Palaeo-Alpine languages

The Alps mountain range is occupied by languages of three Indo-European groups:

• West Germanic

• Alemannic
• Bavarian

• Romance

• French
• Occitan
• Italian
• Rhaeto-Romance

• Grisons
• Dolomites Ladin
• Friulian

• South Slavic

• Slovenian

Extinct languages of the Alps include the Celtic languages Gaulish and Lepontic and the non-Indo-European language Rhaetian, which is probably related to Etruscan.

In the League of Lost Languages, the Alps, similar to the Caucasus, are home to several non-Indo-European languages in addition to the languages listed above. (The idea behind this is that the Alps, being similar in size and landscape to the Caucasus, could harbour a similar wealth of languages.) These languages are grouped together als Alpine languages or Palaeo-Alpine languages. Like the Caucasian languages, they do not form a single family.

See also

• Noric