Happy International Mother Language Day! IMLD has been observed since 2000, and aims to promote preservation of all languages. To mark the occasion we’re highlighting some of the “endangered” languages present in the Eurovision Song Contest through the years.
What is an endangered language and how do languages become endangered?
All languages here are classified as being under the endangered languages umbrella set out in UNESCO’s 2010 Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger. The six levels are safe, Vulnerable, Definitely Endangered, Severely Endangered, Critically Endangered, and Extinct.
The simple answer as to why languages become endangered is that not enough people are speaking them. This could be because of systematic barriers like displacement of native speakers, lack of recognition or official usage or sometimes even active attempts to make the language fall out of usage. These factors mean that it can become difficult or even impossible to use the language in everyday life, leading to the falling out of regular usage. With that out of the way, let’s get into the list.
Belarusian (Vulnerable)
Belarusian was heard for the first and last time on the main Eurovision stage in 2017 with NAVIBAND’s “Story Of My Life” (The title, but not the song, was anglicised for Eurovision, don’t ask why). The Lukashenko government have continued to prioritise the Russian language, with Lukashenko himself saying “The Belarusian language is a poor language.” back in 2006. As a result of this, speaking Belarusian being largely limited to those who are against the Lukashenko regime, such as NAVI themselves, who have been living in Poland since 2021 as a result of their support for anti-government protests.
Neapolitan (Vulnerable)
Not the ice cream flavour. Neapolitan is a language spoken in Southern Italy, with a big concentration around the city of Naples. Due to the widening reach of standard Italian, the language has become considered as vulnerable. Despite this, it reached the Eurovision stage in 1991 as the host entry. Peppino di Capri’s “Comme è ddoce ‘o mare” (“How sweet is the sea”) took 7th in the contest in Rome. Geolier brought the language back to Sanremo in 2024, taking second with “I p’ me, tu p’ te” (“Me for myself, you for yourself”) thanks in large part to taking 60% of the televote in the Superfinal.
Luxembourgish (Vulnerable)
Despite being a Eurovision original, Luxembourg took until their fourth contest participation in 1960 to send a song in Luxembourgish, with Camillo Felgen’s “So laang we’sdu do bast” (“As long as you are there”). They weren’t rewarded, finishing in dead last with just a single point. Naturally, they only sent French songs until 1992, when Marion Welter and Kontinent brought the language back to the contest with “Sou Fräi” (“So Free”). Another relative failure, they came 21st out of a pack of 23 songs with 10 points. That wouldn’t deter them, as Modern Times incorporated the language into a dual French-Luxembourgish song the following year, but it was another poor placement as a 20th place finish saw Luxembourg relegated from the contest, not to return until 2024. If their Eurovision history weren’t an obvious indicator, this is largely due to the prevalence of French within the country, as well as an influx of non native speakers and cross-border workers to the country.
Abkhaz (Vulnerable)
Another in the genre of songs with English titles but without English lyrics, Oto Nemsadze brought Abkhaz to the Eurovision stage as part of his song “Keep On Going” – in which the Abkhaz refrain “Varada Varada” is found. The song is a message of unity, with Nemsadze saying “The people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are my brothers and sisters, and I want to see and get them.” The song failed to qualify to the final in Tel-Aviv.
Romani (Vulnerable)
Romani is spoken by the traditionally nomadic ethnic group of the same name, and is found throughout Europe, but with very little official usage. As a titan of Romani culture, bringing the Romani language to Eurovision in 2013 was one in a long line of firsts Esma Redžepova is responsible for. In Malmö she performed as a duet with Lozano with the song “Pred da se razdeni” featuring both Macedonian and Romani lyrics. Esma sadly passed away in 2016, but Joci Pápai would follow in her footsteps the next year, with a Romani phrase featuring throughout his 2017 entry “Origo”.
Romansh (Definitely Endangered)
The similar name to Romani is entirely coincidental, Romansh is the lesser known fourth national language of Switzerland. Mostly spoken in the Canton of the Grisons, known as Grischun in Romansh. The language is by far the least spoken of the four official in Switzerland, having just 40,000 main language speakers as of 2019.
It’s not surprising then that Eurovision entries for the other three languages by Switzerland greatly exceed Romansh, who only have a single entrant to their name, Furbaz’s 1989 entry “Viver senza tei” took 13th place on home soil after Céline Dion took home the win the year prior. Perhaps 2025 will be Romansh’s time in the sun?
Irish (Definitely Endangered)
The Irish language was performed on the Eurovision stage for both the first and last time in 1972, when Sandie Jones came 15th in Edinburgh with “Ceol an Ghrá” (“Music of Love”). As with the majority of Irish people nowadays, Jones herself wasn’t a fluent Irish speaker, instead learning pronunciations specifically for the song.
In more recent years, AILSHA championed the Irish language on the Eurosong stage in 2024, with her song “Go Tobann” (“Suddenly”), a song written about how the Irish language is taught within the school system in Ireland. She came a joint second place behind Bambie Thug.
Pontic Greek (Definitely Endangered)
Argo’s Utopian Land is performed in English and not one but two types of Greek. Pontic Greek is a variant of Modern Greek indigenous to the region of Pontus in what is now Turkey. Due to the Pontic Greek genocide and subsequent population exchange between Greece and Turkey, most Pontic Greeks now live in the North of Greece. Despite not being fully mutually intelligible with standard Demotic Greek due to developing in isolation from modern Greece in Pontus, Pontic has no official status in Greece, like other variants of the language.
