When you think about a country, you usually think of about four things right away
Its name, of course, its flag, its location, and probably also its language
But oddly, some countries don't have a language of their own. They might have a dialect, sure, or their own version of another language, but why not a unique one
This is most visible across the Americas. The US and Canada speak English from England, as do many Caribbean nations along with French
Most of Central and South America speaks their own version of Spanish and Portuguese too
The whole continents were colonized by these four European superpowers at the time, so that is pretty normal
But when you go back to Europe, you also find some countries that don't have their own language
Let's find out why. First, let's list them. which European countries don't have their own language. There's mainly four of them. Belgium
Switzerland, Austria, and Kosovo. If you include the microstates, you can expand that list
to include Monaco, Liechtenstein, Andorra, San Marino, and the Vatican. Luxembourg is also a
potential addition to this. Luxembourgish exists as an official separate language, but a lot of people argue that it's just a rebranded German dialect and de facto not an actual language of its own
I'll leave it up to you to decide what you think it is. An even more questionable one is a country like Ireland where English is used widespread by 95% of people
but around 35% claim to be able to speak Irish. So they do have their own language but they don't really use it
So now let's go through these. understanding what language they speak, if not their own, why they came to speak it
what differences there are between their way of using that language and the original one
if you will, and why there isn't, if there ever was, a different local national language
Let's start with Belgium. Belgium doesn't have a single national language unique to itself
Instead, it's divided between Dutch, French, and a super small German-speaking minority
The northern region of Flanders speaks Dutch, though locally it's called Flemish
I guess it's a dialect of Dutch too. Historically, the Low Countries were an area that encompassed most of the Benelux and some of West Germany
These were linguistically diverse, with dialects ranging from Brabantian to West Flemish
But as the modern state of Belgium emerged in 1830, French became the dominant language in administration, law, culture
and this kind of reflected the influence of the French-speaking elite. Dutch gained equality only in the 19th to 20th century
when linguistic activism forced recognition of a Flemish identity. Flemish differs from standard Dutch, mostly in pronunciation, vocabulary, some idiomatic usage
it's not a separate language, but a cluster of dialects within the Dutch language family
In Wallonia, French is spoken, though with a slightly different accent and vocabulary
while in the East, about 1% of Belgians speak German in these small border towns that at one
point belonged to Prussia, I think, correct me if I'm wrong. A distinct Belgian national language
never developed because the territory was always split between two larger cultural spheres
the Dutch-speaking low countries and the French-speaking lands. Belgian identity was therefore political, not really linguistic
and its citizens continued to speak the languages of their larger neighbors
This is one of the reasons that many people still argue today that Belgium shouldn't exist as a country
either splitting into two sovereign nations of Flanders and Wallonia or being partitioned between the Netherlands and France
And I guess Germany too, accordingly. Right next to it is Luxembourg
which for the sake of the argument I think we should include here. Luxembourg is interesting because it does have its own language, Luxembourgish
but this only became standardized and officially recognized in the 20th century
For centuries, the population spoke a Moselle-Franconian dialect, very close to German
Meanwhile, French was the prestige language of law and administration, similar to Belgium really
century, and it shows how the territory was competed over by the two neighboring powers
as to who held the most influence over the centuries Today Luxembourg officially recognizes three languages Luxembourgish French and German Luxembourgish differs from standard German in grammar pronunciation and vocabulary
It's influenced heavily by French. However, because of its small size and late codification, it's sometimes considered more
of a dialect, elevated to the status of a national symbol, to build their national identity
rather than being a fully independent language. Next, we have the most fascinating for me, Switzerland
because they use four national languages and three of them are foreign ones
They are German, French, Italian, and Romance. Each of these corresponds to regions bordering the cultural spheres of their neighbors
German is spoken by about two-thirds of the population, French is spoken in the West, Italian in the South
and Romance, a Romance language descended from Latin, by a really small minority in the canton of Graubunden
Historically, Switzerland was never linguistically unified. It was a confederation of Alpine communities lying at the crossroads of Germanic and Romance Europe
Because of their Alpine nature, they were very often separated from each other
