B11

It is difficult to tell exactly how many languages there are in the world today.  Scientists say there are about 2,700 languages, but no one has ever made a more definite count.

 SCIENCE

B12

In most countries there are at least two native languages, and in some cases — as in Cameroon — there are hundreds. The number of languages naturally changes as tribes die out or linguistic groups are absorbed.

 NATURAL

B13

Nowadays, globalization influences the development of languages. New words appear, existing words acquire new meanings, native words give way to international terms.

 DEVELOP

B14

Almost all languages change. A rare exception is written Icelandic, which has changed so little that speakers of modern Icelandic can read sagas written a thousand years ago.

 SPEAK

B15

If you drew a map of Europe based on languages, it would be different from a conventional map. For example, Switzerland would practically disappear, becoming part of the surrounding areas of French, Italian, and German.

 APPEAR

B16

Italy, too, would appear on the map not as one language, but as a whole variety of broadly related but often mutually incomprehensible dialects.

 VARY