  The time variation of the rank $k$ of words for six Indo-European languages
is obtained using data from Google Books. For low ranks the distinct languages
behave differently, maybe due to syntaxis rules, whereas for $k>50$ the law of
large numbers predominates. The dynamics of $k$ is described stochastically
through a master equation governing the time evolution of its probability
density, which is approximated by a Fokker-Planck equation that is solved
analytically. The difference between the data and the asymptotic solution is
identified with the transient solution, and good agreement is obtained.