and kind of existed within their own separate little universes. The forms of German, French and Italian used there are essentially the same as those spoken in the original countries
though Swiss usage often diverges in vocabulary, intonation and even some administrative terms
For instance, Swiss German has unique words and the spoken dialects are very different from standard German
But this is pretty common, even inside Germany itself, you're going to find different unique words depending on the region that you are in
After all, Germany unified pretty late in history, so each region has their own cultural identity too, and that is reflected in the languages
Romance is the only language unique to Switzerland, but it is a minority tongue, spoken by less than 1% of the population
It's not really the native language of the whole country. A national language distinct from the neighbors never emerged because Switzerland's identity was built on political unity and local autonomy
not on a cultural or linguistic homogeneity. Its cohesion comes from its federal system which
allows multiple languages to coexist rather than being replaced by a single Swiss language
In reality the usage of multiple languages, especially foreign ones, is a perfect example
of Switzerland's concept of existence as a confederation. And right next to it we have
Austria. Austria's official language is German, but the variety spoken there is known as Austrian
German. The reason they speak German is rooted in the medieval duchy's integration into the Holy
Roman Empire, where German was the language of administration and culture. But of course you
have the argument of a place like Bohemia, now Czechia, which was also part of the Holy Roman
Empire and still had its own identity and language. The Habsburg dynasty, which made Vienna its
capital promoted German throughout its dominions, even as the empire encompassed many other
languages, and I think this is the main reason why they still use German up to today. Austrian
German differs from the German of Germany in several ways, though. Pronunciation is softer
it's closer to Bavarian dialects, vocabulary includes many unique terms, often influenced by
the monarchy's past ties to Hungary, Czechia, and Italy within the Austro-Hungarian Empire
ruled by the Habsburgs. Everyday speech is dominated by dialects such as Viennese or
Tyrolean, and so they differ within the country too. But still, the language is fully, mutually
intelligible with German from Germany. In sum, a unique Austrian language never arose because
Austria's core territories were always part of the German-speaking world, and the Habsburgs used
German as a unifying force in their multinational empire. They even had short periods of being
reconnected to Germany proper throughout history. So Austria's distinctiveness lies more in culture
and history than in language. Now all of these situations have a bonus to us as people which is
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let's get back to the video. Sandwiched between our last two cases, we have Liechtenstein. Here
the question shouldn't be so much why do they speak German, it should be why are they their
own country, but anyway. Liechtenstein uses German as its sole official language. In everyday life
however, the population speaks different Alemanic dialects, particularly similar to those spoken in
Switzerland and the bordering part of Austria. The country came to use German because it historically
also lay within the Holy Roman Empire and was long ruled by German-speaking elites. The dialects
have strong particularities, there are many expressions, words and pronunciations that differ significantly from Standard German, to the point the Germans from the northern
regions often struggle to understand people if they go and visit Liechtenstein
Yet because Standard German was codified, again, as the prestige language of education
and literature, the dialects never gained official recognition as separate languages, like they did in Luxembourg
Liechtenstein never developed its own distinct language because people were culturally and
politically integrated into the broader German-speaking world. A separate linguistic identity was never really needed for their national survival. Next is Kosovo and we can cue all
the Serbians saying that Kosovo is a part of Serbia but whether you like it or not it is de facto
its own country and their linguistic situation is as intricate as its status. The majority population
speaks Albanian, while a minority speaks Serbian, both of which are official languages. During Ottoman
rule, Turkish was also widespread as an administrative and cultural language. The use of
Albanian in Kosovo reflects centuries of settlement and demographic dominance, particularly in the
20th century as Albanians became the majority. Compared to standard Albanian, the Kosovo version
shows a few regional differences, mainly belonging to the Geg variety, which is different from the
Tosk dialect used in most of Albania. Kozo never developed its own language because it was
historically part of larger polities, first the Ottomans, then the Yugoslavs, then the Serbians
and its population was linguistically tied to either Albanian or Serbian cultural spheres
Moving into the microstates, Andorra is a really interesting case because it speaks a language
that isn't its own, but it also doesn't belong to any other sovereign country
