Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0  
Author-Name: Francisco Moreno Fernández
Author-Workplace-Name: Universidad de Alcalá
Author-Name: Jaime Otero Roth
Author-Workplace-Name: Real Instituto Elcano de Estudios Internacionales y Estratégicos
Title: Demografía de la lengua española
Abstract: Within the study of the social and economic roles of the world’s languages, the demographic aspect –ie,
	the number of speakers– is often glossed over or presented with a great deal of inaccuracy. This working
	paper proposes a methodology for counting the number of Spanish speakers that allows a more detailed
	picture of the Spanish language in the international context. The methodology makes a distinction between
	a language’s native speakers, those of limited competence and learners of Spanish as a foreign
	language, and uses specific criteria for interpreting the available statistical sources. The data collected
	and set out using these criteria are presented in two different sections: on the one hand, those pertaining
	to the ‘Hispanic sphere’ (countries in which Spanish is the official language) and, on the other,
	those for speakers resident outside it. To the global results is added a comparative analysis with other
	international languages aimed at gaining a more precise idea of the Spanish language’s place in the
	world’s demographic and linguistic scenario.
Keywords: linguistic community, economic effects, transaction costs, economic operations, cultural industries
Creation-Date: 2006 
Length: pages 70 
X-File-Ref: http://america.sim.ucm.es/repec/ucm/ref/dticei03-06.txt
File-URL: https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/8936/1/DT03-06.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
File-Function: Full text
Handle: RePEc:ucm:dticei:03-06