H.L. Mencken (1880–1956). The American Language. 1921.
| French | ………………… | 51,200,000 |
| Spanish | ………………… | 42,800,000 |
| Italian | ………………… | 33,400,000 |
| Portuguese | ………………… | 13,000,000 4 |
| |
The next estimates, for the year 1900, I take from Jespersen. The statisticians responsible for them I do not know: | English | ………………… | from 116,000,000 to 123,000,000 | | German | ………………… | from 75,000,000 to 80,000,000 | | Russian | ………………… | from 70,000,000 to 85,000,000 | | French | ………………… | from 45,000,000 to 52,000,000 | | Spanish | ………………… | from 44,000,000 to 58,000,000 | | Italian | ………………… | from 34,000,000 to 54,000,000 | |
Now comes an estimate as of 1911: 5 | English | ………………… | 160,000,000 | | German | ………………… | 130,000,000 | | Russian | ………………… | 100,000,000 | | French | ………………… | 70,000,000 | | Spanish | ………………… | 50,000,000 | | Italian | ………………… | 50,000,000 | | Portuguese | ………………… | 25,000,000 | |
And now one, somewhat more moderate, as of 1912: | English | ………………… | 150,000,000 | | German | ………………… | 90,000,000 | | Russian | ………………… | 106,000,000 | | French | ………………… | 47,000,000 | | Spanish | ………………… | 52,000,000 | | Italian | ………………… | 37,000,000 6 | | | |
| If we accept the 1911 estimate, we find English spoken by two and a half times as many persons as spoke it at the close of the Civil War, and by nearly eight times as many as spoke it at the beginning of the nineteenth century. No other language spread to any such extent during the century. German made a fourfold gain, but that was just half the gain made by English. Russian, despite the vast extension of the Russian Empire during the century, barely |
