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| {{Short description|Language that is spoken internationally and often learned as a second language}} | |||
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| In ], a '''world language''' (sometimes '''global language''',<ref name="Ammon2010">{{Cite book |last=Ammon |first=Ulrich |chapter=World Languages: Trends and Futures |date=2010 |title=The Handbook of Language and Globalization |volume= |pages=101–122 |editor-last=Coupland |editor-first=Nikolas |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |doi=10.1002/9781444324068.ch4 |isbn=978-1-4443-2406-8}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=101}} rarely '''international language'''<ref>{{Citation |last=Ammon |first=Ulrich |title=To What Extent is German an International Language? |date=1997 |work=The German Language and the Real World: Sociolinguistic, Cultural, and Pragmatic Perspectives on Contemporary German |pages=25–53 |editor-last=Stevenson |editor-first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AviTvt-cPaUC&pg=PA25 |location= |publisher=Clarendon Press |language=en |isbn=978-0-19-823738-9}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=de Mejía |first=Anne-Marie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RNbsQBv0NR0C&pg=PA47 |title=Power, Prestige, and Bilingualism: International Perspectives on Elite Bilingual Education |publisher=Multilingual Matters |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-85359-590-5 |pages=47–49 |language=en |quote='international language' or 'world language' The following languages of wider communication, that may be used as first or as second or foreign languages, are generally recognised: English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabic, Russian and Chinese.}}</ref>) is a language that is geographically widespread and makes it possible for members of different language communities to communicate. The term may also be used to refer to ] ]s. | |||
| A '''world language''' is a ] spoken internationally, which is learned by many people as a ]. A world language is not only characterized by the number of its speakers (native or second language speakers), but also by its geographical distribution, and its use in ] and in ].<ref>] ''Weltalmanach'' </ref><ref>Baker & Jones </ref> In this respect, major world languages are dominated by languages of ]an origin. | |||
| ] is the foremost, and by some accounts the only, world language. Other possible world languages include ], ], ], and ], although there is no clear academic consensus on the subject. Some authors consider ] to have formerly been a world language. | |||
| The historical reason for this is the period of European ]. World languages originating with historical colonial empires include ], ], ] and ]. The international prominence of ] has its historical reason in the medieval ] and the subsequent ] of the ], and also exists as a liturgical language amongst Muslim communities outside of the ]. ] is the direct replacement of ] which was an important historical lingua franca in ] until the early 20th century, and today serves the function of providing a common spoken language between speakers of different and mutually unintelligible Chinese spoken languages not only within ] (between the ] and other unrelated ethnic groups), but in ] communities as well as being widely taught as a second language internationally. ] was used in the ] and the ], and today is in use and widely understood in areas of ] and ], and ] and ] which were formerly part of the Soviet Union, or of the former Soviet bloc, and it remains the lingua franca in the ]. ] served as a lingua franca in large portions of Europe for centuries, mainly the ] and later the ]. It remains an important second language in much of ] and ], and in the international scientific community. | |||
| == Concept == | |||
| Other major languages are not widely used across several continents, but have had an international significance as the '']'' of a historical ]. These include ] in the Hellenistic world after the conquests of ], and in the territories of the ]; ] in the ] and previously as the standard liturgical language for the Catholic faithful worldwide; ] in ] during the ]; ] (or "Farsi", as it is known in the Persian language) during ancient and medieval incarnations of various succeeding ]s, and once served as the second lingua franca of the ] after Arabic<ref>Dr Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization'', HarperCollins,Published 2003</ref>; ] during the ancient and medieval historical periods of various states in ], ], and ], and like Latin an important liturgical language of the ]s; and ] following the ] which united and subsequently founded the present-day republic of the ] . | |||
| Various definitions of the term ''world language'' have been proposed; there is no general consensus about which one to use.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=García |first=Adolfo M. |date=2014 |title=Neurocognitive determinants of performance variability among world-language users |journal=Journal of World Languages |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=60–77 |doi=10.1080/21698252.2014.893671 |issn=2169-8252 |quote=the notion of world language has been variously defined |doi-access=free|hdl=11336/89353 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Wright2012">{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Roger |chapter=Convergence and Divergence in World Languages |date=2012 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SIWpmWNoB7YC&pg=PA552 |title=The Handbook of Language and Globalization |page=552 |editor-last=Hernández-Campoy |editor-first=Juan Manuel |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |doi=10.1002/9781118257227.ch30 |isbn=978-1-4051-9068-8 |quote=There is no generally agreed precise definition of what counts as a 'World' Language. For the purposes of this chapter, they can be defined as languages spoken over a wide geographical area, often as a result of previous colonization, and in many cases by native speakers of some other language. The category now includes Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English, but with reference to historically earlier periods the label has been applied to Latin |editor2-last=Conde-Silvestre |editor2-first=Juan Camilo}}</ref> | |||
