Baltic languages facts for kids

The Baltic languages are a group of languages spoken mainly in countries near the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. They belong to a bigger language family called Indo-European, specifically a part known as the Balto-Slavic branch.

What are Baltic Languages?

Just like a family tree, language families have different branches. The Baltic languages have three main branches. Sadly, two of these branches are now extinct, meaning no one speaks them anymore.

Western Baltic Languages

This group of Baltic languages is now completely extinct. We know about them from old writings and historical records.

• Galindian (Western)
• Old Prussian
• Sudovian (also called Yotvingian)
• Skalvian (we don't have many records of this one)

Eastern Baltic Languages

This branch includes the Baltic languages that are still spoken today.

• Latvian: About 2.2 million people speak Latvian. Around 1.75 million are native speakers, and 0.5 million speak it as a second language.
• Latgalian: This language is spoken by about 150,000 to 200,000 people.
• Lithuanian: Around 3 million people speak Lithuanian as their native language.
• Selonian: This language is now extinct.
• Semigallian: This language is also extinct.
• Old Curonian: This language is extinct. Sometimes, people think it might have been part of the Western Baltic group.

Dnieper Baltic Languages

This branch had only one known language, and it is now extinct.

• (Eastern) Galindian: This was the language of the Eastern Galindians. It was also known as Golyad'.

Images for kids

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  Distribution of the Baltic languages in the Baltic (simplified)

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  The epigram of Basel – oldest known inscription in Prussian language and Baltic language in general, middle of 14th c

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  Place of Baltic languages according to Wolfgang P. Schmid, 1977.

See also

In Spanish: Lenguas bálticas para niños