Languages of Hungary

Languages

Uralic languages – Hungarian: The only official language of the country, unrelated to any of the neighbouring languages. It is the first language of some 98.9% of the total population. Indo-European languages – German: spoken by the German minority, especially in and around Mecsek Mountains, but also in other parts of the country. (Historically, the Swabian German dialect was spoken in Hungary.) – Slovak: spoken by the Slovak minority, especially in the North Hungarian Mountains and around Békéscsaba. – Serbian: spoken by the Serbian minority, especially in and around Bácska, but also on other territories of Southern Hungary. – Slovene: spoken by the Slovene minority, especially around the Slovenian border, Western Hungary. – Croatian: spoken by the Croatian minority, especially in Southern Hungary. – Romanian: spoken by the Romanian minority, especially in and around Gyula, Eastern Hungary. – Romani: spoken by some members of the Roma minority throughout the country. Turkic languages – Cuman: once spoken in Cumania region in Hungary. It is a Kipchak language closely related to other Kipchak languages like Crimean Tatar. The last speaker died in 1777. – Kipchak: once spoken in Eastern Europe which includes Hungary. It is the lingua franca of the Golden Horde controlled areas. It is the ancestor of all Kipchak languages today, which also includes the extinct Cuman. Sign languages – Hungarian Sign Language: spoken by around 9,000 people. It belongs to French Sign Language family.