language area
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language area
A geographical area in which a particular language or a group of related languages is spoken by the majority of the population.
Österreich, Deutschland und die Schweiz gehören zum deutschsprachigen Raum.
Austria, Germany, and Switzerland belong to the German-speaking area.
The word is made up of 'Sprache' (language), or the plural stem 'Sprachen' (languages), and 'Raum' (space/area). So it literally describes a 'space' or area defined by a common 'language'.
Der englische Sprachraum ist geografisch sehr weit verteilt.
The English-speaking language area is geographically very widely distributed.
'Sprachraum' (language area) is very often combined with an adjective that names the language. This adjective often ends in '-sprachig' (-speaking).
Der französischsprachige Sprachraum umfasst mehr als nur Frankreich.
The French-speaking language area includes more than just France.
Common phrases are 'zum Sprachraum gehören' (to belong to the language area) or 'im Sprachraum verbreitet sein' (to be widespread in the language area). The preposition 'in' with the dative ('im Sprachraum') describes location within the area.
Dieses Phänomen ist im gesamten slawischen Sprachraum bekannt.
This phenomenon is known throughout the entire Slavic language area.
