Multilingualism

Multilingualism Around the World

Globally, not only are the majority of people multilingual, but so are the majority of nations. Some countries declare their multilingualism in law. South Africa has eleven official languages, although South African Sign Language is not one of them. There are nations that are multilingual not by law, but by practice. The United States has no official language. English is our common language, but Spanish is becoming indispensable as a second language. Some people believe that a state’s official legal recognition of a language is important. However, the official status of a language is insufficient to ensure that it flourishes. In Ireland, despite the status of Irish as an official language, the language continues to decline.

Some societies are multilingual as a fact of life. In Israel, Hebrew is the official language, along with Arabic, but English is common. People who immigrate to Israel from other countries often speak their native language (e.g., Russian) in addition to Hebrew, which they learn, along with a third or fourth language. Other cities and countries where multilingualism is routine include Singapore (where Standard English, Singapore English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, and other Indian languages and Chinese dialects are used), Switzerland (Swiss German, Standard German, Italian, French, Romansh, and English as a bridge language), and India ( between 447 are 780 languages are reported to be used in the country).

The continent of Africa is home to around 2,100 of the world’s nearly 7,000 languages. Many Africans are multilingual as a matter of their daily existence, and Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the world’s most linguistically diverse areas. Africa, some linguists argue, is different in its multilingualism, as some tribes have always been multilingual. The legacy of colonial languages (not unique to Africa) has meant that African nations have long functioned with multiple languages. Swahili, a language of Bantu origin that developed along the coast of East Africa, absorbed vocabulary from many languages, including Arabic, Persian (Farsi), Portuguese, English, and German. Trade along the Indian Ocean spread the language, as did Christian missionaries, and it is now an official language in several East African countries.

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