diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Migrations/Upgrade/V_8_0_0/FallbackLanguage.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Migrations/Upgrade/V_8_0_0/FallbackLanguage.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f0d7c02b82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Migrations/Upgrade/V_8_0_0/FallbackLanguage.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+using System.Linq;
+using Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Dtos;
+
+namespace Umbraco.Core.Migrations.Upgrade.V_8_0_0
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Adds a new, self-joined field to umbracoLanguages to hold the fall-back language for
+    /// a given language.
+    /// </summary>
+    public class FallbackLanguage : MigrationBase
+    {
+        public FallbackLanguage(IMigrationContext context)
+            : base(context)
+        { }
+
+        public override void Migrate()
+        {
+            var columns = SqlSyntax.GetColumnsInSchema(Context.Database).ToArray();
+
+            if (columns.Any(x => x.TableName.InvariantEquals(Constants.DatabaseSchema.Tables.Language) && x.ColumnName.InvariantEquals("fallbackLanguageId")) == false)
+                AddColumn<LanguageDto>("fallbackLanguageId");
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/ILanguage.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/ILanguage.cs
index 7bf9e9b32c..f02bd33d2b 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/ILanguage.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/ILanguage.cs
@@ -33,5 +33,11 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Models
         /// If true, a variant node cannot be published unless this language variant is created
         /// </summary>
         bool Mandatory { get; set; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Defines the fallback language that can be used in multi-lingual scenarios to provide
+        /// content if the requested language does not have it published.
+        /// </summary>
+        ILanguage FallbackLanguage { get; set; }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Language.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Language.cs
index fa1c9dc826..42c305d492 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Language.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Models/Language.cs
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Models
         private string _cultureName;
         private bool _isDefaultVariantLanguage;
         private bool _mandatory;
+        private ILanguage _fallbackLanguage;
 
         public Language(string isoCode)
         {
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Models
             public readonly PropertyInfo CultureNameSelector = ExpressionHelper.GetPropertyInfo<Language, string>(x => x.CultureName);
             public readonly PropertyInfo IsDefaultVariantLanguageSelector = ExpressionHelper.GetPropertyInfo<Language, bool>(x => x.IsDefaultVariantLanguage);
             public readonly PropertyInfo MandatorySelector = ExpressionHelper.GetPropertyInfo<Language, bool>(x => x.Mandatory);
+            public readonly PropertyInfo FallbackLanguageSelector = ExpressionHelper.GetPropertyInfo<Language, ILanguage>(x => x.FallbackLanguage);
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -71,5 +73,11 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Models
             get => _mandatory;
             set => SetPropertyValueAndDetectChanges(value, ref _mandatory, Ps.Value.MandatorySelector);
         }
+
+        public ILanguage FallbackLanguage
+        {
+            get => _fallbackLanguage;
+            set => SetPropertyValueAndDetectChanges(value, ref _fallbackLanguage, Ps.Value.FallbackLanguageSelector);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Dtos/LanguageDto.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Dtos/LanguageDto.cs
index 12c9fd0bd4..f69caf6c91 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Dtos/LanguageDto.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Dtos/LanguageDto.cs
@@ -38,5 +38,14 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Dtos
         [Column("mandatory")]
         [Constraint(Default = "0")]
         public bool Mandatory { get; set; }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Defines the fallback language that can be used in multi-lingual scenarios to provide
+        /// content if the requested language does not have it published.
+        /// </summary>
+        [Column("fallbackLanguageId")]
+        [ForeignKey(typeof(LanguageDto), Column = "id")]
+        [Index(IndexTypes.NonClustered)]
+        public int? FallbackLanguageId { get; set; }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Repositories/Implement/LanguageRepository.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Repositories/Implement/LanguageRepository.cs
index db2e1124a2..9566247f96 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Repositories/Implement/LanguageRepository.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Persistence/Repositories/Implement/LanguageRepository.cs
@@ -52,7 +52,9 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Repositories.Implement
             sql.OrderBy<LanguageDto>(dto => dto.Id);
 
             // get languages
-            var languages = Database.Fetch<LanguageDto>(sql).Select(ConvertFromDto).ToList();
+            var dtos = Database.Fetch<LanguageDto>(sql);
+            var languages = dtos.Select(ConvertFromDto).ToList();
+            PopulateFallbackLanguages(dtos, languages);
 
             // initialize the code-id map
             lock (_codeIdMap)
@@ -74,7 +76,10 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Repositories.Implement
             var sqlClause = GetBaseQuery(false);
             var translator = new SqlTranslator<ILanguage>(sqlClause, query);
             var sql = translator.Translate();
-            return Database.Fetch<LanguageDto>(sql).Select(ConvertFromDto);
+            var dtos = Database.Fetch<LanguageDto>(sql);
+            var languages = dtos.Select(ConvertFromDto).ToList();
+            PopulateFallbackLanguages(dtos, languages);
+            return languages;
         }
 