| One definition proffered by Congolese linguist ] is "languages spoken as vernaculars or as lingua francas outside their homelands and by populations other than those ethnically or nationally associated with them".<ref name="Mufwene2010">{{Citation |last=Mufwene |first=Salikoko S. |chapter=Globalization, Global English, and World English(es): Myths and Facts |date=2010 |title=The Handbook of Language and Globalization |volume= |pages=31–55 |editor-last=Coupland |editor-first=Nikolas |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |doi=10.1002/9781444324068.ch1 |isbn=978-1-4443-2406-8 |author-link=Salikoko Mufwene}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=42|quote=By the middle of the twentieth century, a few European colonial languages had emerged as 'world languages,' in the sense of languages spoken as vernaculars or as lingua francas outside their homelands and by populations other than those ethnically or nationally associated with them. These included English, French, Russian, and Spanish.}} <!-- French? Algerian? -->Linguist ] equates the term ''world language'' with what Dutch ] ] refers to as "supercentral languages" in his ].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Benrabah |first=Mohamed |date=2014 |title=Competition between four "world" languages in Algeria |journal=Journal of World Languages |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=38–59 |doi=10.1080/21698252.2014.893676 |issn=2169-8252 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Spanish sociolinguist ] proposes a series of tests that a language needs to pass, relating to demographics, attitudes towards the language, and political, legal, economic, scientific, technological, academic, educational, and cultural domains.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mar-Molinero |first=Clare |date=2004 |title=Spanish as a world language: Language and identity in a global era |url=https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/sic.1.1.03mar |journal=Spanish in Context |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=8 |doi=10.1075/sic.1.1.03mar |issn=1571-0718 |quote=By 'international' I am referring to a language spoken as a mother tongue in more than one national context. This is not necessarily (or normally) the same as a 'global' language. To define the latter it is necessary to identify certain criteria The following 'tests' which I propose as necessary to meet the definition of 'global' language are based loosely on the work of David Crystal (1997) and David Graddol (1997) in respect of English as a global language. We need to ask such questions as: }}</ref> | |||
| The ] of the ] have numbers of speakers comparable to those of major world languages primarily due to the extreme ] in the region in recent decades rather than a supra-regional use of these languages, although ] (including all ] and ]) and to a lesser extent ] may fulfill the criteria in terms of supra-regional usage and international recognition. | |||
| German sociolinguist {{Interlanguage link|Ulrich Ammon|lt=|de||WD=}} says that what determines whether something is a world language is its "global function", which is to say its use for global communication, in particular between people who do not share it as a native language and with use as a ]—i.e. in communication where it is not the native language of ''any'' of the participants—carrying the most weight.<ref name="Ammon2010" />{{Rp|pages=102–103|quote=A concept of 'world language' which is useful for our purposes would be based on its global function, which means 'use for global communication' and can be specified further }} Ammon formulates a series of indicators of globality, i.e. factors useful for assessing the extent to which a given language can be considered a world language. Chief among these indicators is the number of non-native speakers. Another indicator is the number of native speakers, which although it is not in itself a criterion for globality, empirically correlates positively with it and may influence it indirectly by making the language more attractive. Other potential indicators are economic strength (measured as the native speakers' ]), number of countries that use the language as an ] as well as those countries' geographical distribution, ] use, and prevalence in ].<ref name="Ammon2010" />{{Rp|pages=104–116}} | |||
