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If we add to this, economic power and the number of universities and research
centers in Brazil, as well as the impact of areas in which Brazil is currently
a leading producer of science and technology (note for example the case of
biofuels), it is easily understood that the Brazilian scientific production in the
Portuguese language is truly thriving.
All these data have a direct impact on the amount of scientific texts (theses,
reports, scientific articles) available on the Internet in Portuguese, and it is
mostly ensured by Brazil – and in some subjects almost exclusively.
Added to this framework, policies such as the universal availability of
master’s dissertations and doctoral theses of all Brazilian universities on the
Internet, existing since 2000, which enhance the circulation of knowledge in
Portuguese. Furthermore, we call attention to the SciELO Network, which
indexes the scientific literature in Portuguese and Spanish, creating a broad
scientific area in two very close languages, and which together are spoken by
580 million people in 30 countries.
This last argument shows the opportunity for Portuguese-Spanish
bilingualism, already adopted as communication policy of the MERCOSUR
(Southern Common Market) in South America, and is seen increasingly as a
strategy to promote the use of these two major languages as an alternative to
the exclusive use of English.
The Other Languages of the CPLP
Within CPLP there are between 300 and 340 spoken languages, according
to the way of counting, 215 languages being spoken in Brazil, including
indigenous languages, languages of immigration, sign languages, Creole and
Afro-Brazilian languages.
The twenty-first century presents a more purposeful framework for the presence
and promotion of minority languages in public compared with previous centuries,
when this set of languages was ignored by the public power, or at various times,
was largely suppressed by the colonial Portuguese or Brazilian power .
The process of affirmation of linguistic diversity is very recent throughout the
Portuguese speaking states, but practically all are moving to create new laws
and practices in this field. Thus, we find cases of:
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• Officialization of minority languages in Timor, Portugal and Brazil;
• Actions of heritage language valorization in Angola, Brazil, Cape
Verde, Portugal, Timor and Sao Tome and Principe;