Which was the first major language of Europe?

Most languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family; another major family is the Finno-Ugric. The Turkic family also has several European members, while the North and South Caucasian families are important in the southeastern extremity of geographical Europe. Basque is a language isolate directly related to ancient Aquitanian, while Maltese is the only national language in Europe, but not the only language in Europe, that is Semitic.

In addition to current languages, there are many languages once used in Europe which are now extinct. Other languages are nearly extinct.

Most historians agree that Semitic was the mother of all European languages, including a few Asiatic languages. But Semitic had its birth in Asia (Syria and Palestine), so it cannot be called the first indigenous language in Europe. The first recorded indigenous language in Europe was an evolved form of ancient Phoenician, which later travelled north and west to the budding civilization in Greece where this language (crude with just around 22 characters) was developed by the addition of vowels. Thus, ancient Greek was the first major language of Europe.