Classification Of The Germanic Languages Spoken In Europe
The Germanic languages form a linguistic sub-branch of the Indo-European languages. They are divided into three additional sub-groups as follows:
- West Germanic (English, German, Low German, Dutch, Frisian, Scots, Afrikaans, Yiddish, Luxembourgish);
- North Germanic (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, Faroese, Elfdalian);
- East Germanic – extinct sub-group (Gothic, Burgundian, Vandalic).
Detailed map depicting the Germanic languages spoken in Europe. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Statistics
I) West Germanic languages
1) English
- Estimated native speakers: 400 million (at most); 360 (at least) – estimation as of 2006;
- Estimated L2 speakers: 400 million (as of 2006);
- Spoken as a foreign language by 600–700 million (as of 2006);
- Officially spoken in: The British Isles, North America, Oceania, parts of Africa, India, Hong Kong, etc.
2) German
- Estimated native speakers: 95 million (as of 2014);
- Estimated L2 speakers: 15 million (at most); 10 million (at least) – estimation as of 2014;
- Spoken as a foreign language by 75 million up to 100 million;
- Officially spoken in: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Luxembourg;
- Minority recognised language in: Brazil, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Kazahstan, Namibia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine.
3) Dutch
- Estimated native speakers: 22 million (as of 2012);
- Estimated L2 speakers: 6 million (as of 2012);
- Officially spoken in: Aruba, Belgium, Curacao, The Netherlands, Sint Maarten, Suriname.
4) Low German
- Estimated native speakers: 5 million (uncertain);
- Officially spoken in: Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Germany;
- Spoken by the Saxons in northern Germany.
5) Afrikaans
- Estimated native speakers: 7 million (2011 South African census);
- Estimated L2 speakers: 10 million (estimation as of 2002);
- Officially spoken in: South Africa;
- Recognised minority language in: Namibia, Botswana.
II) North Germanic languages/Scandinavian languages
1) Swedish
- Estimated native speakers: 9.2 million (as of 2012)
- Officially spoken in: Sweden, Finland
2) Danish
- Estimated native speakers: 5.5 million (as of 2012);
- Officially spoken in: Denmark, Faroe Islands;
- Recognised minority language in: Germany, Greenland.
3) Norwegian
- Estimated native speakers: 5 million (as of 2014)
- Officially spoken in: Norway
4) Icelandic
- Estimated native speakers: 330,000 (as of 2013)
- Officially spoken: Iceland
5) Faroese
- Estimated native speakers: 66,000 (as of 2007);
- Officially spoken: Faroe Islands;
- Recognised minority language in Denmark.
6) Elfdalian
- Estimated native speakers: 2,000-3,000 (as of 2009)
- Spoken in the Älvdalen Municipality, northern Dalarna province, Sweden
Documentation sources and external links:
- Global Language Network on www.language.media.mit.edu
- Ethnologue on www.ethnologue.com
- Statice.is on www.statice.is
