Language statistics

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Language statistics (also language statistics ) are the determination of which languages ​​or language varieties are used by how many speakers.

Aspects of language statistics

The questions that a language statistic deals with include, among others

  1. the question of how many speakers the different languages ​​have. Among other things, this boils down to the fact that Chinese are the two most used languages ​​worldwide, ahead of English.
  2. the question of in which countries a certain language is used by how many speakers. The Institute for German Language / IDS presented such a study on the use of German in 27 countries, which shows that German is also widely used outside of German-speaking countries.
  3. the question of which languages ​​/ language varieties are used by how many speakers within a country. For Germany one can refer to Danish, German, Frisian, Low German and Sorbian as conventional languages; in addition, there is a multitude of languages ​​that migrants brought with them and continue to bring them with them.
  4. the question of which languages ​​will establish themselves through migration in addition to the conventional languages. The languages ​​of the guest workers and repatriates can be mentioned here as an example, as well as the languages ​​of the political and economic refugees.
  5. the question of when a particular language is used. People who have several languages ​​or even varieties of languages ​​use them in different frequencies and ways, depending on the communication situation.
  6. When it comes to such questions, it is always interesting to see what shifts arise over time and with regard to the use of languages. König shows in a graph how the importance of German as the language of publication in academic journals deteriorated between 1880 and 1980.
  7. The use of languages ​​/ language varieties depends on a number of factors. Professional necessities mean that publications in English are increasingly gaining acceptance in many sciences. But the attitudes of the speakers, which also vary with social factors such as age, educational level and gender, also play a major role. The Institute for German Language / IDS published a representative survey on the evaluation of German in 1999.

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Language statistics  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A lot of data on this in: Wolfgang Viereck, Karin Viereck, Heinrich Ramisch: dtv-Atlas Englische Sprache. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2002. p. 236, passim. ISBN 3-423-03239-1 and http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~kbest/einfueh.htm .
  2. ↑ Joachim Born, Sylvia Dickgießer: German-speaking minorities. An overview of the state of research for 27 countries. Institute for the German Language on behalf of the Foreign Office, Mannheim 1989. ISBN 3-922641-39-3 .
  3. ↑ Some data on this: http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~kbest/einfueh.htm .
  4. ↑ Using the example of Low German, for example: Dieter Stellmachen: Low German language. An introduction. Peter Lang, Bern, Frankfurt / M., New York, Paris 1990, ISBN 3-261-04145-5 , page 98ff.
  5. ↑ Werner König: dtv-Atlas German language. 15th, revised and updated edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-423-03025-9 , page 133.
  6. ^ Gerhard Stickel, Norbert Volz: Opinions and attitudes to the German language. Results of a nationwide representative survey. Institute for the German Language, Mannheim 1999. ISBN 3-922641-70-9 .