As with almost every other European countries, the languages of Luxembourg are diverse to say the least. Due to this, the languages spoken in Luxembourg are perhaps some of the most intriguing we’ve ever looked at…
Unlike other countries, the vast majority of the country speak only two languages. In fact, the language you’ll hear a Luxembourger use isn’t based on geography, but rather situation, with different situations needing different languages!
Official Languages of Luxembourg
According to the Constitution of Luxembourg, there are three official languages of Luxembourg. These are:
French
When you think of a European country that speaks French, chances are that your mind goes straight to France, perhaps Belgium at a push. But Luxembourg? I’ve never heard anybody reply with that…
And that’s for good reason. France is the most famous French-speaking country because, well, that’s where the language is from. Belgium is said mostly by people who have been to the country, often the French-speaking Wallonia region.
Despite being quite close to both countries, nobody ever picks Luxembourg, perhaps because it’s a bit too obscure. Yet, French is indeed one of the official languages of Luxembourg!
For the most part, this is due to its proximity to France. Traveling from Luxembourg’s capital of Luxembourg City, to the French border is less than 50 km (31 mi) which has naturally seen their cultures intermix, and the two countries exchange languages…
According to the most recent censuses, French is the native language of only 6% of the country’s population (roughly 36,000 people). With that being said, it is the second language of roughly 90% of the population (around 550,000).
Due to this, whilst most of the country’s media is done in German (more on that in a minute) many of them also have French-language versions of their German-language newspaper, the rest often publish the occasional article in French instead.
Luxembourgish
Technically speaking, Luxembourgish isn’t a language. Instead, Luxembourgish is the most spoken dialect of the West Germanic, Moselle Franconian language.
Despite modern Luxembourgish having been spoken in Luxembourg since the Dark Ages, Luxembourgish was only recognized by the Luxembourgish government in 1912, 97 years after the country became independent.
Here, it was taught in primary schools, so that Luxembourgish children could learn to speak the language to a semi-competent level. The same law also suggests that secondary schools should teach it as a second language, although not all do.
Alas, most Luxembourgers stop speaking the language as soon as they stop learning it. Due to this, the language is by far the least spoken of the three official languages of Luxembourg…
According to the Luxembourgish government, Luxembourgish is spoken by 600,000 people across the country. Sadly, this is falling dramatically year-on-year, resulting in many considering the language to be endangered.
Fearful that Luxembourgish may become extinct one day, the Luxembourgish government has petitioned the EU to make the language an official language of the EU, all to no avail (as of the time of writing).
For the same reasons, many major Luxembourgish newspapers have begun to publish print their standard French and/or German newspapers in Luxembourgish, as well as publishing online articles in Luxembourgish too!
German
Beyond just French and Luxembourgish, German is the third and final official language in Luxembourg. For the most part, this is due to modern-day Luxembourg previously being a part of the German-speaking Holy Roman Empire.
The Holy Roman Empire would shatter in 1815 (due to Napoleon’s conquests), resulting in many of the empire’s tiny states being absorbed into larger ones, or into neighboring countries with similar cultures and languages.
For Luxembourg, they were originally absorbed into the Netherlands, before becoming an independent grand duchy for political reasons. Despite this, many Luxembourg continued to speak German just like their eastern neighbors!
Currently, the Luxembourgish government estimates that German is the native language of roughly 2% of the population (12,000 people). However, it is spoken as a second language by roughly 70% of the population…
Despite being the native language of only a tiny percentage of the population, the language of business and jobs in Luxembourg is German (remember, the language you speak in Luxembourg is based on situation, not geography).
As a result, most major Luxembourgish news networks, radio stations and newspapers publish primarily in German, with their French and Luxembourgish papers being secondary.
Immigrant Languages of Luxembourg
Whilst there three official languages of Luxembourg, there are a number of immigrant languages also spoken in the country, all spoken to varying degrees by different immigrant communities across the country…
Latin
Ok! Ok! Yes, I understand that Latin is a “dead language” (or is it?)
So maybe it’s not a language spoken by immigrants, but it’s surprisingly quite well spoken in Luxembourg, perhaps more so than you’d realize!
You see, whilst most schools tend to teach languages like French, Spanish English, German, Russian, Italian and Portuguese, with Latin being something that only a small percentage of schools do, most schools in Luxembourg teach Latin.
For the most part, this is due to the fact that, whilst not an actively spoken language anymore, the language is historically quite significant, having been Europe’s lingua franca up until the late 15th/early 16th centuries!
To Luxembourg government, it is more important for their school children to learn from the past, so they don’t make the same mistakes again, rather than being able to speak a foreign language they may or may not ever use after school…
Although the language has no official status, the language is often used in the science and medical industries (which are some of the country’s largest industries after banking and other service industries).
To date, the language is “spoken” to a competent level by around 25,000 to 30,000 of the population, most of whom work in the aforementioned industries. This is not counting the thousands of school children who speak it regularly in their Latin lessons…
English
As with many other non-English speaking (Anglophonic) countries, many schools teach their students English, owing to its position as the world’s lingua franca, and seeming necessity in this highly connected modern world.
