Modeling language competition

We consider a model introduced recently [Nature 424(2003)900], for describing competition between two languages, which in typical situations predicts the extinction of one of them. We generalize it by introducing a spatial dependence in terms of a reaction-diffusion equation. We show that in this generalized model both languages can survive, each mostly concentrated in a different geographical area. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.