| As an example, the native speaking population of ] vastly outnumber those who speak French as a first language, and it is one of the ] (ranking fifth<ref name="eth">{{cite web|rank=5 |url = http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=country |title = Statistical Summaries |accessdate = 2007-03-03|year = 2005|work =|publisher = Ethnologue}}</ref> or sixth<ref name=Encarta>{{cite web |url=http://encarta.msn.com/media_701500404/Languages_Spoken_by_More_Than_10_Million_People.html |title=Languages Spoken by More Than 10 Million People |accessdate=2007-02-18 |publisher=Microsoft Encarta 2006}}</ref>) in the world with nearly 230 million total speakers, and is known for its long and rich literary tradition. However, while French is spoken intercontinentally, is internationally recognized to be of high ] and used as a diplomatic language and international commerce, as well as having a significant portion of second language speakers throughout the world, the overwhelming majority of Bengali speakers are native ], with little to no influence outside of its regionally limited '']'' or language space. | |||
| The term ''world language'' is also sometimes used in a different sense to refer to ] ]s such as ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sakaguchi |first=Alicja |author-link=Alicja Sakaguchi |title=Status and Function of Languages and Language Varieties |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=1989 |isbn=978-3-11-086025-2 |editor-last=Ammon |editor-first=Ulrich |location= |page=422 |language=en |chapter=Towards a Clarification of the Function and Status of International Planned Languages |quote=By the term ''world language'' approximately the following can be understood: Firstly, . Secondly, international planned languages (e.g Esperanto, Ido, Interlingua). |access-date=2021-02-13 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YAiAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA422}}</ref> | |||
| ==History== | |||
| Historical world languages include ] ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ].<ref>] ''Weltalmanach'' </ref> | |||
| == Possible examples == | |||
| The ] bear testimony to the role of ] as the ''lingua franca'' of the ]. ] was the "world language" of the ], but its distribution is not reflected in the distribution of ] due to the linguistic impact of the ], ] and ] expansions. The distribution of the ], in turn, are a legacy of the ]. | |||
| ===Arabic=== | |||
| ] has been described by ] as a world language—albeit a second-tier one after English and French due to limited use as a ]—on the grounds that is a ] amongst ] communities worldwide.<ref name="Mufwene2010" />{{Rp|pages=43|quote=overlooking variation across nations, Arabic counts as a 'world language' to the extent that it is used as a religious/ritual language wherever Islam is practiced; but it does not have that status of lingua franca associated with English and French as languages of business/trade and scholarship which are also used by non-native speakers. Arabic is thus reduced to the same status as Spanish, which outside Spain is spoken mostly in Latin America, as the dominant vernacular.}} ] criticizes this argument, writing that "Rote learning and reciting Koranic verses for daily prayers does not necessarily yield spoken proficiency", but nevertheless categorizes it as a world language on the grounds of it being a supercentral language in ]'s ].<ref name=":2" /> | |||
| ===English=== | |||
| Just as all the living world languages owe their status to historical ], the suggestion of a given language as a world language or "]" has strong political implications. Thus, Russian was declared the "world language of ]" in Soviet literature, which at the same time denounced French as the "language of fancy courtiers" and English as the "jargon of traders".<ref>Pei, p. 105</ref> A number of ] have been introduced as prospective world languages, the most successful of them being ], but none of them can claim the status of a living world language. Many natural languages have been proffered as candidates for a global ''lingua franca'', including ], ], ], ] and ].<ref>Pei p. 105</ref>{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}<!-- DOUBTFUL --> | |||
| {{See also|English as an International Language|English as a lingua franca}} | |||
| Academic consensus is that ] is a world language, with some authors such as British linguists ] and ] going so far as to consider it the only one. Authors who take a pluralist approach nevertheless consider English to inhabit a unique position as the foremost world language; for instance, in ]'s ], English is the sole occupant of the highest position in the hierarchy: the ''hypercentral'' language.<ref name=":2" /> According to German sociolinguist {{Interlanguage link|Ulrich Ammon|lt=|de||WD=}}, "here is virtually no descriptive parameter or indicator for the international or global rank of a language which, if applied to today's languages worldwide, does not place English at the top".<ref name="Ammon2010" />{{Rp|pages=116–117|quote=There is virtually no descriptive parameter or indicator for the international or global rank of a language which, if applied to today's languages world-wide, does not place English at the top}} Ammon and Mufwene both posit that what sets English apart as the foremost world language is its use as a ],<ref name="Mufwene2010" />{{Rp|pages=43|quote=It thus appears that what has made English the foremost "world language" is its function as lingua franca}}<ref name="Ammon2010" />{{Rp|pages=103|quote=It is such usage, as lingua franca, that distinguishes English most noticeably from other languages.}} whereas Crystal focuses on its geographical distribution.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Crystal|first=David|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgeencyclo00crys|title=The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language|date=1995|publisher=Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-521-40179-1|page=106|quote=English is now the dominant or official language in over 60 countries (see the table on p. 109), and is represented in every continent and in the three major oceans – Atlantic (e.g. St Helena), Indian (e.g. Seychelles), and Pacific (e.g. Hawaii). It is this spread of representation which makes the application of the term 'world language' a reality.|author-link=David Crystal}}</ref> | |||
