Abstract
South Tyrol is a country, were interesting facets of multilingualism can be exemplified: In a traditionally mostly German speaking country an invasive linguistic policy in the period before and after Word War II was imposed over a territory with a long tradition in handling with a language contact situation. Alongside with interventions form the official authorities, a ‘natural growth’ was also acting, e.g. when everyday practices were grounded in ongoing social behavior and transmitted from generation to generation. Today German, Italian and Ladin are the main three language groups officially recognized in South Tyrol, and immigrant languages begin to be part of the landscape.
In the contribution four theoretically possible scenarios for a multilingual country in general are discussed by taking into account – for the special case of South Tyrol – data from oral conversations alongside with statistical data. A possible development for the future is also drafted, based on changes in the language attitudes of the whole population.