua franca in Slavic speaking areas.
Dutch is much easier to learn than German, but many people dismiss this          language because The Netherlands is no longer a world power.  The          verbs are less complicated, as well as word order, and the vocabulary           sounds more like English.  When you learn Dutch, you will also          be able to communicate with those who speak Afrikaans in South Africa,          Flemish speakers in northern Belgium and even some Indonesians who have learned Dutch as a result of centuries          of colonial rule.
Norwegian, Swedish and Danish are also very easy for English speakers          to learn.  Like Dutch, Swedish and Danish use two genders (Norwegian,          except for the Bergen dialect, uses three), but verbs only change for          tense (and not person) and word order is much like English.  Definite          articles attach to the end of the noun (as in Romanian).  Swedish          and Norwegian are tonal lanugages, meaning the accent on a syllable can          distinguish meaning between words, though tones in Norwegian are easier          to master. These differing accents make Swedes sound as if they are singing, and also make it harder for English speakers to learn pronunciation          correctly. These three languages are said to be mutually intelligible,          meaning they can be considered dialects of one language.  However,          it is often hard for Swedes and Danes to communicate with each other,          but rather easy for Danes to talk to Norwegians.  It is recommended to learn  Norwegian first if you plan to learn all three; however, Swedish          is spoken by more people.
Slavic Languages
The Slavic languages are spoken in Eastern Europe and Russia and are          the harder of the three language groups analyzed to learn.  They          are most closely related to the Baltic languages of Lithuania and Latvia.  In terms of geography, Austria, Hungary and Romania separate Bulgarian,          Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian from the other languages,          but Bulgarian and Macedonian are the only two that are somewhat different          from the northern languages.  The Western languages in the chart          above use the Roman alphabet, while the Eastern languages use the Cyrillic          alphabet. 
These languages are characterized by palatalizations (sounds such as          ch, sh, zh) and a few palatal consonants (the sounds nj, lj, rj).  All          languages recognize the numbers singular and plural, as well as three          genders: masculine, feminine and neuter.  There are at least six          noun cases, sometimes seven: nominative, accusative, dative, genitive,          instrumental, locative, and vocative.  Russian does not have the          vocative case and sometimes calls the locative case "prepositional."  Because          of the extensive case system and declensions of nouns, word order is relatively          free. 
None of the languages make use of any articles (except Bulgarian and          Macedonian), but all use the imperfective and perfective aspects of verbs.  Bulgarian and Macedonian are the most closely related languages          to Old Slavonic, although all morphological case has been lost in these          two languages.  The dual number is only retained in Slovenian and          Sorbian, while the aorist and imperfect verb forms only survive in Bulgarian,          Macedonian, Sorbian and literary Serbo-Croatian.
If you're interested in learning Slavic languages, Polish, Serbian, Croatian          and Russian are the most useful.  It will probably be easier to begin          with the Western languages as they use the Roman alphabet.  Russian          will seem very easy if you've learned Croatian first, even easier if you've          learned Serbian.  Polish isn't as closely related to Russian though - Serbian would be a better choice to lead into Russian.
 
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