| ===French=== | |||
| <center><gallery> | |||
| ] has been described as a world language due to its status as a supercentral language in ]'s ],<ref name=":2" /> and ] characterizes it as such based on it being spoken as a lingua franca or vernacular by people neither ethnically nor nationally associated with it outside of France.<ref name="Mufwene2010" />{{Rp|pages=42|quote=By the middle of the twentieth century, a few European colonial languages had emerged as 'world languages,' in the sense of languages spoken as vernaculars or as lingua francas outside their homelands and by populations other than those ethnically or nationally associated with them. These included English, French, Russian, and Spanish.}} | |||
| Image:3Byzantium476lightblue.PNG | ] - ] | |||
| Image:Western-Roman-Empire-AD395.png | ] - ] (]) | |||
| Image:First Turk Khaganate(600).PNG | ] - ] | |||
| </gallery></center> | |||
| ===Latin=== | |||
| ==Living world languages== | |||
| Some authors consider ] to have formerly been a world language.<ref name="Wright2012" /><ref name="Mufwene2010" />{{Rp|pages=42|quote=I submit that, as in the case of that earlier 'world language,' Latin, it was the association with trade and (more) lucrative business that favored English over its competitors, both in the United States and around the world.}}<ref name="Crystal-2003">{{Cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |url=http://culturaldiplomacy.org/academy/pdf/research/books/nation_branding/English_As_A_Global_Language_-_David_Crystal.pdf |title=English as a global language |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-511-07862-5 |edition=2nd |location=Cambridge, UK |page=190 |oclc=57418548 |quote=The emergence of English with a genuine global presence therefore has a significance which goes well beyond this particular language. Because there are no precedents for languages achieving this level of use (if we exclude Latin, which was in a sense 'global' when the world was much smaller), we do not know what happens to them in such circumstances. |author-link=David Crystal}}</ref> | |||
| Some sources define a living world language as having the following properties: | |||
| *a large number of speakers | |||
| *a substantial fraction of non-native speakers (function as '']'') | |||
| *] status in several countries | |||
| *a linguistic community not defined strictly along ] lines (], ]) | |||
| *one or more ]s which are widely ] as a ] | |||
| *association with ] | |||
| *use in ] | |||
| *use in ] | |||
| *use in the ] | |||
| *significant body of ] | |||
| World languages in the strictest sense are:<ref>] ''Weltalmanach'' </ref><ref>Ulrich Ammon </ref><ref>] </ref> | |||
| ===Russian=== | |||
| {| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| ] has been categorized as a world language on the grounds of being a supercentral language in ]'s ],<ref name=":2" /> and is characterised as a world language by ] on the grounds that it is used as a ] or ] outside of Russia by non-Russians.<ref name="Mufwene2010" />{{Rp|pages=42|quote=By the middle of the twentieth century, a few European colonial languages had emerged as 'world languages,' in the sense of languages spoken as vernaculars or as lingua francas outside their homelands and by populations other than those ethnically or nationally associated with them. These included English, French, Russian, and Spanish.}} | |||
| |- bgcolor="#cccccc" | |||
| ! Language | |||
| ! Native speakers<ref>http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size</ref> | |||
| ! Total speakers | |||
| ! Official Status Distribution | |||
| ! Official Status Maps | |||
| |- | |||
| | ]|| 328 M || 1800 M<ref></ref><ref>]|| ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ]<!-- as distinct from catalan, valencia, galician, etc in its native country. --> || 329 M || 495M<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/Spanish_Language#Geographic_Distribution</ref> || ] || ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || 144 M || 275 M || ]|| ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || 178 M || 230 M<ref>http://www.iilp-cplp.cv/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=71 Instituto Internacional da Língua Portuguesa</ref> ||]|| ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || 68 M|| 200 M<ref>] || ] | |||
| ===Spanish=== | |||
| |} | |||
| ] has been categorized as a world language on the grounds of being a supercentral language in ]'s ],<ref name=":2" /> and is considered a world language by German sociolinguist {{Interlanguage link|Ulrich Ammon|lt=|de||WD=}} as it is spoken as a foreign language worldwide.<ref name="Ammon2010" />{{Rp|pages=102|quote=We would nevertheless include Spanish into the plurality of world languages with which we deal here, on the grounds that one finds those who speak it as a foreign language in countries around the world.}} ] also considers it a world language—albeit a second-tier one after English and French due to limited use as a ]—on the grounds that it is used as a vernacular by people neither ethnically nor nationally associated with it outside of Spain.<ref name="Mufwene2010" />{{Rp|pages=42–43|quote=By the middle of the twentieth century, a few European colonial languages had emerged as 'world languages,' in the sense of languages spoken as vernaculars or as lingua francas outside their homelands and by populations other than those ethnically or nationally associated with them. These included English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Arabic counts as a 'world language' to the extent that it is used as a religious/ritual language wherever Islam is practiced; but it does not have that status of lingua franca associated with English and French as languages of business/trade and scholarship which are also used by non-native speakers. Arabic is thus reduced to the same status as Spanish, which outside Spain is spoken mostly in Latin America, as the dominant vernacular.}} | |||
