When you must select among versions of the same language

Dutch (English Dutch, or Flemish, Netherlandic Nederlands, Flemish Vlaams)

In its standard and dialectal forms, Netherlandic is the language of most of The Netherlands, Northern Belgium and a small part of France located to the West of Belgium, along the North Sea. In addition, it is one of the official languages of Suriname, formerly Dutch Guiana (although Surinamese - Sranang Tongo is the lingua franca), and the Netherlands Antilles.

If you must select one form of Netherlandic that meets the linguistic requirements of two or more regions, either Dutch or Flemish will be understood by most educated readers in The Netherlands and the North of Belgium.

Afrikaans, a seventeenth-century African variant of Netherlandic, on the other hand is a different language and has been recognized as such since the 19th century. It differs from its parent language in that it has eliminated grammatical gender and many inflected verbs.

French (Français)

French is principally spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Canada, and parts of Africa (Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, Seychelles). It is also the official language of French Polynesia (although Tahitian may perhaps be the local language); the South American French Antilles; and one of the languages of Caribbean islands of Guadaloupe, Martinique and Haiti (Creole Patois languages are also spoken in these islands).

The Académie française (French academy), established by Cardinal de Richelieu in 1634, has successfully maintained uniformity of grammar and spelling in all regions where French is spoken. Therefore, product instructions translated into Parisian French, for example, will be understood by most educated readers in the European regions where the language is spoken.  They also will be understood by readers among the Francophone population of Canada, even though dialectal differences are more pronounced in Quebec.

German is the official language of Germany and Austria. It is also one of the four official languages of Switzerland (French, Italian and Romansh are the others) and one of the three official languages of Belgium. It is also the language of the tiny Principality of Liechtenstein (Fürstentum Liechtenstein, in German), located between Switzerland and Austria. There are a number of variations or dialects of the German language, among them are Austro-Bavarian, Hochdeutsch, Schwäbisch, Plattdeutsch, Swiss. Differences in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary among language variants can make communication difficult. Dialectal variances increase with distance.

Fortunately, there is one version of the language that all German speakers can understand: Modern High German (Hochdeutsch), the standardized version of the language. Historically, Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible into an East Middle German (Mitteldeutsch) style may have been one of the most influential forces leading to the standardization of the written German language. Luther’s version of the Bible was widely distributed, and the East Middle German dialect became the basis of modern High German. Thus, by the 18th century there was a common written German language, even though the spoken language continued to be strongly influenced by local and regional variations.

Therefore, if you must select one German to satisfy the requirements of readers in two or more German speaking regions, consider translating your product documentation into the modern High German version of the language, such as the German spoken in Berlin.

Portuguese is the official language of Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and the São Tomé and Príncipe islands. In addition, about two percent of the population of Macau, China, speaks Portuguese.

Compared to French, and as we will see, to Spanish, there are more regional differences in pronunciation, grammar and spelling in Portuguese. Some have attributed these differences to the lack of a standardizing influence, such as the Académie française has been for French and the Real Academia Española (Royal Academy of the Spanish Language) for Spanish. Thus, in 1996, the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, (CPLP) - Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries was established.  One of the goals of the CPLP is to create uniform Portuguese standard.

Still, the language follows national rules for vocabulary, grammar and spelling.  Thus there are marked differences between Brazilian and Continental Portuguese. However, the language has managed to maintain considerable cohesion among its many variations, such that most educated readers of Brazilian Portuguese are able to understand text written in Continental Portuguese and, conversely, most Continental Portuguese readers can understand text written in Brazilian Portuguese.

Therefore, if you can provide Portuguese readers with only one version of the language, you may select either Brazilian Portuguese or Continental Portuguese.

If your decision is based on the number of speakers of each language version, consider the following: Brazil has a population of approximately 151 million, while the population of Portugal is approximately 9.9 million. On the other hand, your decision may have to be based on meeting the language requirements established by Member countries of the European economic area, in which case the Continental version may be more appropriate.

Regarding the Portuguese speaking population of the African nations of Angola and Mozambique: In spite of the influence of aboriginal languages (languages of the Bantu family are spoken by the majority of the population), Portuguese speakers in the Angola and Mozambique speak a fairly pure version of the language. The language variants spoken in these regions incorporate some archaisms and Lusitanian (pertaining to Portugal) dialectical influences, similar to those found in Brazilian Portuguese.

Spanish (Español, Castellano)
 

Spanish (Castilian, Español, Castellano) is the official language or an official language of nineteen American countries, as well as Spain. Despite vast differences in the colloquial form of the language among regions, the written form has maintained uniformity of grammar and spelling. Much of this uniformity is attributed to the standardizing influence of the Real Academia de la Lengua Española (now the Real Academia Española), founded in 1713 for the purpose of maintaining the purity of the Spanish language.

The dialect understood by most Spanish readers is Castilian. In fact, Castellano (Castilian in Spanish) is the name used for Spanish in the American countries. The Castilian dialect spread to the South of Spain as a result of the Reconquista (the conquest of Moorish Spain by the Christian states of Spain in 1492). After establishing itself in Spain, it was exported to the New Word in the 16th Century, possibly in its Southern or Andalusian form.

Therefore, if you can provide your Spanish readers with only one version of the language, request Castilian Spanish. Notwithstanding the vast differences that exist in the spoken form of the language among the different regions where the language is spoken, Castilian Spanish will be understood by most educated readers of the language.