         #endregion
@@ -199,7 +204,17 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Persistence.Repositories.Implement
             var entity = LanguageFactory.BuildEntity(dto);
             return entity;
         }
-        
+
+        private static void PopulateFallbackLanguages(List<LanguageDto> dtos, IList<ILanguage> languages)
+        {
+            foreach (var dto in dtos.Where(x => x.FallbackLanguageId.HasValue))
+            {
+                var language = languages.Single(x => x.Id == dto.Id);
+                // ReSharper disable once PossibleInvalidOperationException (DTOs with fallback languages have already been filtered in the loop condition)
+                language.FallbackLanguage = languages.Single(x => x.Id == dto.FallbackLanguageId.Value);
+            }
+        }
+
         public ILanguage GetByIsoCode(string isoCode)
         {
             TypedCachePolicy.GetAllCached(PerformGetAll); // ensure cache is populated, in a non-expensive way
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Umbraco.Core.csproj b/src/Umbraco.Core/Umbraco.Core.csproj
index 6bd78044f8..67028568eb 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Umbraco.Core.csproj
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Umbraco.Core.csproj
@@ -334,6 +334,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Migrations\Upgrade\V_8_0_0\RefactorMacroColumns.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Migrations\Upgrade\V_8_0_0\SuperZero.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Migrations\Upgrade\V_8_0_0\TagsMigration.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Migrations\Upgrade\V_8_0_0\FallbackLanguage.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Migrations\Upgrade\V_8_0_0\UserForeignKeys.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\AuditEntry.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Models\Consent.cs" />
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/edit.controller.js b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/edit.controller.js
index afb5333ded..9b554b1785 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/edit.controller.js
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/edit.controller.js
@@ -56,6 +56,20 @@
 
             });
 
+            $scope.properties = {
+                fallbackLanguage: {
+                    alias: "fallbackLanguage",
+                    description: "To allow multi-lingual content to fall back to another language if not present in the requested language, select it here.",
+                    label: "Fall back language"
+                }
+            };
+
+            vm.loading = true;
+            languageResource.getAll().then(function (languages) {
+                vm.availableLanguages = languages;
+                vm.loading = false;
+            });
+
             if(!$routeParams.create) {
 
                 vm.loading = true;
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/edit.html b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/edit.html
index 6aaf915960..adc38de05a 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/edit.html
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/edit.html
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@
                 hide-alias="true">
             </umb-editor-header>
     
-            <umb-editor-container>
+            <umb-editor-container class="form-horizontal">
 
                 <umb-load-indicator ng-if="vm.loading"></umb-load-indicator>
 
-                <umb-box ng-if="!vm.loading" class="block-form">
+                <umb-box ng-if="!vm.loading">
                     <umb-box-content>
 
                         <umb-control-group label="@general_language" ng-if="vm.availableCultures">
@@ -64,6 +64,17 @@
 
                         </umb-control-group>
 
+                        <umb-property property="properties.fallbackLanguage">
+                            <div>
+                                <select name="fallbackLanguage"
+                                        ng-model="vm.language.fallbackLanguage.id"
+                                        required
+                                        ng-options="l.id as l.name for l in vm.availableLanguages">
+                                    <option value="">No fall back language</option>
+                                </select>
+                            </div>
+                        </umb-property>
+
                     </umb-box-content>
                 </umb-box>
     
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/overview.controller.js b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/overview.controller.js
index c81f93c7d6..2f116ef3cb 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/overview.controller.js
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/overview.controller.js
@@ -22,12 +22,14 @@
                 "treeHeaders_languages",
                 "general_mandatory",
                 "general_default",
+                "languages_fallsbackToLabel"
             ];
 
             localizationService.localizeMany(labelKeys).then(function (values) {
                 vm.labels.languages = values[0];
                 vm.labels.mandatory = values[1];
                 vm.labels.general = values[2];
+                vm.labels.fallsbackTo = values[3];
                 // set page name
                 vm.page.name = vm.labels.languages;
             });
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/overview.html b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/overview.html
index 90764d3f67..f53326a491 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/overview.html
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI.Client/src/views/languages/overview.html
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
                             <span ng-if="language.isDefault">- {{vm.labels.general}}</span>
                         </td>
                         <td><span ng-if="language.isMandatory">{{vm.labels.mandatory}}</span></td>
+                        <td><span ng-if="language.fallbackLanguage">{{vm.labels.fallsbackTo}}: {{language.fallbackLanguage.name}}</span></td>
                         <td style="text-align: right;">
                             <umb-button
                                 ng-if="!language.isDefault"
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI/Umbraco/config/lang/en_us.xml b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI/Umbraco/config/lang/en_us.xml
index 28b8f65dd3..555d4edfb4 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web.UI/Umbraco/config/lang/en_us.xml
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web.UI/Umbraco/config/lang/en_us.xml
@@ -1661,6 +1661,7 @@ To manage your website, simply open the Umbraco back office and start adding con
         <key alias="defaultLanguage">Default language</key>
         <key alias="defaultLanguageHelp">An Umbraco site can only have one default langugae set.</key>
         <key alias="changingDefaultLanguageWarning">Switching default language may result in default content missing.</key>
+        <key alias="fallsbackToLabel">Falls back to</key>
     </area>
 
     <area alias="modelsBuilder">
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/Language.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/Language.cs
index f78d2bd28f..309e111e32 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/Language.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Models/ContentEditing/Language.cs
@@ -24,5 +24,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Models.ContentEditing
 
         [DataMember(Name = "isMandatory")]
         public bool Mandatory { get; set; }
+
+        [DataMember(Name = "fallbackLanguage")]
+        public Language FallbackLanguage { get; set; }
     }
 }