| == See also == | |||
| Other sources denote the following languages as world languages, whilst stricter sources list them as supra-regional languages:<ref>Baker & Jones </ref> | |||
| {{portal|Language|World}} | |||
| {| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| * ] | |||
| |- bgcolor="#cccccc" | |||
| **] | |||
| ! Language | |||
| ** ] | |||
| ! Native speakers<ref>http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size</ref> | |||
| **] | |||
| ! Total speakers | |||
| **] | |||
| ! Official Status Distribution | |||
| * ] | |||
| ! Official Status Maps | |||
| * ] | |||
| |- | |||
| * ] | |||
| | ] || 845 M || 1345 M <ref></ref> <!-- http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/may/Mandarin.html--> || ] || ] | |||
| * ]s | |||
| |- | |||
| ** ] | |||
| | ] || 221 M || 325 M<ref name="Ethnologue 1999"></ref> || ] || | |||
| * ] | |||
| ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || 90 M || 180 M || ] || ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] and ] || 27 M || 45 M || ] || ] | |||
| |} | |||
| == References == | |||
| ==Other supra-regional languages== | |||
| {{Reflist|2}} | |||
| {{see|Lingua franca}} | |||
| Other languages of supra-regional importance which fail some of the other criteria to be considered ''de facto'' world languages include: | |||
| == Further reading == | |||
| {| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| |- bgcolor="#cccccc" | |||
| ! Language | |||
| ! Native speakers<ref>http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size</ref> | |||
| ! Total speakers | |||
| ! Official Status Distribution | |||
| ! Official Status Maps | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] (] and ]) || 460 M || 650 M<ref>figures are based on the 1991 census of India. They are highly unreliable due to the huge population growth in the area.</ref> || ] (], ])|| ] | |||
| |- | |||
| |] and ]|| 60 M || 176 M - 250 M || ] || ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || 70 M || 144 M || ] || ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || 68 M || 77 M || ], ] and ] || ''No map'' | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || 60 M || 70 M || ] and ] || ] | |||
| |- | |||
| | ] || 5-10 M || 50+ M || ] || ] | |||
| |- | |||
| |} | |||
| * {{Cite book |last=Leonhardt |first=Jürgen |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.4159/harvard.9780674726277/html |title=Latin: Story of a World Language |date=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-72627-7 |doi=10.4159/harvard.9780674726277 |author-link=Jürgen Leonhardt}} | |||
| Two languages with a number of speakers in excess of 100 million, ] and ], are not listed. Although considered to be some of the most internationally significant languages along with the listed world languages<ref></ref>, they are not considered world languages ''per se'' - Japan for example is ethnically, culturally and linguistically homogenous, thus Japanese does not have a history of usage as a ''lingua franca'' amongst communities who do not share a mother tongue or first language; their overseas communities are strongly tied to ethnicity; Bengali is not as widely taught as a foreign language as Japanese, where international interest since the 1980's have prompted many major universities as well as a number of secondary and even primary schools worldwide to ]; and at least in the present, these languages exert a regionally limited sphere of influence;<ref>c.f. Pei p. 15</ref>). | |||
| {{Authority control}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:World Language}} | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| ] | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| *Christian Mair (ed.), ''The Politics of English As a World Language'' (2003), ISBN 9042008768. | |||
| *], ''One Language for the World'' (1958), ISBN 0819602183. | |||
| *Anne-Marie De Mejía, ''Power, Prestige, and Bilingualism: International Perspectives on Elite Bilingual Education'' (2002), ISBN 185359590X. | |||
| * David Crystal, ''English as a Global Language'' (2003), ISBN 0521530326. | |||
| *Clare Mar-Molinero, ''The Politics of Language in the Spanish-speaking World'' (2000), ISBN 0415156556. | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * (BBC, December 2004) | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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Latest revision as of 00:42, 11 November 2024
Language that is spoken internationally and often learned as a second languageIn linguistics, a world language (sometimes global language, rarely international language) is a language that is geographically widespread and makes it possible for members of different language communities to communicate. The term may also be used to refer to constructed international auxiliary languages.
