Video summary

Europe's Secret Languages

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas & concepts conveyed

  • Europe has far more languages than what the EU officially recognizes.
    • The EU officially recognizes 24 languages, but the continent has 200+ languages/dialects.
  • The video highlights “rare” languages and dialects using five iceberg tiers:
    • Tier 1: widely heard languages
    • Tier 5: less known languages
  • A recurring theme is how languages become endangered through:
    • political conquest and annexation
    • state language policies / bans
    • assimilation and education restrictions
    • population displacement
    • economic and prestige pressures favoring dominant languages
  • Another recurring theme is linguistic uniqueness, such as:
    • unusual word order
    • uncommon grammatical features (e.g., dual number)
    • distinct sound systems/grammar (e.g., agglutination, case systems)
    • retention of archaic vocabulary
    • use of different writing systems (e.g., Latin vs. Cyrillic)

Methodology / structure (as presented)

  • The video proceeds as a ranked list of languages/dialects, moving sequentially through items.
  • Each entry generally includes:
    • where it’s spoken
    • historical origins
    • reasons for decline or endangerment
    • current speaker estimates
    • notable linguistic features
    • often a “Little Prince” comparison excerpt (to show the language in written form)

Detailed languages covered (Tier 1 toward “less known”)

1) Scots

  • Main location: Scotland
  • Origins / history:
    • Old English dialect spread into the Scottish Lowlands via trade, migration, and war
    • Influenced by Gaelic, Norse, Norman French, Latin
    • Became increasingly popular in Scotland over centuries
  • Decline:
    • After the 18th-century union with England, English became dominant and Scots usage declined
  • Current status:
    • About 1.5 million claim to speak Scots
  • Notable feature:
    • Written form described as resembling an attempt to write the Scottish accent
  • Example referenced: The Little Prince passage comparison

2) Irish

  • Main location: Mainly Ireland (especially rural west “Gaeltacht” areas)
  • Origins / history:
    • One of the oldest continuously recorded Celtic languages
    • Old literature dates to the 6th century
    • Dominant across Ireland until English conquest in the 16th–17th centuries
  • Decline under English rule:
    • Use discouraged in schools and workplaces
    • Children punished for speaking it
    • Great Famine (mid-19th century): many died or fled, reducing speakers
  • Revival:
    • After independence, revival efforts were implemented
  • Current status:
    • About 40% claim some level of Irish
    • About 70,000 speak it daily outside school
  • Notable linguistic features:
    • Verb-Subject-Object word order (instead of typical SVO)
    • No standalone words for “yes” and “no”; must repeat the question verb in affirmative/negative form
  • Example referenced: The Little Prince passage comparison

3) Breton

  • Main location: Brittany, France
  • Origins / history:
    • Believed Celtic Britons fled the British Isles to Brittany
    • Evolved into Breton; closely related to Cornish
    • Some linguists argue Breton and Cornish may be dialects of one language
  • Decline:
    • After the French Revolution, the French state pushed language unification
    • Breton banned in schools/public life → fewer speakers
  • Current status:
    • ~200k claim some ability
    • ~35k use it daily → severely endangered
  • Revival:
    • Ban lifted; bilingual signs installed; institutions promoting Breton
    • France Eurovision songs reportedly sung in Breton (1996, 2022)
  • Example referenced: The Little Prince excerpt

4) Crimean Tatar

  • Main location: Crimea (also diaspora pockets)
  • Origins / history:
    • Turkic language; Tatars settled Crimea after Mongol-era expansions
    • Over centuries evolved into Crimean Tatar
  • Population context:
    • Before Russian annexation: ~260k in Crimea
    • Hard to estimate now due to politics
    • Diaspora: Uzbekistan (170k), Romania (25k), Bulgaria (3k)
  • Decline / endangerment causes:
    • Spoken mostly by older generations
    • Russian government suppression:
      • closing schools/media/cultural institutions
  • Linguistic features:
    • Agglutinative (grammar added at ends of root words)
    • Verb conjugation described as extremely complex (tense, number, person, aspect, mood, voice)
  • Writing examples referenced:
    • The Little Prince in Cyrillic and Latin scripts
    • (Script conversion noted; excerpt from Wikipedia mentioned)
  • Context note: Stalin is mentioned in relation to ethnic cleanses/purges for Crimean Tatars

