Editing Languages of Europe (section)

== History of standardization ==
{{further|Ethnic groups in Europe#History|Vernacular|De vulgari eloquentia}}

=== Language and identity, standardization processes ===
In the Middle Ages the two most important defining elements of Europe were ''Christianitas'' and ''Latinitas''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Joshua |date=28 June 2019 |title=Religion in the Middle Ages |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1411/religion-in-the-middle-ages/ |access-date=15 December 2023 |website=World History Encyclopedia}}</ref>

The earliest dictionaries were glossaries: more or less structured lists of lexical pairs (in alphabetical order or according to conceptual fields). The Latin-German (Latin-Bavarian) ''[[Abrogans]]'' was among the first. A new wave of [[lexicography]] can be seen from the late 15th century onwards (after the introduction of the printing press, with the growing interest in standardisation of languages).{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

The concept of the [[nation state]] began to emerge in the [[early modern period]]. Nations adopted particular dialects as their national language. This, together with improved communications, led to official efforts to standardise the [[national language]], and a number of language academies were established: 1582 ''[[Accademia della Crusca]]'' in Florence, 1617 ''[[Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft]]'' in Weimar, 1635 ''[[Académie française]]'' in Paris, 1713 ''[[Real Academia Española]]'' in Madrid. Language became increasingly linked to nation as opposed to culture, and was also used to promote religious and ethnic identity: e.g. different [[Bible translations]] in the same language for Catholics and Protestants.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

The first languages whose standardisation was promoted included Italian (''[[questione della lingua]]'': Modern Tuscan/Florentine vs. Old Tuscan/Florentine vs. Venetian → Modern Florentine + archaic Tuscan + Upper Italian), French (the standard is based on Parisian), English (the standard is based on the London dialect) and (High) German (based on the dialects of the chancellery of Meissen in Saxony, Middle German, and the chancellery of Prague in Bohemia ("Common German")). But several other nations also began to develop a standard variety in the 16th century.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

