What are the secondary (derived) languages?(2)
There are many secondary (derived) languages around the world, each having evolved from earlier parent languages and reflecting diverse historical, cultural, and social influences. Here are additional examples of notable secondary languages across different language families:
1. Romance Languages (derived from Latin)
Spanish: Spoken widely across Spain, Latin America, and the U.S.
French: Used in France, parts of Canada, many African countries, and parts of the Caribbean.
Italian: Primarily spoken in Italy and parts of Switzerland.
Portuguese: Spoken in Portugal, Brazil, and parts of Africa and Asia.
Romanian: The primary language in Romania and Moldova.
2. Germanic Languages (derived from Proto-Germanic)
English: Influenced by Latin, Norse, and French, and widely spoken worldwide.
Dutch: Spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium (where it’s called Flemish).
Afrikaans: Evolved from Dutch, spoken in South Africa and Namibia.
Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian: Closely related Scandinavian languages, spoken across Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.
Yiddish: Derived from Middle High German and influenced by Hebrew, used by Jewish communities.
3. Slavic Languages (derived from Proto-Slavic)
Russian: The largest Slavic language, spoken in Russia and parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Polish: The primary language of Poland.
Czech and Slovak: Closely related languages spoken in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Serbo-Croatian: Encompasses Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin varieties, spoken in the Balkans.
Bulgarian and Macedonian: South Slavic languages spoken in Bulgaria and North Macedonia.
4. Indo-Aryan Languages (derived from Sanskrit and Prakrit languages)
Hindi: Spoken widely in India and understood by many in South Asia.
Urdu: Closely related to Hindi, spoken in Pakistan and by South Asian diaspora communities.
Bengali: Spoken in Bangladesh and parts of eastern India.
Punjabi: Widely used in India’s Punjab region and in Pakistan.
Marathi, Gujarati, and Oriya: Regional languages spoken in western and eastern India.
5. Uralic Languages (derived from Proto-Uralic)
Finnish: Spoken in Finland, with a unique structure among European languages.
Hungarian: The primary language of Hungary.
Estonian: Spoken in Estonia and closely related to Finnish.
6. Semitic Languages (derived from Proto-Semitic)
Modern Arabic Dialects: Including Egyptian, Levantine, Maghrebi, and Gulf Arabic, all descended from Classical Arabic.
Hebrew: Revived in the 19th century and based on ancient Hebrew, now the official language of Israel.
Amharic: Spoken in Ethiopia, derived from Ge’ez, an ancient Semitic language.
7. Turkic Languages (derived from Proto-Turkic)
Turkish: Spoken in Turkey and Cyprus.
Azerbaijani: Spoken in Azerbaijan and parts of Iran.
Uzbek, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz: Spoken across Central Asia.
Uyghur: Spoken by the Uyghur people in China’s Xinjiang region.
8. Bantu Languages (derived from Proto-Bantu)
Swahili: A widely spoken language in East Africa, used as a lingua franca.
Zulu and Xhosa: Spoken in South Africa and neighboring countries.
Shona: Primarily used in Zimbabwe.
Kinyarwanda and Kirundi: Spoken in Rwanda and Burundi.
9. Sino-Tibetan Languages (derived from Proto-Sino-Tibetan)
Tibetan: Spoken in Tibet and parts of India.
Burmese: The primary language of Myanmar.
*Chinese is a pristine language, the most widely spoken language in China and globally.
Japanese, Korean, and some Eastern Asia languages (derived from ancient Chinese).
(detail in Pristine Origin Language section)
10. Austronesian Languages (derived from Proto-Austronesian)
Tagalog (Filipino): Spoken in the Philippines.
Malagasy: Spoken in Madagascar.
Indonesian and Malay: Spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.
Hawaiian, Samoan, and Tahitian: Polynesian languages spoken in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands.
11. Creole Languages
Haitian Creole: Evolved from French, African, and indigenous influences in Haiti.
Jamaican Patois: Influenced by English and African languages in Jamaica.
Louisiana Creole: Derived from French, Spanish, and African languages in Louisiana, USA.
Papiamento: Spoken in the Caribbean, derived from Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and African languages.
Each of these secondary languages developed due to historical factors like migration, colonization, trade, and cultural exchange, making them diverse reflections of human interaction over centuries.