Mehrsprachiger

Mehrsprachiger is the attributive form of the German adjective mehrsprachig, meaning multilingual. It describes people, texts, or environments that use or involve several languages. The related noun Mehrsprachigkeit denotes the phenomenon of multilingualism, whether at the level of an individual or a community.

The term is a compound of mehr ("more" or "several") and sprachig (related to Sprache, language). It is widely used in education, business, media, and public discourse to indicate language diversity or competence. Common expressions include ein mehrsprachiger Mensch, eine mehrsprachige Schule, or eine mehrsprachige Belegschaft.

Grammatically, mehrsprachig is an ordinary attributive adjective and declines like other adjectives in German. For example: ein mehrsprachiger Mensch (nominative masculine singular), mehrere mehrsprachige Menschen (nominative plural). The predicative use is possible but less common: Die Belegschaft ist mehrsprachig.

In sociolinguistics and language policy, Mehrsprachigkeit is studied as a resource and social reality, shaping identity, education, and communication. The term is widely understood in German-speaking contexts and is frequently used in EU policy, school curricula, and corporate communication.