Slavic languages
Slavic Languages
The Slavic languages (pronunciation: /ˈslɑːvɪk/), also known as the Slavonic languages, are a group of Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples or their descendants. They are thought to originate from an ancestral Proto-Slavic language spoken by the early Slavic people from the 5th to 10th centuries AD in Eastern Europe.
Etymology
The term "Slavic" is derived from the Slavs, the native speakers of these languages. The word "Slav" comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "slovo" (word), which is related to the word "slovene" (one who speaks well). The term "Slavonic" is an English adjective derived from "Slav", used to refer to anything pertaining to the Slavs or their languages.
Classification
The Slavic languages are divided into three subfamilies: East Slavic, West Slavic, and South Slavic.
- East Slavic languages include Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian.
- West Slavic languages include Polish, Czech, and Slovak.
- South Slavic languages include Bulgarian, Macedonian, and the Serbo-Croatian languages.
Each of these subfamilies contains languages that are mutually intelligible to varying degrees.
Related Terms
- Proto-Slavic: The unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all the Slavic languages.
- Cyrillic script: The writing system used for various Slavic languages, especially those of Orthodox Christian culture.
- Glagolitic script: The oldest known Slavic alphabet, created by the monks Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius.
- Balto-Slavic languages: A proposed language family, comprising the Baltic and Slavic languages.
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