5) Sorbian

  • Main location: Lusatia region, Germany
  • Origins / history:
    • Western Slavic language spoken by the Sorbs
    • Territory shrank over time; divided between Saxony and Prussia in the 19th century
    • Germanization policies and WWII repression reduced use:
      • banned academic society, closed schools
      • propaganda claimed Sorbs were “Slavic-speaking Germans”
    • Post-WWII resettlement of expelled Germans also reduced speaker numbers
  • Current status:
    • About 60,000 Sorbs
  • Dialects:
    • Upper Sorbian (closer to Czech; more prominently spoken)
    • Lower Sorbian (closer to Polish; not mutually intelligible)
  • Notable linguistic feature:
    • Has a dual form (distinguishes 1 vs 2 vs more than 2)
  • Other grammar notes:
    • Dialect-dependent case counts (6 or 7 cases), 3 genders, complex consonant clusters
  • Examples referenced: comparisons of Upper/Lower Sorbian plus Polish/Czech

6) Aromanian

  • Main location: Balkan pockets across multiple countries
    • Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania (and others)
  • Origins / history:
    • Eastern Romance language descending from Latin/Roman influence
    • Isolated mountain communities continued a Romance form after Roman collapse and Slavic influx
  • Current status:
    • ~200,000 speakers
  • Recognition issues:
    • Official recognition is complex
    • Krusevo (North Macedonia) is described as the only city where it is co-official with Macedonian and Albanian
    • Some—especially Romanians—deny legitimacy and call it a dialect
    • Not mutually intelligible with Romanian (as claimed)
  • Notable linguistic feature:
    • Uses a Latin-like pattern of placing the article after the word
  • Example referenced: The Little Prince comparison

7) Gagauz

  • Main location: Autonomous area “Gaugauzia” in Moldova; also parts of Ukraine
  • Current status:
    • ~150,000 speakers
  • Origins / history (most accepted theory):
    • Turkic groups migrated west; Gagauz associated with Cuman and nomadic groups
    • Settled near the Black Sea coast (Romania/Bulgaria), adopted Orthodoxy
    • 18th-century Ottoman vs Russian contest:
      • Russians allowed settlement on condition they remain Orthodox
    • Soviet period → language decline via Russification
  • Decline / present-day dynamics:
    • Even though officially recognized, Russian dominates everyday life, media, and local administration
    • Administration and documents conducted in Russian → younger speakers shift
  • Writing system note:
    • Officially written using Latin alphabet, but older books and some people use Cyrillic
    • The same language appears in two scripts
  • Example referenced:
    • No Little Prince excerpt found
    • Excerpt from the Book of Jonah (Latin and Cyrillic)

8) Rusyn (aka “Ruthenian” in the West)

  • Main location: Historically the Ukrainian Carpathian region; also Vojvodina and Austro-Hungarian lands after relocation
  • Origins / history:
    • Relocated by Maria Theresa across Austro-Hungarian lands
  • Current status:
    • About 20,000–30,000 speakers
    • More people identify as Rusyn than speak it
  • Recognition issues:
    • Many Ukrainians treat it as a dialect of Ukrainian (language legitimacy dispute)
    • Some countries (Serbia, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia) recognize it as a minority language with schools/public institutions
  • Linguistic classification:
    • Described as East Slavic, evolving from old East Slavic dialects similar to Russian/Ukrainian
  • Example referenced: comparison to Ukrainian

9) Aragonese

  • Main location: Pyrenees villages in Spain (historically Aragon)
  • Origins / history:
    • Before Spain unified, Aragon and Castile were separate; Aragonese a distinct Romance language
    • “Iberian Wedding” (royal marriage) led to political unification under Spain
  • Decline:
    • Spanish became dominant through trade, government, prestige
    • Aragonese reduced to small communities
  • Current status:
    • ~10,000 fluent speakers
  • Notable feature:
    • Preserves many archaic words while evolving alongside Spanish from Old Castilian
  • Example referenced: comparisons with Spanish and Catalan

10) Astur-Leonese (Asturian / Leonese / Mirandese in Portugal)

  • Main locations:
    • Spain (Asturian/Astur-Leonese)
    • Portugal (Mirandese)
  • Origins / history:
    • Associated with the medieval Kingdom of León
  • Decline:
    • Reduced as Spanish became dominant for trade/politics
  • Current status (estimates given):
    • “A couple thousand” speakers in Spain
    • 5,000–10,000 in Portugal
    • Another view: if Asturian is treated as a dialect rather than separate language, total might be ~100,000
  • Recognition differences:
    • Spain doesn’t fully recognize it as a minority language
    • Portugal grants minority-language status
  • Example referenced: comparisons with Spanish and Portuguese

