WORLD LANGUAGES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 774, 21 September 1929, Page 34

WORLD LANGUAGES

220,000,000 SPEAK ENGLISH TEUTONIC TONGUES AHEAD In the “Neue Zurcher Zeitung” there is an interesting study about the growth and decline of languages during the last hundred years, says the Zurich correspondent of the “Observer.” English now occupies the first place. A century ago it was spoken by not quite 20 million people; today it is the language of 160 millions, and 60 more millions understand and use it, even if they do not call jit their mother tongue. This rate of | increase leaves all other languages j far behind. There is no part of the i world where English is not spoken. A hundred years ago German was spoken hv 32 millions; now it is spoken by between SO and 90 millions, while 20 more millions understand it. The other Teutonic languages show an increase of well over 100 per cent., the respective figures being: Dutch, from 6,3000,000 to 15.000,000: Swedish, from 3,200,000 to 7,500,00; Danish, from 2,100,000 to 5.000,000. The growth of the languages of j Roman origin is not quite so rapid, j Italian leads with an increase' from j 21,400,000 to 45,000,000. and Spanish j comes next (35.200,000 to 50,000,000). ' French, as a mother tongue, has ad- j vanced from 32,400.000 ‘to 45.000,000. j but it is also understood by 75 million foreigners. It is the language I chief!}' acquired by learning and in this respect surpasses English by 10 millions. The only language mentioned as declining is Turkish, which lias dimin ished from 30 to 24 millions.