On the Latinian-Germanic Frontier: the Evolution and the Actual Condition of the French Language in Luxembourg

The article is dedicated to the linguistic situation in Luxembourg, a European country that has strong connections with France. The interest in this problem is based on the impact of the globalization process on the linguistic situation in a country with a small population. The article touches upon two different tendencies in the linguistic range of Luxembourg: the stable support of the local language as a means of social identification on one hand, and on the other - the understanding of the possible negative effects of the transformation of common language into a standard one. The situation is aggravated by social-economic and demographic consequences resulting in the narrowing of local language use and the overrepresentation of the French language as an instrument of verbal communication in the country. The study of the methods and forms of a civilized solution to this kind of contradiction is very real today in the face of the discussions of the role and perspectives of the Russian language in the former Soviet republics.

linguistic competence, bilingualism, communication, functional status, interference