In what is quickly becoming a sad trend, Utopian Land, a song inspired by the 2015 migrant crisis, failed to make the final, finishing 16th in the first semi-final. It wasn’t the only endangered language in 2016, however. More on that later.
Võro (Definitely Endangered)
The lesser known of Aapo Ilves’ two Eurovision songs, “Tii” was Neiokõsõ’s very 2000s effort for Estonia in 2004. Despite failing to reach the final in Istanbul, the song still has a small but dedicated group of fans.
The song is written entirely in the Võro language, which has around 72,000 native speakers, mostly in the south east of Estonia. Võro is distinct from Estonian as it descends from the South Estonian, whilst Estonian was shaped more by northern dialects. Despite having its own literary standard and a semi-official regulatory institution, Võro is not an officially recognised language of Estonia, which is a large factor in its endangerment.
Northern Sámi (Definitely Endangered)
Northern Sámi is spoken by the indigenous Sámi people in the North of Sápmi, a traditional region that encompasses much of Northern Scandinavia, with a large concentration in the Finnmark towns of Karasjok and Kautokeino in Northern Norway. The language first appeared in the contest in one of my all time favourite Eurovision songs.
Sverre Kjelsberg’s Sámiid Ædnan is one of the contest’s finest showcases of the cultures that inhabit every corner of our continent. Written as a protest song during the Alta protests in 1979, when demonstrators protested the damming of the Alta river on indigenous Sámi land, which gave the song its Northern Sámi title “Sámiid Ædnan” (“Sami Earth/Sami Land”) which is repeated throughout. The song is also the first time joik was featured at Eurovision, but no actual Sámi words were used in the joik.
Nearly 40 years after Sverre & Mattis brought Sámi culture to the Eurovision stage, Fred Buljo of KEiiNO used the Northern Sámi phrase “Čajet dan čuovgga” – meaning “Show me the light”.
Corsican (Definitely Endangered)
Though the island of Corsica officially French since 1768, native Corsican speakers sound closer to Italians due to the isle’s indigenous language being Italo-Dalmatian in origin. That similarity to Italian is what inspired the writers of “Sognu” (“Dream”) to create a Corsican-language operatic pop song, which would be performed by the decidedly non-Corsican Amaury Vassili. He wasn’t the first to sing in Corsican however, that distinction went to actually-has-Corsican-roots Patrick Fiori in 1993, with “Mama Corsica” having both French and Corsican lyrics.
Karelian (Definitely Endangered)
Before becoming the unwilling poster children of a LinkedIn grindset bro, Finnish folk duo Kuunkuiskaajat brought phrases of Karelian to the Eurovision stage in 2010 with their funky folk song “Työlki ellaää”. Mostly spoken in the Russian Republic of Karelia, though closely related to Finnish dialects in North Karelia. Internal migration spreading speakers across both countries, Karelian is now used far less as a local language, leading to it falling out of usage amongst younger generations who are never taught it.
Breton (Severely Endangered)
France have a reputation for really Frenching it up at Eurovision. Like Frenchness dial all the way up to 15. This is perhaps unfair on them, as they’ve already appeared on this list with two instances of Corsican, and they have sent our first “Severely Endagered” language, Breton, a further two times. Firstly in 1996, Dan Ar Braz and l’Héritage des Celtes took 19th place with the incredibly sweet “Diwanit bugale” (“May you blossom, children”). 26 years later, Alvan & Ahez brought Breton back with the incredibly cunty Celtic electronica banger “Fulenn” (“Spark”) which was disgracefully paid dust by Europe in Turin, finishing in 24th with a frankly insanely low 17 points.
Breton, by the way, is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany in the North West of France. If you think that sounds like Britain, you’re well on the money, as Brittany is the Little Britain that makes the other one so Great, in fact Breton is a descendant of a Common Brittonic language that would eventually develop into Welsh, Cornish, Breton and the extinct Cumbric and Pictish. Its usage these days is largely limited to the western portion of Brittany, and even there French dominates due to its status as the nation’s sole official language.
Crimean Tatar (Severely Endangered)
Oh look, the one you’ve been waiting for. Far too many of these entries were robbed blind at Eurovision, so it’s a great pleasure to say that we’re ending on a winner.
The Turkic language of Crimean Tatar is spoken by the Tatars, an ethnic group native to Crimea, but due to the forced deportations and persecution of the Tatars under Stalin’s rule in 1944 that inspired Jamala’s song, native speakers are now spread throughout the former Soviet Bloc, with large populations in Uzbekistan and other Central Asian nations (Jamala herself was born in Kyrgyzstan before her family returned to Crimea when she was a child). This distribution is what makes the language so endangered, with most speakers doing so bilingually with the official language of whichever country they reside in.
Jamala’s win in 2016 made Crimean Tatar the 14th unique language to win Eurovision, and is the only endangered language to win the contest.
What’s your favourite of the endangered language Eurovision songs? Which language would you like to see at the contest next? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2025!
News Source: That Eurovision Site/Various
Photo Credit: (Clockwise) Thomas Hansnes, Corrinne Cumming / EBU, Andres Putting / EBU, Jørn Pettersen / Riksarkivet
Euan T