The pre-Indo-European languages are ancient languages that existed in Europe, Asia Minor, Ancient Iran, and Southern Asia before the arrival of Indo-European languages. These languages were not necessarily related to each other. The oldest written Indo-European language is Hittite, found in Kültepe (modern eastern Turkey) from around 1900 BC. Most scholars believe spoken Indo-European languages developed by the 3rd millennium BC. Therefore, pre-Indo-European languages must have existed earlier or at the same time as these languages, which later replaced most of them.

Some pre-Indo-European languages are still spoken today. In Europe, the Basque language has a small number of native speakers, fewer than one million. In the Indian subcontinent, Dravidian languages are widely spoken, with over 250 million native speakers. The major Dravidian languages include Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam. The Brahui language, spoken in modern Iran, is also part of this group. In the Caucasus region, Northwest and Northeast Caucasian languages, along with Kartvelian languages, are still spoken. Among these groups, Northwest Caucasian languages have the least security for survival. Some pre-Indo-European languages are only found as influences in Indo-European languages or in place names. In much of Western Asia, including Iran and Anatolia, pre-Indo-European languages, Caucasian languages, Semitic languages, Dravidian languages, and language isolates have survived to the present day. However, the Elamite language has completely disappeared.

Terminology

Before World War II, many languages in Europe and the Near East that were not classified were called Asianic languages. This term included several languages later found to be Indo-European, such as Lydian, and others, like Hurro-Urartian, Hattic, Elamite, Kassite, Colchian, and Sumerian, which were classified as separate pre-Indo-European language families or language isolates. In 1953, the linguist Johannes Hubschmid identified at least five pre-Indo-European language families in Western Europe: Eurafrican, which covered North Africa, Italy, Spain, and France; Hispano-Caucasian, which replaced Eurafrican and stretched from Northern Spain to the Caucasus Mountains; Iberian, which was spoken by most of Spain before the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula; Libyan, which was spoken mostly in North Africa but also in Sardinia; and Etruscan, which was spoken in Northern Italy.

The term "pre-Indo-European" is not universally accepted, as some linguists believe the speakers of these unclassified languages arrived in Europe later, possibly after the Indo-European languages, and prefer to call them non-Indo-European languages. A newer term, "Paleo-European languages," has been proposed as a better description, but it does not apply to languages that existed before or alongside Indo-European languages outside Europe.

Surviving languages

These pre-Indo-European languages still exist today:

• In the Indian subcontinent, the Dravidian languages, Munda languages (a branch of the Austroasiatic languages), Tibeto-Burman languages, Nihali, Kusunda, Vedda, and Burushaski.
• In the Caucasus, the Kartvelian, Northeast Caucasian, and Northwest Caucasian languages, such as Georgian, Abkhaz, Circassian, Chechen, Ingush, Dagestani, and others.
• In the Iberian Peninsula and France, the Basque language.
• In Northern Eurasia, the Paleosiberian languages.

Languages that contributed substrates to Indo-European languages

Examples of how other languages may have influenced specific Indo-European languages include the following:

• Before the Anatolian language: Hattic language, Colchian, Akkadian (also called Assyrian and Babylonian)
• Before the Armenian language: Hurro-Urartian languages, Aramaic (including Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Syriac)
• Influences on Vedic Sanskrit, which may include: Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (a possible source of some Sanskrit words, though the language is not fully known), Harappan language (not fully understood in readable form; see Indus script), Lullubi language, Vedda language, Burushaski language, Dravidian languages, Munda languages, Nihali language, Tibeto-Burman languages
• Influences on early forms of Indo-European languages in Western Europe: Old European hydronyms (possibly Indo-European, as originally thought by Krahe), Vasconic substrate hypothesis, Tyrsenian languages
• Languages that may have influenced early Greek: Minoan language (see also Linear A and Cretan hieroglyphs), Eteocretan language (possibly a descendant of Minoan), Eteocypriot language (see also Cypro-Minoan script)
• Influences before the Germanic language: Germanic substrate hypothesis
• Languages that may have influenced early Celtic languages: Insular Celtic: Goidelic substrate hypothesis (for the British Isles, see Celtic settlement of Great Britain and Ireland), Continental Celtic: Paleohispanic languages, Vasconic languages, Proto-Basque, Aquitanian language (often considered the direct ancestor of Basque), Iberian language, Tartessian language (some classify it as Celtic)
• Influences before the Italic language: Tyrsenian languages, Etruscan language, Raetic language (likely related to Etruscan), Camunic language (likely Raetic), Elymian language (possibly Indo-European), North Picene language, Paleo-Sardinian language (also called Paleosardinian, Protosardic, Nuraghic language), Sicanian language

Other ideas are not accepted by most modern linguists:
• Atlantic (Semitic) languages

Attested languages

Languages that have been recorded in ancient writings include the following:

• Tartessian
• Iberian
• Aquitanian
• Etruscan
• Rhaetian
• Camunic
• Lemnian
• North Picene
• Sicanian
• Minoan
• Eteocretan
• Eteocypriot
• Hattic
• Urartian
• Elamite
• Kaskian
• Gutian

Unattested but hypothesised languages

These languages are believed to be connected to pre-Indo-European languages:

• Kaskian language (maybe related to Hattic)
• Paleo-Sardinian
• Paleo-Corsican

Later Indo-European expansion

In addition, many Indo-European languages have been replaced by other languages, especially most Celtic languages being replaced by Germanic or Romance languages due to Roman rule and the arrival of Germanic tribes.

It is also important to note that languages replaced by Indo-European languages in ancient times are different from those replaced more recently. Many major languages spread through colonialism are Indo-European, with a few exceptions such as Arabic, Turkish, and Mandarin Chinese. In recent centuries, this has led to areas where languages appear similar on the surface but are actually different. For example, many indigenous languages of the Americas are now surrounded by English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and French. Similarly, several Uralic languages, such as Mordvin, Udmurt, Mari, and Komi, and Caucasian languages, such as Circassian, Abkhaz, and Nakh-Dagestanian languages, are now surrounded by Russian. Many creole languages have also developed based on Indo-European colonial languages.