The Language Of Empire

[sirineou]

There was a time when the then world spoke Greek, later Latin was the language of choice, after that French, Now English. learning English does not reflect Anglophilia, it reflects necessity, when and if it becomes necessary for people to learn a different language in order to accomplish what they want to accomplice, an other language will become Prominent, for now lets enjoy the privilege of having every one in the world learning our language , but let not get so cocky as to think it is because it is superior, to other languages or cultures, ant that it will last for ever, not even the mighty Roman empire did. So enjoy!

[Plus]

I think what Englishmen will have to get used to is not being the authority on the language anymore - no one would accept their "standards", either in grammar or pronunciation, or spelling. Americans are less fussy about it already, so it won't affect them as much.

And both Americans and English will have to get used to the idea that their existence is not the reason others learn English. Some just can't stop sharing their cultural experiences thinking they are educating people. That's just unbearable. Many learn English so that they can screw Americans out of their money, not to learn anything from them.

[bravingbangkok]

"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:"Britons never will be slaves."

[bonobo]

I think what Englishmen will have to get used to is not being the authority on the language anymore - no one would accept their "standards", either in grammar or pronunciation, or spelling. Americans are less fussy about it already, so it won't affect them as much.

And both Americans and English will have to get used to the idea that their existence is not the reason others learn English. Some just can't stop sharing their cultural experiences thinking they are educating people. That's just unbearable. Many learn English so that they can screw Americans out of their money, not to learn anything from them.

Pretty simplistic view of things.

I doubt that many people learn English because of a love for the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.  Most people learn it because it is either required in school or it gives them a leg up in competition. A French scietnist might learn it because the big journals are in English.  A Dutch businessman leanrs English becuase he knows he can speak English to his Indonesian customers--who have in turn learned English because they need it to speak to their Korean and Chinese customers. A literary person in Egypt might learn it because of the vast number of books worldwide published in English. And  Russian tennis player might learn it because of the marketing opportunities she might have.

This does nto have anything to do with love for any specific English-speaking nation.  A person learning English may even despise English-speaking nations, but still choose to learn English.

I do think you have a good point, though, on the UK/USA/Can/Aust/NZ losing their "authority" on the English language.  As the language becomes more and more universal, it will begin to be shaped from many different directions.  I read that English already has more adpoted words from other languages than any other language, so as a universal language, I can only see this trend as continuing.

[bonobo]

There was a time when the then world spoke Greek, later Latin was the language of choice, after that French, Now English. learning English does not reflect Anglophilia, it reflects necessity, when and if it becomes necessary for people to learn a different language in order to accomplish what they want to accomplice, an other language will become Prominent, for now lets enjoy the privilege of having every one in the world learning our language , but let not get so cocky as to think it is because it is superior, to other languages or cultures, ant that it will last for ever, not even the mighty Roman empire did. So enjoy!

 Thre is a big difference, though.  When Greek was the "world language," it was only the language for a small portion of the world.  Thousands of otehr languages were spoken, and much of the world never heard a word of Greek uttered. Youc an say the same for Roman. French was more universal due to the possibility of world travel and better communciations, but still, it was only the language of diplomacy, and only a few other nations, such as Russian, actively seemed to embrace it.

English, has become very widely spread throughout the world. When you bring together ease of world travel and technological advances, well, English si spreading like a virus.  When you consider the advantags English has in covneying exacting concepts, it is doubtful that any other language can overtake it.  Chinese and Russian could be candidates to do this before English becomes so embedded that it is essentially permanent, but Chinese is saddled with an unwieldy written form, and Russian is so grammatically difficult that it makes English look like child's play. A language such as Spanish would be easier to learn by most of the world, but there isn't the impetus for Spanish to be used as a universal language.

The world is losing languages.  The US still has the highest number of native languages, but that number has already dropped over the last couple centuries from approximately 4,000 to about 1,000.  Of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken on the planet, about half are in danger of becoming extinct.  As the number of languages of the world contract, core languages will become more widely spoken, and as it stands, nothing looks to overtake English as the universal language.

[bravingbangkok]

That is exactly what makes the language so amazing, no other language has evolved like English has. English has the biggest vocab of any language and there are new words being created constantly.

I saw a brilliant episode of Johnny Ross and Stephen Fry in relation to the English language, well it is not all about it but there is a part where he puts things into perspective, here is the link.

I think this is the one, my net is working slower than it should, thanks true, but I am sure it is.

PS.most of it is on part 2 of this interview.

Edited June 10, 2009 by bravingbangkok

[Heng]

Yeah, and how about them Arabs... I suppose they rule the world of numerals? Oh, but wait, there are probably a bunch of Indians on some Indian web forum who say that they came up with that concept.

[garyh]

The Indians invented the number zero which allowed mathematics to develop. The Arabs have the lions share of the oil, but the people who control the money are not friends with the Arabs.

[tw25rw]

English is also the language for I.T.

American English...

[bonobo]

English gets its millionth word:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/06/10/mil...ords/index.html

This is not really an accurate count, but the concept is appropriate to this thread.

[Plus]

Most English speakers get by no more that five thousand words, I guess. What's the point of having a million? As useful as some world's biggest frying pan on display.

And yes, Bonobo, people learn English for all kinds of reason, being able to extract money from loud mouthed proponents of Brit/American culture is just one of them.

When England couldn't qualify for Euro 2008, someone said on this board - all the participants must be really disappointed of not having us, the inventors of the game.

Huh? Who gives a...?