=== Lingua franca ===
Europe has had a number of languages that were considered [[linguae francae]] over some ranges for some periods according to some historians. Typically in the rise of a national language the new language becomes a lingua franca to peoples in the range of the future nation until the consolidation and unification phases. If the nation becomes internationally influential, its language may become a lingua franca among nations that speak their own national languages. Europe has had no lingua franca ranging over its entire territory spoken by all or most of its populations during any historical period. Some linguae francae of past and present over some of its regions for some of its populations are:
<!-- in national and chronological order -->
* [[Ancient Greek language|Classical Greek]] and then [[Koine Greek]] in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean Basin]] from the [[Athenian Empire]] to the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], being replaced by [[Modern Greek]].
* [[Koine Greek]] and [[Modern Greek]], in the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire]] and other parts of the Balkans south of the [[Jireček Line]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Review [untitled] of Ariadna Camariano-Cioran, Les Academies Princieres de Bucarest et de Jassy et leur Professeurs |journal=Church History |volume=45 |number=1 |date = March 1976|pages=115–116 |quote=...Greek, the ''lingua franca'' of commerce and religion, provided a cultural unity to the Balkans...Greek penetrated Moldavian and Wallachian territories as early as the fourteenth century.... The heavy influence of Greek culture upon the intellectual and academic life of Bucharest and [[Iași|Jassy]] was longer termed than historians once believed. |first=James Steve |last=Counelis |doi=10.2307/3164593|jstor=3164593 |s2cid=162293323 }}</ref>
* [[Vulgar Latin]] and [[Late Latin]] among the uneducated and educated populations respectively of the [[Roman Empire]] and the states that followed it in the same range no later than 900&nbsp;AD; [[Medieval Latin]] and [[Renaissance Latin]] among the educated populations of western, northern, central and part of eastern Europe until the rise of the national languages in that range, beginning with the first language academy in Italy in 1582/83; [[Neo-Latin]] written only in scholarly and scientific contexts by a small minority of the educated population at scattered locations over all of Europe; [[ecclesiastical Latin]], in spoken and written contexts of liturgy and church administration only, over the range of the [[Roman Catholic Church]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
* [[Old Occitan]] in central and southern France, north-western Italy and the main territories of the [[crown of Aragon]] (Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Aragon).<ref>{{Cite web |title=A troubadour literary koiné? |url=https://www.trob-eu.net/en/a-troubadour-literary-koine.html}}</ref>
* [[Mediterranean Lingua Franca|Lingua Franca]] or Sabir, the original of the name, an Italian and Catalan-based [[pidgin]] language of mixed origins used by maritime commercial interests around the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages and early Modern Age.<ref>{{cite book |title=Lingua Franca in the Mediterranean |first=John E. |last=Wansbrough |chapter=Chapter&nbsp;3: Lingua Franca |year=1996 |publisher=Routledge}}</ref>
* [[Old French]] in continental western European countries and in the [[Crusader states]].<ref name=calvet175-176>{{cite book |title=Language wars and linguistic politics |first=Louis Jean |last=Calvet |location=Oxford [England]; New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |pages=175–76}}</ref>
* [[Czech language|Czech]], mainly during the reign of [[Holy Roman Empire|Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles&nbsp;IV]] (14th century) but also during other periods of Bohemian control over the Holy Roman Empire.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
* [[Middle Low German]], around the 14th–16th century, during the heyday of the [[Hanseatic League]], mainly in Northeastern Europe across the Baltic Sea.
* [[Spanish language|Spanish]] as Castilian in Spain and [[New Spain]] from the times of [[the Catholic Monarchs]] and [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]], c.&nbsp;1492; that is, after the [[Reconquista]], until established as a national language in the times of [[Louis XIV]], c.&nbsp;1648; subsequently multinational in all nations in or formerly in the [[Spanish Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |page=[https://archive.org/details/decolonizinginte00jone/page/n55 98] |title=Decolonizing international relations |url=https://archive.org/details/decolonizinginte00jone |url-access=limited |first=Branwen Gruffydd |last=Jones |location=Lanham, MD|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2006}}</ref>
* [[Polish language|Polish]], due to the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] (16th–18th centuries).{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
* [[Italian language|Italian]] due to the [[Renaissance]], the [[opera]], the [[Italian Empire]], the [[Italian fashion|fashion industry]] and the influence of the [[Roman Catholic church]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kahane |first=Henry |date=September 1986 |title=A Typology of the Prestige Language |journal=Language |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=495–508 |doi=10.2307/415474 |jstor=415474}}</ref>
* [[French language|French]] from the golden age under [[Cardinal Richelieu]] and [[Louis&nbsp;XIV]] c.&nbsp;1648; i.e.,&nbsp;after the [[Thirty Years' War]], in France and the [[French colonial empire]], until established as the national language during the [[French Revolution]] of 1789 and subsequently multinational in all nations in or formerly in the various [[French colonial empire|French Empires]].<ref name=calvet175-176/>
* [[German language|German]] in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Jeroen |last1=Darquennes |first2=Peter |last2=Nelde |title=German as a Lingua Franca |journal=Annual Review of Applied Linguistics |volume=26 |pages=61–77 |year=2006 |doi=10.1017/s0267190506000043|doi-broken-date=18 December 2024 |s2cid=61449212 }}</ref>
* [[English language|English]] in [[Great Britain]] until its consolidation as a national language in the [[Renaissance]] and the rise of [[Modern English]]; subsequently internationally under the various states in or formerly in the [[British Empire]]; globally since the victories of the predominantly English speaking countries ([[United States]], [[United Kingdom]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], and others) and their allies in the two world wars ending in 1918 ([[World War&nbsp;I]]) and 1945 ([[World War&nbsp;II]]) and the subsequent rise of the United States as a [[superpower]] and major [[United States#Culture|cultural influence]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
* [[Russian language|Russian]] in the former [[Soviet Union]] and [[Russian Empire]] including [[Northern Asia|Northern]] and [[Central Asia]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

