Indo-European languages

Indo-European languages, large family of language spoken throughout most of Europe and much of Asia, and descended from a hypothetical common ancestor, Proto-Indo-European, extant more than 5,000 years ago. There are 2 main branches: the Eastern, with 6 main groups, and Western, with 4. The Eastern branch includes the extinct Anatolian and Tocharian groups, as well as Albanian, Armenian, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian (with its important sub-group, the Indo-Aryan languages). The Western branch includes Celtic, Greek, Romance or Italic (Latin and the languages derived from it), and Teutonic or Germanic (one of which is English). Until the beginning of the 20th century it was thought that Sanskrit inscriptions represented the oldest written form of any of the family; however, both ancient Hittite and Linear B, which have since been deciphered, are older.