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This is an authoritative reference guide to all the languages of Europe, covering nearly three hundred languages and language families. It focuses on extant languages but includes all languages known to have been spoken in Europe in the past. Speech varieties whose status as dialects rather than languages is a matter of debate either have separate entries or are considered under other headings, with appropriate cross references. The encyclopedia includes entries on non-European languages now spoken by substantial communities in Europe (such as Punjabi and Chinese in Britain and Arabic in France) and on the major non-Latin alphabets used for the transcription of European languages. The aim of the book is to provide surveys of the origins, historical development and, in the case of living languages, contemporary position of each language. Bibliographical addenda to articles list grammars, dictionaries, and works on historical and sociolinguistic topics. Written by an international team of scholars, many of them among the foremost authorities in their field, the Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe is of interest to all those involved in the study of language, linguistics or cultural history.