Sprachraum

In linguistics, a sprachraum (/ˈsprɑːkraʊm/; German: [ˈʃpʁaːxʁaʊm], "language area") is a geographical region where a common first language (mother tongue), with dialect varieties, or group of languages is spoken.

Characteristics

Most sprachraums do not follow national borders. For example, half of South America is part of the Spanish sprachraum, while a single, small country like Switzerland is at the intersection of four such language spheres. A sprachraum can also be separated by oceans.

The four major Western sprachraums are those of English, Spanish, Portuguese and French (according to the number of speakers). The English sprachraum spans the globe, from the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to the many former British colonies where English has official language status alongside local languages, such as India and South Africa. The French sprachraum, which also spans several continents, is known as the Francophonie (French: La francophonie). La Francophonie is also the name of an international organisation composed of countries with French as an official language.