Facts About Baltic Languages

The Baltic language category is a subset of the Indo-European group of languages. These languages are associated with people that live in proximity to the Baltic Sea, which is where they get their name from. There are two types of Baltic languages: the Eastern Baltic languages and the Western Baltic languages. These language groups include dead languages as well as living languages. There is some controversy about whether certain Baltic languages should be categorized as Western or Eastern Baltic languages.

People that are not native speakers of Baltic languages will have many opportunities to learn them. Online language resources for the Latvian and Lithuanian languages are widely available today. Since Latvian and Lithuanian are not as widely spoken as other European languages, translators that specialize in these languages may be comparatively successful within their language niches, particularly if they also know other European languages.

People that are familiar with Slavic languages will have an easier time learning Latvian and Lithuanian than people that are primarily familiar with the Romance languages. While there are fewer opportunities for Latvian or Lithuanian translation than for French or Spanish translation, there are also fewer people involved in the sub-field. They will not face as much competition as translators that specialize in French or Spanish. Most opportunities for language translation call for native speakers, so native Latvian and Lithuanian speakers will be able to capitalize on most opportunities.

Baltic Language Facts:

• The most influential Baltic languages in the modern world are Lithuanian and Latvian.
• The Latvian and Lithuanian languages are both East Baltic languages.
• Western Baltic languages include Skalvian, Galindian, Sudovian, and Old Prussian.
• The languages that are categorized as West Baltic languages have very few living speakers.
• There are about 3.9 million Lithuanian speakers in the modern world.
• There are as many as 2.5 million speakers of Latvian in the world today.
• As many as one million ethnic Russian people also speak the Latvian language.
• The Samogitian language is one of the living Lithuanian dialects.
• Old Prussian could be regarded as the oldest of all Baltic languages. It currently has no living speakers.
• People that speak the Latvian language will usually have a hard time understanding the Lithuanian language, even though the two languages have similar origins.
• There are many similarities between the Slavic and Baltic languages, and some linguists group them together.
• The Baltic languages began with the Proto-Baltic language, which dates back to before the year 1000 B.C.
• The exact dawn of Baltic languages is very difficult to pinpoint. Particularly since the point at which one language becomes another is always debatable. However, the oldest written work in a Baltic language that is still available today is from around 1400.

Regardless of its exact history, the Baltic language group is very old and it still continues to have a lot of influence today. Millions of people throughout Europe and beyond speak Baltic languages. With modern globalization trends, it remains to be seen how the Baltic language group will continue to grow and change over time.