Linguistic diversity in the context of "Productivity (linguistics)"

The European Union (EU) has 24 official languages, of which the three most natively spoken ones are German, French and Italian. Previously, English, French and German were considered "procedural" languages, but this notion was abandoned by the European Commission, whereas the European Parliament accepts all official languages as working languages. Today, English and French are used in the day-to-day workings of the institutions of the EU. Institutions have the right to define the linguistic regime of their working, but the Commission and a number of other institutions have not done so, as indicated by several judicial rulings.

The EU asserts that it is in favour of linguistic diversity. This principle is enshrined in Article 22 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (art. 22) and in the Treaty on European Union (art. 3(3) TEU). In the EU, language policy is the responsibility of member states, and the EU does not have a common language policy; EU institutions play a supporting role in this field, based on the principle of "subsidiarity"; they promote a European dimension in the member states' language policies. The EU encourages all its citizens to be multilingual; specifically, it encourages them to be able to speak two languages in addition to their native language. Though the EU has very limited influence in this area, as the content of educational systems is the responsibility of individual member states, a number of EU funding programmes actively promote language learning and linguistic diversity.

The official languages of Singapore are English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil, with the lingua franca between Singaporeans being English, the de facto main language in daily, governmental, legal, trade and commercial affairs. Among themselves, Singaporeans often speak Singlish, an English creole arising from centuries of contact between Singapore's multi-ethnic and multilingual society and its legacy of being a British colony. Linguists formally define it as Singapore Colloquial English. A multitude of other languages are also used in Singapore. They consist of several varieties of languages under the families of the Austronesian, Dravidian, Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan languages. The Constitution of Singapore states that the national language of Singapore is Malay. This plays a symbolic role, as Malays are constitutionally recognised as the indigenous peoples of Singapore, and it is the government's duty to protect their language and heritage. This is also largely due to Singapore's geographical location in the Malay Archipelago.

The three languages other than English were chosen to correspond with the major ethnic groups present in Singapore at the time: Mandarin Chinese had gained pre-eminent status (over the Southern Chinese dialects of the overseas Chinese) since the introduction of Chinese-medium schools; Malay was deemed the "most obvious choice" for the Malay community; and Tamil for the largest Indian ethnic group in Singapore, in addition to being "the language with the longest history of education in Malaysia and Singapore". In 2009, more than 20 languages were identified as being spoken in Singapore, reflecting a rich linguistic diversity in the city. Singapore's historical roots as a trading settlement gave rise to an influx of foreign traders, and their languages were slowly embedded in Singapore's modern day linguistic repertoire.

Biocultural diversity is defined by Luisa Maffi, co-founder and director of Terralingua, as "the diversity of life in all its manifestations: biological, cultural, and linguistic — which are interrelated (and possibly coevolved) within a complex socio-ecological adaptive system." "The diversity of life is made up not only of the diversity of plants and animal species, habitats and ecosystems found on the planet, but also of the diversity of human cultures and languages." Research has linked biocultural diversity to the resilience of social-ecological systems. Certain geographic areas have been positively correlated with high levels of biocultural diversity, including those of low latitudes, higher rainfalls, higher temperatures, coastlines, and high altitudes. A negative correlation is found with areas of high latitudes, plains, and drier climates. Positive correlations can also be found between biological diversity and linguistic diversity, illustrated in the overlap between the distribution of plant diverse and language diverse zones. Social factors, such as modes of subsistence, have also been found to affect biocultural diversity.

Papua New Guinea, a sovereign state in Oceania, is the most linguistically diverse country in the world. Ethnologue, among other sources, state that there are 840 living languages spoken in the country, although estimates vary due to the distinction between a language and a dialect. In 2006, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare stated that "Papua New Guinea has 832 living languages (languages, not dialects)." 25 of those languages are officially recognized, with the country's lingua franca (and vernacular for some) being Tok Pisin, an English-based creole (although standard English is typically used in government, education, and formal writing).

Most of these are classified as indigenous Papuan languages, which form a diverse sprachbund across the island of New Guinea. There are also many Austronesian languages spoken in Papua New Guinea, most of which are classified as Western Oceanic languages, as well as some Admiralty Islands languages and Polynesian Ellicean–Outlier languages in a few outer islands. Since the late 19th century, West Germanic languages — namely English and German — have also been spoken and adapted into creoles such as Tok Pisin, Torres Strait Creole and Unserdeutsch.