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Global language system
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<p>The global language system is the "ingenious pattern of connections between language groups". Dutch <a href="/facts/Sociologist/d2Fd0N87">sociologist</a> <a href="/facts/Abram_de_Swaan/yJeny3GB">Abram de Swaan</a> developed this theory in 2001 in his book <i>Words of the World: The Global Language System</i> and according to him, "the multilingual connections between language groups do not occur haphazardly, but, on the contrary, they constitute a surprisingly strong and efficient network that ties together – directly or indirectly – the six billion inhabitants of the earth." The global language system draws upon the <a href="/facts/World-systems_theory/b0BKN2E9">world system theory</a> to account for the relationships between the world's languages and divides them into a hierarchy consisting of four levels, namely the peripheral, central, supercentral and hypercentral languages. </p>