ABSTRACT
To determine the position of German in the world or in a specific region with any precision requires careful definition of the term German language. In fact, there is no consensus about the scope and content of the term, either in general or among experts. Mindful of the complexity of this topic, I shall defer it until the next chapter. Firstly, I consider disputed varieties and their association with German, thereby introducing criteria which, in my opinion, justify or preclude allocating them to the German language. For this purpose, I use short text samples, followed, at the end of the chapter, by somewhat longer samples. In the second chapter. I explain the relevant terms in detail and justify the criteria for applying them to other languages.