=== Linguistic minorities ===
Historical attitudes towards linguistic diversity are illustrated by two French laws: the [[Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts|Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts]] (1539), which said that every document in France should be written in French (neither in Latin nor in Occitan) and the [[Toubon Law|Loi Toubon]] (1994), which aimed to eliminate anglicisms from official documents. States and populations within a state have often resorted to war to settle their differences. There have been attempts to prevent such hostilities: two such initiatives were promoted by the [[Council of Europe]], founded in 1949, which affirms the right of minority language speakers to use their language fully and freely.<ref>{{cite web|title=European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: Strasbourg, 5.XI.1992|url=http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/148.htm|publisher=Council of Europe|year=1992|access-date=4 November 2009|archive-date=26 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226052008/http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/HTML/148.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Council of Europe is committed to protecting linguistic diversity. Currently all European countries except [[France]], [[Andorra]] and [[Turkey]] have signed the [[Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities]], while [[Greece]], [[Iceland]] and [[Luxembourg]] have signed it, but have not ratified it; this framework entered into force in 1998. Another European treaty, the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]], was adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the [[Council of Europe]]: it entered into force in 1998, and while it is legally binding for 24 countries, [[France]], [[Iceland]], [[Italy]], [[North Macedonia]], [[Moldova]] and [[Russia]] have chosen to sign without ratifying the convention.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Protsyk |first1=Oleh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMFE-OYR3dkC&dq=%22European+Charter+for+Regional+or+Minority%22+%221998%22+%22russia%22&pg=PA42 |title=Managing Ethnic Diversity in Russia |last2=Harzl |first2=Benedikt |date=2013-05-07 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-26774-1 |pages=42 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Assembly |first=Council of Europe: Parliamentary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wKonXLgCTLQC&dq=%22European+Charter+for+Regional+or+Minority%22+%221998%22+%22moldova%22&pg=PA235 |title=Documents: working papers, 2006 ordinary session (first part), 23 -27 January 2006, Vol. 1: Documents 10711, 10712, 10715-10769 |date=2006-11-08 |publisher=Council of Europe |isbn=978-92-871-5932-8 |pages=235 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Scripts ===
[[File:Scripts of European national languages.png|thumb|320px|Alphabets used in European national languages:
{{legend|#008000|[[Greek alphabet|Greek]]}}
{{legend|#008080|[[Greek alphabet|Greek]] & [[Latin alphabet|Latin]]}}
{{legend|#000080|[[Latin alphabet|Latin]]}}
{{legend|#800080|[[Latin alphabet|Latin]] & [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]]}}
{{legend|#FF0000|[[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]]}}
{{legend|#FF6600|[[Georgian script|Georgian]]}}
{{legend|#FFCC00|[[Armenian script|Armenian]]}}]]
<!--[[File:Scripts in Europe (1901).jpg|thumb|250px|Main alphabets used in Europe around 1900:
{{legend|#84CFEE|outline=#ccc|[[Latin script]]: [[Fraktur (script)|Fraktur]] variant}}
{{legend|#F8D2D1|outline=#ccc|Latin script: [[Antiqua (typeface class)|Antiqua]] variant}}
{{legend|#DAF6D0|outline=#ccc|[[Cyrillic script]]}}
{{legend|#D4CAA7|outline=#ccc|[[Greek alphabet]]}}
{{legend|#FEFF88|outline=#ccc|[[Arabic script]]}}
{{legend|#ffffff|outline=#ccc|[[Clear script|Kalmyk]]–[[Mongolian script]]}}
]]-->

The main scripts used in Europe today are the [[Latin script|Latin]] and [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dimitrov |first=Bogoya |date=2023-05-19 |title=Book Exhibition Dedicated to the Day of the Cyrillic Alphabet |url=https://blogs.eui.eu/library/cyrillic-alphabet/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=The EUI Library Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Greek alphabet]] was derived from the [[Phoenician alphabet]], and Latin was derived from the Greek via the [[Old Italic alphabet]]. In the Early Middle Ages, [[Ogham]] was used in Ireland and [[runes]] (derived from Old Italic script) in Scandinavia. Both were replaced in general use by the Latin alphabet by the Late Middle Ages. The Cyrillic script was derived from the Greek with the first texts appearing around 940&nbsp;AD.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

