"Slavic language" redirects here. For other uses, see Slavic language (disambiguation).
Slavic
Slavonic
Ethnicity
Slavs
Geographic distribution
Throughout Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe, plus Central Asia and North Asia (Siberia)
Native speakers
c. 315 million (2001)[1]
Linguistic classification
Indo-European
Balto-Slavic
Slavic
Proto-language
Proto-Slavic
Subdivisions
East Slavic
South Slavic
West Slavic
ISO 639-2 / 5
sla
Linguasphere
53 (phylozone)
Glottolog
slav1255
Political map of Europe with countries where a Slavic language is a national language.
East Slavic languages
South Slavic languages
West Slavic languages
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Early Middle Ages, which in turn is thought to have descended from the earlier Proto-Balto-Slavic language, linking the Slavic languages to the Baltic languages in a Balto-Slavic group within the Indo-European family.
The Slavic languages are conventionally (that is, also on the basis of extralinguistic features) divided into three subgroups: East, South, and West, which together constitute more than 20 languages. Of these, 10 have at least one million speakers and official status as the national languages of the countries in which they are predominantly spoken: Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian (of the East group), Polish, Czech and Slovak (of the West group) and Bulgarian and Macedonian (eastern members of the South group), and Serbo-Croatian and Slovene (western members of the South group). In addition, Aleksandr Dulichenko recognizes a number of Slavic microlanguages: both isolated ethnolects and peripheral dialects of more well-established Slavic languages.[2][3][page needed][4]
Slavic languages are highly fusional and, with some exceptions, have richly developed inflection and cases. The word order of the Slavic languages is mostly free.
The current geographical distribution of natively spoken Slavic languages includes the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, and all the way from Western Siberia to the Russian Far East. Furthermore, the diasporas of many Slavic peoples have established isolated minorities of speakers of their languages all over the world. The number of speakers of all Slavic languages together was estimated to be 315 million at the turn of the twenty-first century.[1] It is the largest ethno-linguistic group in Europe.[5][6]
^ abIvanov 2021, section 1: "The Slavic languages, spoken by some 315 million people at the turn of the 21st century".
The Slaviclanguages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They...
The West Slaviclanguages are a subdivision of the Slaviclanguage group. They include Polish, Czech, Slovak, Kashubian, Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian...
The South Slaviclanguages are one of three branches of the Slaviclanguages. There are approximately 30 million speakers, mainly in the Balkans. These...
Slaviclanguages constitute one of three regional subgroups of the Slaviclanguages, distinct from the West and South Slaviclanguages. East Slavic languages...
The history of the Slaviclanguages stretches over 3000 years, from the point at which the ancestral Proto-Balto-Slaviclanguage broke up (c. 1500 BC)...
usually divide the Slaviclanguages into West Slavic, East Slavic, and South Slavic. for the West Slavic and East Slaviclanguages considered as a combined...
South Slaviclanguage. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slaviclanguages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch...
The Slavs or Slavic people are a group of peoples who speak Slaviclanguages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia;...
Russian and Ruthenian languages. Ruthenian eventually evolved into the Belarusian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian languages. The term Old East Slavic is used in reference...
reconstructed common ancestor of all Slaviclanguages. The name of the language in Old Church Slavonic texts was simply Slavic (словѣ́ньскъ ѩꙁꙑ́къ, slověnĭskŭ...
southeast of the Baltic Sea in Europe. Together with the Slaviclanguages, they form the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European family. Scholars usually...
monuments of Slavic languages, among them the first texts written in national languages. At this time the majority of Slaviclanguages received their first...
closely related and partially mutually intelligible languages spoken by the Sorbs, a West Slavic ethno-cultural minority in the Lusatia region of Eastern...
East Slaviclanguages, modern languages of East Slavic peoples South Slaviclanguages, modern languages of South Slavic peoples West Slaviclanguages, modern...
people, who spoke languages similar to theirs. The first written use of the name "Slavs" dates to the 6th century, when the Slavic tribes inhabited a...
questions on its relation to modern East Slaviclanguages, and its relation to Old East Slavic (the colloquial language used in Kievan Rus' in the 10th through...
Armenia, and Georgia. Eastern Slavic parents select a given name for a newborn child. Most first names in East Slaviclanguages originate from two sources:...
Slaviclanguages of Macedonia may refer to: Slaviclanguages of Macedonia (region), various Slaviclanguages (historical and modern) spoken in the geographical...
been preserved by a number of Slavic people in a variety of languages. The conventional month names in some of these languages are mixed, including names...
A Slavic name suffix is a common way of forming patronymics, family names, and pet names in the Slaviclanguages. Many, if not most, Slavic last names...
the Slavs was followed by a population exchange, mixing and language shift to and from Slavic. The settlement was facilitated by the substantial decrease...
connotations. Indeed, many Slaviclanguages have two terms that are conventionally rendered as "pagan" in Western languages: the aforementioned pogan and...
century, Slavic became the dominant language throughout most of the Balkans. Studies of the South Slaviclanguages revealed that Bulgarian and Serbian...
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