Language and culture in Transnational society

Abram De Swaan

European Review, 1999, vol. 7, issue 4, 507-518

Abstract: The modern world system also comprises a global constellation of languages, arranged in hierarchies and linked by multilingual individuals. The communication value of a language depends on the proportion of the people who speak it, multiplied by the proportion of multilingual speakers. The special characteristics of languages make them into hypercollective goods. In the West language is identified with state. A language of supercentral communication will permit the nations of the European Union to communicate and will exist in a dynamic, precarious balance with the indigenous languages.

Date: 1999
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/ ... type/journal_article link to article abstract page (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cup:eurrev:v:7:y:1999:i:04:p:507-518_00

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in European Review from Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press, UPH, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8BS UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Kirk Stebbing ().