Which is the most conservative Indo-European language?
Lithuanian
Lithuanian is the most conservative Indo-European language. Closely related to Sanskrit it happens to be one of the oldest languages in the world, one of the least commonly spoken in Europe, as well as one of the biggest prides of Lithuanian culture.
Is English the most spoken Indo-European language?
The most widely spoken Indo-European languages by native speakers are Spanish, Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), English, Portuguese, Bengali, Punjabi, and Russian, each with over 100 million speakers, with German, French, Marathi, Italian, and Persian also having more than 50 million.
Which living language is closest to Proto Indo-European?
Baltic languages passed through a Proto-Balto-Slavic stage, from which Baltic languages retain numerous exclusive and non-exclusive lexical, morphological, phonological and accentual isoglosses in common with the Slavic languages, which represent their closest living Indo-European relatives.
Is English widely spoken in Lithuania?
Foreign languages in Lithuania. English is the most popular foreign language to learn today. It is spoken by 30\% of total population and 80\% of the youth. The older generations are unlikely to speak English, however, as very few schools taught it seriously under the Soviet occupation.
Why is the Lithuanian language so conservative?
What makes Lithuanian the most conservative Indo-European language spoken? – Quora. Primarily the nominal morphology, i.e., the way nouns decline; cases (except the ablative), genders (though it has mostly lost the neuter) and all. Lithuanian also preserves the Proto-Indo-European accent, with a few changes.
Is German an Indo-European language?
German belongs to the West Germanic group of the Indo-European language family, along with English, Frisian, and Dutch (Netherlandic, Flemish).
Is English a conservative language?
English, which is one of the more innovative Germanic languages in most respects (vocabulary, inflection, vowel phonology, syntax), is nevertheless conservative in its consonant phonology, retaining sounds such as (most notably) /θ/ and /ð/ (th), which remain only in English, Icelandic and Scots.
What is the most conservative Slavic language?
Polish is likely one of the most conservative with the Slavic vowels. It has (probably) lost the Proto-Slavic Yers (like all Slavic languages except Bulgarian), but has conserved the nasal vowels as nasal diphthongs ę [ɛ̃w] and [ɔ̃w] and, along with Kashubian, is the only living Slavic language that has.
Is Hebrew an Indo-European language?
Classical Hebrew is not an Indo-European language. Modern (Israeli) Hebrew has however been described as a language with Semitic morphology and Indo-European (specifically: Yiddish) phonology and syntax.
What is the most conservative Indo-European language?
Lithuanian is sometimes cited as the most conservative living Indo European language maintaining many of the morphological features from PIE, along with the phonology. 8 clever moves when you have $1,000 in the bank.
Is English the most conservative language in the world?
English is more conservative than German from 1500-present, but is much more innovative overall. If you take almost any other time period e.g. 1000AD-present English is more innovative. Another answer said the Austronesian languages are the most conservative and listed many languages from the Polynesian branch of that family.
What are the languages spoken in the Indo-European region?
The most widely spoken Indo-European languages by native speakers are Spanish, Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), English, Portuguese, Bengali, Punjabi, and Russian, each with over 100 million speakers, with German, French, Marathi, Italian, and Persian also having more than 50 million.
What is the most conservative of the Germanic languages?
Icelandic is grammatically by far the most conservative of Germanic languages, but as phonology goes, proto-Germanic was one of the most eccentric of the entire family.