It speaks Catalan, and it's the only state in the world where Catalan is a sole national language
Catalonia is of course where it comes from, but despite the desire of many locals, it's
not independent, and still only an autonomous region of Spain. Andorra historically belonged to the same cultural sphere as those counties of Catalonia
and adopted Catalan naturally as their main language. Over time, it became isolated in the mountains, and so its dialect of Catalan preserved some more archaic features that are no longer common in Barcelona's speech, though today it remains mutually intelligible with it
The prevalence of Spanish and French people due to immigration somewhat reduced Catalan's dominance
in daily life, but it is still protected by law. A uniquely Andoran language never developed because
in reality it already had one even if it came from somewhere else And what about Monaco Monaco official language is French and this is also the language spoken in administration schools most aspects of public life The adoption of it reflects the Principality deep
historical ties with France, particularly since the 19th century, when Monaco's sovereignty was
guaranteed under French protection. It was some diplomatic deal where Monaco was allowed to remain
sovereign in exchange for some privileges and I think some land granted to the French. But they
did have their own national language at some point. The older local tongue of Monaco was
a Ligurian dialect called Monegasque, related to the dialect spoken along the Ligurian coast of
Italy. Over the centuries, especially as French influence grew and immigration brought in more
French speakers, Monegasque receded in everyday life. Today it survives as a cultural heritage
language. It's taught in schools but spoken fluently by very few. Inside Italy, we have
two other microstates that don't have their own language, both of them speak Italian and they are
San Marino and the Vatican. San Marino uses Italian as its official and everyday language
The state is located entirely within Italy and it's always been linguistically tied to the
surrounding Romano region. Italian spread as the language of culture and administration
during the Renaissance and of course they naturally adopted it. Locally, San Marino's people
traditionally spoke a Romagnol dialect, but it has declined over time as Italy replaced
it in formal and informal life. It speaks its own slightly unique dialect still, in the same way that any part of Italy
does really. While Vatican City is unique in that its official languages are functional rather than national
Italian is the working language of government and everyday communication while Latin remains
the formal language of the Catholic Church. used in liturgy and official documents which I think makes it the only country in the world
in which Latin is one of the official languages. Italian dominates though because of course it lies
in Rome inside of Italy and most of the clergy and staff are overwhelmingly Italian. Latin today
is preserved only as a written and ceremonial language, there's no day-to-day use of it really
Finally, since there's a de facto foreign language being used instead of the national one, two, let's talk about Ireland
Ireland today primarily speaks English, a language imported through centuries of English rule
The native Irish language, part of the Celtic family, was once dominant across the island
but it began to decline after the Tudor conquest in the 16th century
English gained ground through what was essentially colonization, the penal laws and later the great famine of the 19th century which
disproportionately struck Irish-speaking communities. To put it simply, poor people spoke more Irish than English and poor people died more during the famine
By independence in 1922, Irish had already retreated to the Western fringes in the
the Geiltacht regions, while English was the dominant language of urban life, education
even politics of those that wanted independence. Irish is still an official language of the state
and revival movements have preserved it as a cultural mark, while around a third of the
population says they know it, fewer than 2% of them speak it fluently on a daily basis
However, Irish English has distinctive pronunciation, syntax and vocabulary, which is influenced by Gaelic, making it quite different from British English and presenting a
little bit of a mix between the foreign language and the local one. So those are some European
countries that don't speak their own language, understanding why that is the case and how
different their local version of that language is from the original one. We could go much further
than this if we wanted. I mean, it's kind of up to you where to draw the line. We could, for instance
group all the West Slavic languages into one or the East Slavic languages into one. You could argue
that Portuguese and Spain are close enough to be considered the same language but I guess it's
really somewhat up to our interpretation to decide what is a language, what is a dialect and what
isn't. Thank you so much for watching this video. Thank you to my patrons for their direct support
over on Patreon. If you want to support the channel as well over there I would really appreciate it
If not, that's totally fine. I will see you next time here for more general knowledge