English is the foremost, and by some accounts the only, world language. Other possible world languages include Arabic, French, Russian, and Spanish, although there is no clear academic consensus on the subject. Some authors consider Latin to have formerly been a world language.
Concept
Various definitions of the term world language have been proposed; there is no general consensus about which one to use.
One definition proffered by Congolese linguist Salikoko Mufwene is "languages spoken as vernaculars or as lingua francas outside their homelands and by populations other than those ethnically or nationally associated with them". Linguist Mohamed Benrabah equates the term world language with what Dutch sociologist Abram de Swaan refers to as "supercentral languages" in his global language system. Spanish sociolinguist Clare Mar-Molinero proposes a series of tests that a language needs to pass, relating to demographics, attitudes towards the language, and political, legal, economic, scientific, technological, academic, educational, and cultural domains.
German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon [de] says that what determines whether something is a world language is its "global function", which is to say its use for global communication, in particular between people who do not share it as a native language and with use as a lingua franca—i.e. in communication where it is not the native language of any of the participants—carrying the most weight. Ammon formulates a series of indicators of globality, i.e. factors useful for assessing the extent to which a given language can be considered a world language. Chief among these indicators is the number of non-native speakers. Another indicator is the number of native speakers, which although it is not in itself a criterion for globality, empirically correlates positively with it and may influence it indirectly by making the language more attractive. Other potential indicators are economic strength (measured as the native speakers' GDP), number of countries that use the language as an official language as well as those countries' geographical distribution, international business use, and prevalence in scientific publications.
The term world language is also sometimes used in a different sense to refer to constructed international auxiliary languages such as Esperanto.
Possible examples
Arabic
Arabic has been described by Salikoko Mufwene as a world language—albeit a second-tier one after English and French due to limited use as a lingua franca—on the grounds that is a liturgical language amongst Muslim communities worldwide. Mohamed Benrabah criticizes this argument, writing that "Rote learning and reciting Koranic verses for daily prayers does not necessarily yield spoken proficiency", but nevertheless categorizes it as a world language on the grounds of it being a supercentral language in de Swaan's global language system.
English
See also: English as an International Language and English as a lingua francaAcademic consensus is that English is a world language, with some authors such as British linguists David Crystal and David Graddol going so far as to consider it the only one. Authors who take a pluralist approach nevertheless consider English to inhabit a unique position as the foremost world language; for instance, in Abram de Swaan's global language system, English is the sole occupant of the highest position in the hierarchy: the hypercentral language. According to German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon [de], "here is virtually no descriptive parameter or indicator for the international or global rank of a language which, if applied to today's languages worldwide, does not place English at the top". Ammon and Mufwene both posit that what sets English apart as the foremost world language is its use as a lingua franca, whereas Crystal focuses on its geographical distribution.
French
French has been described as a world language due to its status as a supercentral language in de Swaan's global language system, and Salikoko Mufwene characterizes it as such based on it being spoken as a lingua franca or vernacular by people neither ethnically nor nationally associated with it outside of France.
Latin
Some authors consider Latin to have formerly been a world language.
Russian
Russian has been categorized as a world language on the grounds of being a supercentral language in de Swaan's global language system, and is characterised as a world language by Salikoko Mufwene on the grounds that it is used as a vernacular or lingua franca outside of Russia by non-Russians.
Spanish
Spanish has been categorized as a world language on the grounds of being a supercentral language in de Swaan's global language system, and is considered a world language by German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon [de] as it is spoken as a foreign language worldwide. Salikoko Mufwene also considers it a world language—albeit a second-tier one after English and French due to limited use as a lingua franca—on the grounds that it is used as a vernacular by people neither ethnically nor nationally associated with it outside of Spain.
