Language in Europe

Europe is comprised of a kaleidoscope of tongues--some ancient, others relatively new; some dying out, others expanding; some with relatively benign political implications, others creating political flashpoints. Language, besides being a fascinating topic in its own right, is also an important gauge of political and cultural strength, since expansion or contraction of a language goes hand-in-glove with the relative dominance of those who speak it. Similarly, nationally dominant or officially proclaimed languages are usually the form of the language spoken in the capital region of the country. For example, standard French, Spanish, and Russian were originally the dialect spoken in Paris, Madrid, and Moscow. Other existing dialects generally succumb with time to pressure from the center of power. When dominant languages are not spoken by the majority of the population in part of a country, it often reflects ongoing conflict between central government and subnational groups, as reflected by the use of Basque and Catalan in Spain and Celtic languages in the British Isles.

Tracing the origin and development of something as fluid as language over the past 5000 years is virtually impossible, so a complete story of languages will never be known. However, clues derived from detailed linguistic evidence suggest that a common root language, called Proto-Indo-European, existed in Europe in about 3000 B.C. The language began to split and diversify, first into two groups along the so-called Centum-Satem line. This line, named for "100" in Latin and Slavic languages, corresponds quite closely to the present division between Eastern and Western Europe. East of the line, Slavic languages predominate, while in the west, the ancient language (Frankish) itself split into the Romance and Germanic subgroups. (Languages are classified according to family, e.g., Indo-European, subgroup, Germanic, branch, Western, major language, English, and minor language, Frisian.) Through time, various language branches emerged, most with several modern representatives and dialects.

A number of broad generalizations can be made about language in Europe. First, throughout history there have been both official and common languages in the many regions and countries of Europe. For example, Latin was the language of nobility, science, law, and religion for much of the Middle Ages and Renaissance eras across most of Europe. But this is not to say that Latin was the language spoken by a majority of the population; indeed, apart from Vatican City and Roman Catholic services, the language has all but disappeared in its spoken form. Similarly, although French was a common language of royal courts (e.g., at times in Russia), it played virtually no role in daily life for masses of citizens except in the regions in or near France.

Second, most European languages did not have a written alphabet until relatively recently. For example, speakers of Slavic languages did not have a written form until the nineteenth century, at which time the Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius developed a writing system for them. The alphabet they developed adhered closely to the Greek alphabet-hence, the similarities between it and the Cyrillic alphabet. The importance of an alphabet cannot be overstressed: without one, languages become extinct far more quickly than with one, and languages change much faster when they are passed from generation to generation through spoken forms only. Furthermore, the written form of a language is often an important indicator of its origin and certain other aspects. For example, Serbian and Croatian are essentially the same language, but Serbs use the Cyrillic alphabet and Croats use the Latin alphabet, reflecting adherence to Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, respectively. These churches, of course, played pivotal roles in the development of public literacy as the result of church-related literature.

Third, throughout history, up to the present, many Europeans have spoken more than one language. Americans often marvel at the ability of individuals to speak two, three, or four languages in addition to their native tongue. (Europeans, on the other hand, are perplexed by Americans' relative linguistic insularity.) Europeans' linguistic flexibility is nothing new, for during medieval times Jewish traders were said to speak Arabic, Persian, Greek, Latin, Frankish, Spanish, and Slavonic! Similarly, many of the words in European languages are borrowed from others, especially for introduced products. For example, the English word "orange" (the fruit) comes from the Arabic "naranj," and the word is "naranja" in Spanish and "narancs" in Hungarian. However, when traveling in Europe, you should keep in mind that place names generally differ from one language to the next. For example, what we call Vienna is "Wien" in German and "Becs" in Hungarian. In Italian Rome is "Roma," but Florence is "Firenze." When speaking with Europeans, even those who know English quite well, one must be aware of this problem and always have a map at the ready if travel itineraries are discussed.

Fourth, through the years geographic isolation related to topographic features has helped maintain language identity. Certain obscure languages, such as Romansch and Vlach, can be heard today only in mountain regions of the Alps and Carpathians respectively. Pressure from people speaking first Saxon and later English isolated Gaelic speakers in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland in the British Isles' far north and west, where they now form the majority in only restricted areas (known as Gaeltacht in Ireland). A similar process led to concentration of the Breton language in northwesternmost France. Basque may, in part, provide a classic example of the impact of geographic and, probably, cultural isolation and insularity. As already noted, the Basque language has no known linguistic root; its origin remains one of Europe's greatest, most intriguing mysteries.

Fifth, all languages show regional variation in pronunciation (accent) and vocabulary. When variations are large enough, the different forms of languages are referred to as dialects; in some cases, these dialects are almost mutually incomprehensible. For example, Norwegian exists in two distinct forms (Bokmål and Nynorsk), and Albanian has Tosk and Gheg speakers. Dialects and accents also abound, for example, in Germany, where some are hardly recognizable to "high German" speakers (especially nonnative speakers). These regional variations, often related to the relative isolation of population groups in valleys or on islands, add greatly to cultural richness and regional pride, but provide a humbling reminder of a language's complexity to someone who may think they have achieved linguistic fluency.

Finally, in many countries language is the basis for a heated political issue. Conflict can assume a range of forms, as the following three examples demonstrate:

1. Most place-name signs and other highway markers in the Republic of Ireland are given in both Irish (Gaelic) and English. However, as a form of protest, many of the English names are routinely painted over. Similar actions occur in minority regions across the continent.
2. Tensions between Flemish and French speakers at the Belgian university at Leuven became so caustic during the late 1960s that the university was literally divided along linguistic boundaries. Subsequently, a new university town was built at Louvain-la-Neuve to house the French-speaking faculty and students as well as half the library holdings.
3. Many people in Western Romania speak Hungarian as their first language. Since the mid-1960s, Hungarian speakers have endured various degrees of repression, including prohibitions in speaking the language in public. In the early 1990s the mayor of Cluj, an important Transylvanian city, went so far as to make all signs in the Hungarian language illegal, punishable by a substantial fine.

Each of these examples points to the volatile and highly politicized nature of language in the modern European context. In all cases, language becomes a strong indicator of cultural identity and hence of political position with regard to power sharing. The Irish are concerned with gaining political power after centuries of rule from London; the Flemish and French speakers of Belgium have long been at odds with one another; and the Romanians are ever fearful of the Hungarian minority's attempts to gain too much power, lest they should press for a return to the pre-World War I borders, when Transylvania was part of Hungary.

In short, the languages spoken in Europe reflect the diversity of its cultures and the complex interrelationships among them. The more of these languages one can comprehend, the more one can appreciate and understand the region. Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Habla Español? Parlez-vous Français?