World Monitor Magazine, #5, Industry World Monitor Magazine, Industrial Overview | Page 36

EXPERT OPINION

PORTUGUESE PLI rank : 9 PLI score : 0.118 Language family : Romance Geographic coverage : Africa , Europe , Latin America , Southeast Asia

Languagefamily : Romance Geographic coverage : Africa , Europe , LatAm

Along with English , the Portuguese language is now more prominent outside of its historic homeland ( Portugal ). The diversity of its geography is second only to English : Portuguese is spoken on four continents . Portuguese is also a close cousin of Spanish ( and it is claimed that Portuguese speakers are better able to understand Spanish than vice versa ), so Portuguese speakers will also gain in a world where the prominence of Spanish grows .

But ultimately , the trajectory of Portuguese hinges significantly on the fate and success of Brazil , a so-called ' BRIC ' nation . The re-emergence of Portuguese in East Timor is one of the few exceptions going against the ' Englishisation ' phenomenon . Indeed , when East Timor gained independence the adoption of Portuguese came as a bit of a surprise as English and / or Indonesian seemed like more logical choices to promote as official languages .

AlongwithEnglish , thePortugueselanguageisnow moreprominentoutsideofits historichomeland ( Portugal ). Thediversityofits geographyissecondonlytoEnglish : Portugueseisspokenonfour continents . Portugueseis alsoaclosecousinof Spanish ( anditis claimed thatPortuguesespeakers are Hindi is the dominant language of India , Although Kazakh speakers can be found better abletounderstandSpanishthanviceversa ), so Portuguesespeakers will alsogainin a but worldwheretheprominenceof India is also home to hundreds Spanishgrows of other . throughout Central Asia , it is essentially only

languages . This has given rise to a situation spoken in great numbers in Kazakhstan .

ThetrajectoryofPortuguesehingessignificantly onthe fateandsuccessof Brazil , aso-called whereby “ BRIC ” nation the influence . There-emergenceofPortuguesein of Hindi has been EastTimor Although isoneof its thefewexceptions roots are as a Turkic goingagainstthe language , limited “ Englishisation as the government ” phenomenon of . Indeed India , when needs EastTimor Soviet gained legacy independenceitcameasabitof has made the Cyrillic a alphabet to placate surprise asEnglish the concerns and / orIndonesianseemed of competing likemorelogicalchoicestopromoteasofficial the current means of writing the languages language . . languages . Indeed , Hindi punches well below Nevertheless , there are ambitions by some its weight ( in contrast to French ) relative to to switch to the use of the Latin alphabet . its number of native speakers ( 310 million ). But the existence of Russian , which uses

Cyrillic script , as a second official language in The language politics of India have limited Kazakhstan may counter any such push . the ability of the country to promote its The Kazakh language ranks 34 in the PLI . most prolific native language . Indeed , The vast geography of the country , and its competition across the various linguistic strategic position between China and Russia , factions in India ( and the history of English suggest bright economic prospects for the colonialism ) has helped spur the rise of country . With only 11 million native speakers English in India ( and globally ). With no it will invariably remain a local language internal push from India to promote the ( for the foreseeable future ) – although the use of Hindi , either within the country or population of speakers has not limited other internationally , the language remains low languages over the course of history from on the international radar in spite of it functioning as a lingua franca . Nevertheless , being the dominant language of the world ’ s it behooves Kazakh speakers to take up a second most populous nation and third more powerful second language to help largest economy ( PPP ). them navigate the global economy .

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