Der Wettbewerb um die lingua academica

Gegenüberstellung einer linguistischen und einer geopolitischen Perspektive zur Entwicklung internationaler Wissenschaftssprachen

Abstract

The fact that today’s scientists are linguistically confined to a monoglot world when publishing on an international level has given rise to concern in the academic community around the globe. The disadvantages of one vehicular language dominating scientific research worldwide have been discussed extensively by German-speaking linguists who advocate scientific plurilingualism for international publications. Against this background, the present study seeks to shed light on the dominant position of English as the global lingua academica by juxtaposing a linguistic and a geopolitical perspective. The linguistic perspective is based on an analysis, which compares the syntax, word formation possibilities, and etymological background of terms used in the abstracts of English and German academic papers that were submitted at the University of Vienna. The findings reveal that based on these criteria, English might be considered more advantageous in fulfilling the role of the global scientific language. H

The fact that today’s scientists are linguistically confined to a monoglot world when publishing on an international level has given rise to concern in the academic community around the globe. The disadvantages of one vehicular language dominating scientific research worldwide have been discussed extensively by German-speaking linguists who advocate scientific plurilingualism for international publications. Against this background, the present study seeks to shed light on the dominant position of English as the global lingua academica by juxtaposing a linguistic and a geopolitical perspective. The linguistic perspective is based on an analysis, which compares the syntax, word formation possibilities, and etymological background of terms used in the abstracts of English and German academic papers that were submitted at the University of Vienna. The findings reveal that based on these criteria, English might be considered more advantageous in fulfilling the role of the global scientific language. H