11) Kashubian

  • Main location: North Poland, villages around Gdańsk
  • Origins / history:
    • West Slavic; successor to extinct Pomeranian
    • Pomeranians were involved in Baltic trade
  • Decline:
    • Lands became part of Germany and Poland; assimilation programs reduced language and identity
  • Current status:
    • ~100,000 speakers (reported)
  • Notable feature:
    • Preserves archaic Slavic vocabulary and uses many German loanwords
  • Positive outlook:
    • Making a comeback due to recognition as a regional minority language and access to media/institutions
  • Example referenced: comparison to Polish

12) Tsakonian (from Doric Greek line)

  • Main location: Mountain villages in the Peloponnese, Greece
  • Origins / history:
    • Linked to Doric Greek tradition; Dorians founded the Sparta regionally
    • Attic Greek became dominant, but Doric persisted in isolated areas
    • Eventually evolved into Tsakonian
  • Current status:
    • 300–1,000 fluent speakers → critically endangered
  • Recognition issues:
    • Greece described as resistant to recognizing minority languages
    • Many believe Tsakonian is a dialect of Greek despite claimed incomprehensibility to modern Greek speakers
  • Example referenced: written comparison between Tsakonian and Greek

13) Ligurian (and Tabarchino)

  • Main location:
    • Liguria (Ligurian)
    • Tabarchino: fishing towns in southern Sardinia founded by Genoese settlers
  • Origins / history:
    • Genoa merchant republic spread trade widely, including to Sardinia
    • Isolation from Genoa → Tabarchino evolved as its own variety
  • Decline:
    • After Italian unification, standard Italian spread via media and schooling
  • Current status:
    • ~500,000–1,000,000 speakers
  • Recognition note:
    • Italy doesn’t officially recognize it; described as treated “as Italian with a funny accent”
  • Notable feature:
    • Developed alongside modern Italian; Mediterranean and nearby French influences shaped it
  • Example referenced: comparisons of Ligurian, Tabarchino, Italian

14) Latgalian

  • Main location: Latgale region in eastern Latvia
  • Origins / history:
    • Latvian and Latgalian share Baltic roots, but political separation caused drift
    • Latgale under Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth → influences from Polish/Lithuanian/Belarusian
    • Standard Latvian under German influence → different shaping
  • Current status:
    • ~165,000 speakers across Latvia
    • Not endangered (despite lack of recognition)
  • Recognition issues:
    • Latvia treats it as historical written Latvian
    • Riga Latvian speakers reportedly struggle to understand Latgalians from Rezekne
  • Example referenced: comparisons

15) Arvanitika

  • Main location: Greek communities descended from Albanian-speaking settlers in Greece
  • Origins / history:
    • 13th–15th centuries: Albanian-speaking settlers migrated into Greece
    • Some were invited to repopulate areas devastated by war/plague; others sought safety
    • Their medieval Albanian dialects evolved into Arvanitika
  • Identity and integration:
    • Many Arvanites identify as Greek while preserving their Albanian-derived language
  • Current status:
    • Estimated 50,000–250,000 Arvanites
    • Active speakers declining because young people shift to Greek
  • Notable features (as claimed):
    • Absorbed many Greek words
    • Preserved archaic vocabulary and grammar from medieval Albanian
  • Recognition issue:
    • Greece described as having problems recognizing minorities, making speaker numbers uncertain

Speakers / sources featured (as mentioned)

  • Narrator / host: Janos (also credited as “Living Ironically in Europe”)
  • Sources used for excerpts:
    • “The Little Prince” (used for passage comparisons in multiple languages)
    • Wikipedia (referenced as an example source for Crimean Tatar verb/conjugation complexity)
    • The Book of Jonah (used as an excerpt source for Gagauz language examples)
  • Other entities mentioned (not as speakers):
    • EU language recognition (24 languages)
    • France (Eurovision) (songs sung in Breton)
    • Russian government (language suppression context)
    • Austrian Empress Maria Theresa (Rusyn relocation context)
    • Stalin (ethnic cleanses/purges context for Crimean Tatars)
    • Ottomans / Russians (Gagauz historical context)

Original video