1 Introduction

Luxembourg is a multilingual and multicultural country, with Luxembourgish, German, and French as the national administrative languages, while English and immigrant languages are frequently used. Before the 20th century, Luxembourgish was considered a dialect of German and later elevated to a national language. This article explores the development of Luxembourgish in multilingual countries from the perspective of language planning theory, including status planning, ontology planning, acquisition planning, and reputation planning. The research helps to understand the language planning and language life situation in Luxembourg, providing reference for in-depth research on related issues and non universal language education planning.

2 Language Planning

Haugen proposed the concept of "language planning" and the "four grid model", Klose proposed the "binary model", Cooper defined language planning and introduced "acquisition planning", and Halman proposed "reputation planning". The connotation of language planning has expanded and become an important discipline in sociolinguistics. International research has gone through stages such as standardization, multilingual issues, language rights, and management protection. The research on Chinese language planning has diversified in the past two decades, focusing on areas such as harmonious language life, national language proficiency, language resource protection and development, language poverty alleviation, foreign language education policies, and emergency language services.

Overview of the Language Situation in Luxembourg Society

Luxembourg is located at the intersection of the Germanic and Romance language families, and has had multiple language uses throughout history. Luxembourgish is a native language and was once considered a dialect of German. It gradually became an independent language in the 20th century and was designated as the national language in 1984. Luxembourg is a trilingual country, with French, German, and Luxembourgish as official languages, but their usage shows a functional distribution: French is the language of government work and social communication, German is the language of education and media, and Luxembourgish is mainly spoken. In recent years, with globalization and the influx of immigrants, the use of English and other immigrant languages has increased, the status of French has become prominent, the use of German has decreased, and the written use of Luxembourgish has strengthened. In 2009, a survey showed that 59% of the population spoke Luxembourgish as their mother tongue, while French, Portuguese, and German were 17%, 16%, and 9%, respectively. French is the most widely used language in social life, followed by Luxembourgish and German, and English is also more common. In terms of writing, French and German are the main writing languages, while Luxembourgish has lower writing ability.

Language Planning and Management of Luxembourgish

Luxembourgish was not mentioned in the 1848 Constitution until the language law was promulgated in 1984, when Luxembourgish was officially designated as the national language and established Luxembourg's status as a trilingual country. Although Luxembourgish is legally recognized as the "national language", its specific meaning and usage context are not clear, leading to controversy. With the development of social economy and the increase of immigration, Luxembourgish has been put forward as a language requirement in the nationality law, becoming a mandatory condition for obtaining nationality.

5 Discussion and Conclusion: Luxembourgish from the Perspective of Language Planning

Starting from language planning theory, this paper comprehensively analyzes the development of Luxembourgish in the multilingual environment of Luxembourg. The government has established the national language status of Luxembourgish through legislation and added language testing requirements to the nationality law. The ontology planning started relatively late, and currently the orthography has matured, but the standardization of phonetics, morphology, and grammar still needs to be strengthened. The government has taken multiple measures to accelerate the process of language standardization. The acquisition plan is mainly implemented through educational policies, and although Luxembourgish is on the periphery of school education, it is the main communication language. The reputation plan transforms the image of Luxembourgish from a dialect to a national language and mother tongue. The planning activities mainly focus on enhancing the status and reputation of the Luxembourgish language in the country. With the advancement of ontology planning, Luxembourgish will gradually transition to a standardized language, and its social status and usage scope are expected to be further enhanced.