Britannica Sources used in this answer

Which modern languages are part of the Slavic subbranch?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Indo-European languages Approximate locations of Indo-European languages in contemporary Eurasia.

The Slavic languages, a major subbranch of the Indo-European languages, are traditionally classified into three geographic and linguistic groups. These modern languages include:12

East Slavic: Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian.2
West Slavic: Czech, Slovak, Polish, and Sorbian.2
South Slavic: Bulgarian, Macedonian, Slovene, and the languages often grouped as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian.12

While these branches provide a useful framework, the historical development of these languages is characterized by a complex process of dialectal differentiation and reintegration rather than a simple family tree. Additionally, Church Slavonic remains in use within the Eastern Orthodox Church.21