See also
- Lists of languages
- Linguistic demography
- Language geography
- Pluricentric language
- Translingualisms
- Universal language
References
- ^ Ammon, Ulrich (2010). "World Languages: Trends and Futures". In Coupland, Nikolas (ed.). The Handbook of Language and Globalization. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 101–122. doi:10.1002/9781444324068.ch4. ISBN 978-1-4443-2406-8.
- Ammon, Ulrich (1997), Stevenson, Patrick (ed.), "To What Extent is German an International Language?", The German Language and the Real World: Sociolinguistic, Cultural, and Pragmatic Perspectives on Contemporary German, Clarendon Press, pp. 25–53, ISBN 978-0-19-823738-9
- de Mejía, Anne-Marie (2002). Power, Prestige, and Bilingualism: International Perspectives on Elite Bilingual Education. Multilingual Matters. pp. 47–49. ISBN 978-1-85359-590-5.
'international language' or 'world language' The following languages of wider communication, that may be used as first or as second or foreign languages, are generally recognised: English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabic, Russian and Chinese.
- García, Adolfo M. (2014). "Neurocognitive determinants of performance variability among world-language users". Journal of World Languages. 1 (1): 60–77. doi:10.1080/21698252.2014.893671. hdl:11336/89353. ISSN 2169-8252.
the notion of world language has been variously defined
- ^ Wright, Roger (2012). "Convergence and Divergence in World Languages". In Hernández-Campoy, Juan Manuel; Conde-Silvestre, Juan Camilo (eds.). The Handbook of Language and Globalization. John Wiley & Sons. p. 552. doi:10.1002/9781118257227.ch30. ISBN 978-1-4051-9068-8.
There is no generally agreed precise definition of what counts as a 'World' Language. For the purposes of this chapter, they can be defined as languages spoken over a wide geographical area, often as a result of previous colonization, and in many cases by native speakers of some other language. The category now includes Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English, but with reference to historically earlier periods the label has been applied to Latin
- ^ Mufwene, Salikoko S. (2010), "Globalization, Global English, and World English(es): Myths and Facts", in Coupland, Nikolas (ed.), The Handbook of Language and Globalization, Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 31–55, doi:10.1002/9781444324068.ch1, ISBN 978-1-4443-2406-8
- ^ Benrabah, Mohamed (2014). "Competition between four "world" languages in Algeria". Journal of World Languages. 1 (1): 38–59. doi:10.1080/21698252.2014.893676. ISSN 2169-8252.
- Mar-Molinero, Clare (2004). "Spanish as a world language: Language and identity in a global era". Spanish in Context. 1 (1): 8. doi:10.1075/sic.1.1.03mar. ISSN 1571-0718.
By 'international' I am referring to a language spoken as a mother tongue in more than one national context. This is not necessarily (or normally) the same as a 'global' language. To define the latter it is necessary to identify certain criteria The following 'tests' which I propose as necessary to meet the definition of 'global' language are based loosely on the work of David Crystal (1997) and David Graddol (1997) in respect of English as a global language. We need to ask such questions as:
- Sakaguchi, Alicja (1989). "Towards a Clarification of the Function and Status of International Planned Languages". In Ammon, Ulrich (ed.). Status and Function of Languages and Language Varieties. Walter de Gruyter. p. 422. ISBN 978-3-11-086025-2. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
By the term world language approximately the following can be understood: Firstly, . Secondly, international planned languages (e.g Esperanto, Ido, Interlingua).
- Crystal, David (1995). The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Internet Archive. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-521-40179-1.
English is now the dominant or official language in over 60 countries (see the table on p. 109), and is represented in every continent and in the three major oceans – Atlantic (e.g. St Helena), Indian (e.g. Seychelles), and Pacific (e.g. Hawaii). It is this spread of representation which makes the application of the term 'world language' a reality.
- Crystal, David (2003). English as a global language (PDF) (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 190. ISBN 0-511-07862-5. OCLC 57418548.
The emergence of English with a genuine global presence therefore has a significance which goes well beyond this particular language. Because there are no precedents for languages achieving this level of use (if we exclude Latin, which was in a sense 'global' when the world was much smaller), we do not know what happens to them in such circumstances.
Further reading
- Leonhardt, Jürgen (2013). Latin: Story of a World Language. Harvard University Press. doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674726277. ISBN 978-0-674-72627-7.