Lithuanian language
| Lithuanian | |
|---|---|
| lietuvių kalba | |
| Pronunciation | [lʲiəˈtʊvʲuː kɐɫˈbɐ] |
| Native to | Lithuania |
| Region | Baltic |
| Ethnicity | Lithuanians |
Native speakers | 4.0 million (2022) |
Indo-European
| |
Early form | |
| Dialects | |
| Latin (Lithuanian alphabet) Lithuanian Braille | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Lithuania European Union |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Regulated by | Commission of the Lithuanian Language |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | lt |
| ISO 639-2 | lit |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:lit – Modern Lithuanianolt – Old Lithuanian |
| Glottolog | lith1251 |
| Linguasphere | 54-AAA-a |
Map of areas where Lithuanian is spoken as a majority language (marked in dark blue) and minority language (marked in light blue) | |
Lithuanian (lietuvių kalba, pronounced [lʲiəˈtʊvʲuː kɐɫˈbɐ]) is an East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are approximately 2.8 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 1.5 million speakers elsewhere. Around half a million inhabitants of Lithuania of non-Lithuanian background speak Lithuanian daily as a second language.
Lithuanian is closely related to neighbouring Latvian, though the two languages are not mutually intelligible. It is written in a Latin script. Some linguists consider it to be the most conservative of the existing Indo-European languages, retaining features of the Proto-Indo-European language that have otherwise been lost to more recent linguistic developments in the remainder of its descendant languages.