A Few Remarks on Austrian Languages for Special Purposes

Starting with questions about the definition of the language spoken in Austria, the author arrives at the anthropocentric theory of human languages with the basic concept of idiolect and polylect. From this point of view the differences in language use between Austria and Germany can not only be described, but also interpreted as differences between certain groups of idiolects. The fact that terms that are typical for Austria are used in the translation offices in the European Union should already have led to a larger German-Austrian word list which could be used by translators and interpreters. The latter already work with the help of certain Austrian dictionaries within the field of languages for special purposes, e.g. of law and administration. Furthermore, such dictionaries ought to be used more frequently by language teachers, especially in the translation departments, where the students already could become aware of the fact that German belongs to the group of pluricentric languages.