Modern Status
Outside Europe, the only Germanic language that is spoken and enjoys official status in various countries that emerged from their respective colonial empires is English. English is an official language of Belize, Falkland Islands, New Zealand, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, and former British colonies in Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
Although Germany also had some colonial possessions, its language did not remain official after the end of the colonial domination, resulting in German being spoken only as a minority or secondary language by immigrant communities in North, South America, Australia, and African countries notably former German colony Namibia, where it is spoken by educated people and in commerce, it was also former official language there.
Although Netherlands has some colonial possessions, Dutch is only official in Suriname.
Afrikaans is one of 11 official languages in South Africa and is a lingua franca of Namibia.
Outside Denmark, Danish is an official language in its overseas territory of Faroe Islands and is a lingua franca and language of education in its other overseas territory of Greenland, where it was one of official languages until 2009.
Read more about this topic: Germanic Languages
Famous quotes containing the words modern and/or status:
“Civilization is a conspiracy.... Modern life is the silent compact of comfortable folk to keep up pretences.”
—John Buchan (1875–1940)
“What is clear is that Christianity directed increased attention to childhood. For the first time in history it seemed important to decide what the moral status of children was. In the midst of this sometimes excessive concern, a new sympathy for children was promoted. Sometimes this meant criticizing adults. . . . So far as parents were put on the defensive in this way, the beginning of the Christian era marks a revolution in the child’s status.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)