I don't think it is quite that simple. Look at India, for example. Mark __________________________________ http://www.macchiato.com ► शिष्यादिच्छेत्पराजयम् ◄
----- Original Message ----- From: "John Cowan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Mark Davis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tue, 2003 Oct 21 12:36 Subject: Re: GDP by language > Mark Davis scripsit: > > > Thus they are rough figures, since different language groups will have unequal > > distributions of GDP; and there may be significant multilingual populations. > > In fact, officially multilingual countries are less likely to have polyglot > citizens than officially monolingual ones. The whole point of being officially > multilingual, after all, is to allow multiple groups of monoglots to get > equal access to government services. If most of your citizens are polyglots, > you may as well choose the language that most of them can speak, even as L2 or L3, > as the official language. > > -- > John Cowan http://www.ccil.org/~cowan [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all. There are > no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language that > they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful. --The Hobbit >
