German | |
---|---|
Deutsch | |
Pronunciation | [ˈdɔʏtʃ] |
Native to | Primarily German-speaking Europe, also in the worldwide German-speaking diaspora |
Native speakers
|
90 million (2010) to 95 million (2014) L2 speakers: 10–15 million (2014) |
Standard forms
|
|
Latin (German alphabet) German Braille |
|
Signed German, LBG (Lautsprachbegleitende / Lautbegleitende Gebärden) |
|
Official status | |
Official language in
|
Several international institutions |
Recognised minority
language in |
|
Regulated by |
No official regulation |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | de |
ISO 639-2 |
ger (B) deu (T)
|
ISO 639-3 | Variously: – German – Middle High German – Old High German – Colonia Tovar German – Bavarian – Cimbrian – Hutterite German – Kölsch – Low German – Lower Silesian – Luxembourgish – Mainfränkisch – Mócheno – Palatinate German – Pennsylvania German – Plautdietsch – Swabian German – Swiss German – Unserdeutsch – Upper Saxon – Walser German – Westphalian – Riograndenser Hunsrückisch – Yenish
|
Glottolog |
high1287 High Franconianuppe1397 Upper German
|
Linguasphere |
further information 52-AC (Continental West Germanic) |
(Co-)Official and majority language
Co-official, but not majority language
Statutory minority/cultural language
Non-statutory minority language
|
|
No official regulation
German (Deutsch [ˈdɔʏtʃ]) is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and (co-) official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.
One of the major languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide and the most widely spoken native language in the European Union. German also is the fourth most widely taught non-English language in the US (after Spanish, French and American Sign Language) and third in the EU (after English and French; at lower secondary level), the second most commonly used scientific language as well as the fourth most widely used language on websites (after English, Russian and Japanese). The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one tenth of all books (including e-books) in the world being published in the German language.