Introduction: The Non-Linguistic Environment

Abstract

Language repertoires develop in various human habitats, a fact that makes geography, demography, birth order and population density relevant to the creation and expansion of individual and community linguistic repertoires. In the modern world, technological developments (such as television and the computer) have provided a wider environment for communication. At the same time, non-linguistic forces (war, civil unrest, climate change induced floods and droughts, poverty and corruption) interfere even with wise language policies.