Whilst it depends on the school and area, many Luxembourgers will begin learning basic English words and phrases at primary school, whilst taking it more seriously at secondary school. Due to this, many Luxembourgers speak better English than you do!
Beyond just being taught in schools, English is also a common language in the business center of Luxembourg City. You see, Luxembourg has an incredibly low tax rate – among the lowest in the world – which has seen many businesses incorporate there.
Whilst for many of these companies, this move is merely a tax-dodge, many more businesses move there solely for the business prospects. After all, if multibillion dollars companies are moving there, they often want to deal with a name they trust!
As a result, many English-speaking businessmen and women have moved to Luxembourg for work. Due to this, they’ve brought their language to the country, which is becoming increasingly popular.
According to the Luxembourgish government, there are between 10,000 and 15,000 native English speakers in the country. On top of this, there are roughly 400,000 people who can speak English as a second language too.
Portuguese
During the 1970’s and 1980’s, Portugal was among the poorest countries in Europe. Seeing this, hundreds of thousands of Portuguese people have left Portugal in search of a better life.
For majority of these low-skilled Portuguese migrants, they went wherever the could go. Often settling in other European countries like Britain, France, Spain, Germany and Italy, performing low-skilled (and thus paid) jobs that the locals don’t want to do.
For those high-skilled Portuguese migrants, however, many of them were much more choosy. Here, they often went to countries like Luxembourg that are willing to pay extremely well for their services, especially so in their famed banking industry.
Due to the jobs that these high-skilled immigrants often do, the overwhelming majority of them live and work in and around Luxembourg’s major cities, with the most being in Luxembourg’s financial capital of Luxembourg City.
According to the Luxembourgish government, Portuguese is spoken by roughly one fifth of Luxembourg’s population, or roughly 125,000 people, primarily by high-earners.
Whilst spoken by a rather large minority, the Luxembourgish government has not given Portuguese any official recognition, a number of inner-city schools are beginning to teach it as a second language due to how widespread it is.
Spanish
Due to many of the same reasons as Portugal, Spain was also quite poor in European terms over the course of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Much like their Portuguese cousins, many Spaniards also chose to leave Spain for a better life.
As with their Portuguese cousins, most of these Spaniards were low and medium-skilled workers, often moving to whichever European countries would take them in (and give them jobs).
For high-skilled Spaniards, especially those who work in the finance and banking industries, many of them chose to work in Luxembourg, who are often willing to pay them much more money than other European countries (factoring in the higher cost of living too!)
Due in most part to the types of jobs that these Spanish immigrants do (often office jobs in Luxembourg City) most of these Spaniards live in the city center, or in the city’s well-to-do suburbs, where you’ll often hear the language be spoken.
As of the time of writing, there are an estimated 10,000 native Spanish speakers in Luxembourg. However, this number is falling, due to many Spaniards retiring and choosing to move back to the much cheaper Spain, rather than stay in Luxembourg.
Due to Spanish’s prevalence in big cities as a second language, as well as being one of the most spoken languages in the world, many schools in Luxembourg have taught Spanish as a second language for years!
Italian
The first Italians arrived in Luxembourg during the wars of Italian Unification. Whilst a noble goal, many Italian states opposed being integrated into a new country, believing they could do it better on their own.
As with seemingly everything in human history, this led to a number of wars and battles, which saw millions of soldiers dead on both sides. Many civilians would be caught in the crossfire, having their entire livelihoods destroyed in the process.
Not having anything keeping them in “Italy” many of these civilians fled. Whilst most went to the United States, many were spread out all across Europe, with many settling in the Luxembourgish countryside.
Since then, there have been a steady stream of Italian immigrants to the country. The largest influx of Italian immigrants to Luxembourg since Italian Unification was following WWII, where many left an Italy that had been devastated by WWII.
According to the Luxembourg government, there are anywhere between 20,000 and 25,000 native Italian speakers in the country, most of whom are located in the more rural areas of the country, but occasionally also the cities too…
Due in large part to the sheer number of Italian speakers in the country, many Luxembourgish schools offer Italian as a second language too. A select few newspapers also publish the occasional article in Italian too!
Dutch
Do you remember earlier, when I said that Luxembourg was briefly part of the Netherlands? Despite being a part of the country for only a few months, this had a lasting impact on the languages of Luxembourg…
For these few months, Dutch (the official language of the Netherlands) was the semi-official language of Luxembourgish government, with the then-Grand Duke (also the Dutch king) also issuing all decrees in Dutch too!
Since becoming independent, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have enjoyed quite a close relationship. Due to this, this, there has often been a lot of migration between the two countries, something that has only intensified since the 1960’s.
Here, these Dutch-speaking immigrants often work in political and diplomatic roles, often for the EU, or Netherlands-Luxembourg relations. Other times, this is to do with Dutch businesses in Luxembourg.
According to the most recent government surveys, the language is spoken as a native language by between 1 and 2% of the country’s population (between 6,000 and 12,000 people).
Despite this, as well as the historical significance of the language on Luxembourg’s history, the language has no official (or semi-official) status in the country, nor is it taught as a second-language in Luxembourgish schools.
What do you think of the languages of Luxembourg? Do you speak any of them? Tell me in the comments!