Überlegungen zur Zukunft der Nationalsprachen und Dialekte
Reflections on the Future of the National Languages and Dialects

Summary/Abstract: Generally speaking, language is regarded as an identity characteristic of each ethnic group. A language community without its own country is called a diaspora, and while creating some well-known problems, it also emphasizes the role of the mother tongue. A recent conference on Romanian language and literature, taking place at the “Alexandru Phillipide” Institute in Jassy/Iasi, addressed the topic of language care and promotion of the Romanian culture in the world. Speakers from the neighbouring Republic of Moldova spoke enthusiastically about “Romanianism” and the “sweet Romanian language”. Almost simultaneously, Slovenian speakers complained at the 10th Workshop for Bavarian-Austrian Dialectology in Klagenfurt about the linguistic and cultural oppression of their minority in Carinthia, and called for the creation of a comprehensive encyclopedia of their ethnic group. On the other hand, it sounds strange when linguists and politicians assume that - given the global lingua franca, namely the aggressively-advancing American English – all national languages must revert into some kind of dialects for home use, and that existing dialects and minority languages must disappear. It is known that German is being flooded with unnecessary Americanisms, and we have to ask ourselves whether the flood has already reached to its neck, and what happens after the breaking tsunami?

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