{{See also|Antiqua–Fraktur dispute}}
Around 1900 there were mainly two typeface variants of the [[Latin alphabet]] used in Europe: [[Antiqua (typeface class)|Antiqua]] and [[Fraktur]]. Fraktur was used most for German, Estonian, Latvian, Norwegian and Danish whereas Antiqua was used for Italian, Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese, English, Romanian, Swedish and Finnish. The Fraktur variant was banned by [[Hitler]] in 1941, having been described as "[[Schwabacher]] Jewish letters".<ref>[http://www.ligaturix.de/bormann.htm Facsimile of Bormann's Memorandum (in German)]<br />
The memorandum itself is typed in Antiqua, but the [[NSDAP]] [[letterhead]] is printed in Fraktur.<br />"For general attention, on behalf of the Führer, I make the following announcement:<br />It is wrong to regard or to describe the so‑called Gothic script as a German script. In reality, the so‑called Gothic script consists of Schwabach Jew letters. Just as they later took control of the newspapers, upon the introduction of printing the Jews residing in Germany took control of the printing presses and thus in Germany the Schwabach Jew letters were forcefully introduced.<br />Today the Führer, talking with Herr Reichsleiter Amann and Herr Book Publisher Adolf Müller, has decided that in the future the Antiqua script is to be described as normal script. All printed materials are to be gradually converted to this normal script. As soon as is feasible in terms of textbooks, only the normal script will be taught in village and state schools.<br />The use of the Schwabach Jew letters by officials will in future cease; appointment certifications for functionaries, street signs, and so forth will in future be produced only in normal script.<br />On behalf of the Führer, Herr Reichsleiter Amann will in future convert those newspapers and periodicals that already have foreign distribution, or whose foreign distribution is desired, to normal script".</ref> Other scripts have historically been in use in Europe, including Phoenician, from which modern Latin letters descend, Ancient [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]] on Egyptian artefacts traded during Antiquity, various runic systems used in Northern Europe preceding Christianisation, and Arabic during the era of the Ottoman Empire.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

[[Old Hungarian alphabet|Hungarian rovás]] was used by the Hungarian people in the early Middle Ages, but it was gradually replaced with the Latin-based Hungarian alphabet when Hungary became a kingdom, though it was revived in the 20th century and has certain marginal, but growing area of usage since then.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gleichgewicht |first=Daniel |date=2020-04-30 |title=New illiberalism and the old Hungarian alphabet |url=https://neweasterneurope.eu/2020/04/30/new-illiberalism-and-the-old-hungarian-alphabet/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=New Eastern Europe |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== European Union ===
{{main|Languages of the European Union}}
The [[European Union]] (as of 2021) had 27 member states accounting for a population of 447 million, or about 60% of the population of Europe.<ref name=Pop2022>{{cite web | url = https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/TPS00001/bookmark/table?lang=en&bookmarkId=6ef61f16-dadc-42b1-a6ce-3ddfda4727e8 | title = Population on 1 January | website = [[Eurostat]] | access-date = 27 March 2024}}</ref>

The European Union has designated by agreement with the member states 24 languages as "official and working": Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.<ref>{{cite web|title=Languages Policy: Linguistic diversity: Official languages of the EU|url=http://ec.europa.eu/languages/policy/linguistic-diversity/official-languages-eu_en.htm|publisher=European Commission, European Union|date=4 June 2009|access-date= 9 August 2015}}</ref> This designation provides member states with two "entitlements": the member state may communicate with the EU in any of the designated languages, and view "EU regulations and other legislative documents" in that language.<ref>{{cite web|title=Languages of Europe: Official EU languages |url=http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/languages-of-europe/doc135_en.htm |publisher=European Commission, European Union |year=2009 |access-date=5 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202112407/http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/languages-of-europe/doc135_en.htm |archive-date=2 February 2009 }}</ref>

The European Union and the [[Council of Europe]] have been collaborating in education of member populations in languages for "the promotion of plurilingualism" among EU member states.<ref>{{cite web|title=Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) |url=http://www.coe.int/T/DG4/Linguistic/CADRE_EN.asp |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=5 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030205032/http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/CADRE_EN.asp |archive-date=30 October 2009 }}</ref> The joint document, "[[Common European Framework of Reference for Languages]]: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR)", is an educational standard defining "the competencies necessary for communication" and related knowledge for the benefit of educators in setting up educational programs. 
In a 2005 independent survey requested by the EU's [[Directorate-General for Education and Culture (European Commission)|Directorate-General for Education and Culture]] regarding the extent to which major European languages were spoken in member states. The results were published in a 2006 document, "Europeans and Their Languages", or "Eurobarometer&nbsp;243". In this study, statistically relevant{{clarify|date=December 2019}}{{Fix|text=Do you mean "significant"?}} samples of the population in each country were asked to fill out a survey form concerning the languages that they spoke with sufficient competency "to be able to have a conversation".<ref>{{cite web|title=Europeans and Their Languages|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf|publisher=European Commission|year=2006|access-date=5 November 2009|page=8}}</ref>