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Skybird

12-31-10 08:00 AM

Are the days of English as world language counted?

http://www.economist.com/node/17730434

Quote:

English is expanding as a lingua-franca but not as a mother tongue. More than 1 billion people speak English worldwide but only about 330m of them as a first language, and this population is not spreading. The future of English is in the hands of countries outside the core Anglophone group. Will they always learn English?

Mr Ostler suggests that two new factors—modern nationalism and technology—will check the spread of English.
(...)
English will fade as a lingua-franca, Mr Ostler argues, but not because some other language will take its place. No pretender is pan-regional enough, and only Africa’s linguistic situation may be sufficiently fluid to have its future choices influenced by outsiders. Rather, English will have no successor because none will be needed. Technology, Mr Ostler believes, will fill the need.

DarkFish

12-31-10 10:51 AM

Our current technology is still a long, long way from this. Ever tried google translate? Computers still can not read and understand texts the way a human reader does. Not by miles.

STEED

12-31-10 12:25 PM

Yes..

I'm learning Klingon. :)

Qapla'

antikristuseke

12-31-10 12:29 PM

You mean welsh, STEED?

STEED

12-31-10 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by antikristuseke (Post 1564074)

You mean welsh, STEED?

:har: :har: :har::rotfl2::rotfl2::up:

Jimbuna

12-31-10 01:10 PM

I thought Spanish was more common in a worldwide context :hmmm:

Either that or Vendoran :DL

GoldenRivet

12-31-10 01:16 PM

The English language has been dead in the United States for decades.

TLAM Strike

12-31-10 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STEED (Post 1564072)

I'm learning Klingon. :)

You and half the Alpha Quadrant. :03:

Tribesman

01-01-11 05:47 AM

If they are counted what language are they counted in?

TarJak

01-01-11 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STEED (Post 1564072)

Yes..

I'm learning Klingon. :)

Qapla'

Quote:

Originally Posted by antikristuseke (Post 1564074)

You mean welsh, STEED?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna (Post 1564099)

Either that or Vendoran :DL

It's all greek to me.

Gibberish like these languages anyway.:O:

Schöneboom

01-01-11 12:57 PM

Ostler overestimates the power of technology when harnessed to the stupidity of average users. What happens in actual practice when a computer hears an odd dialect, barely understandable in the next county, or reads a poorly spelled text? Errr, does not compute! Buzz, pop! Fizzle...

As for English, it fits the profile of lingua franca and continues to have a certain cachet & practicality for conducting the world's business. Among languages in the Roman alphabet, it is relatively free of diacritical marks. However it suffers from a surfeit of homonyms that can confuse even native speakers. It seems to have been common practice to use the language of the hegemon in decline, not its successor.

Actually even native speakers may need to become fluent in the pidgin versions spoken by non-natives, i.e. Engrish!

Gerald

01-01-11 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbuna (Post 1564099)

I thought Spanish was more common in a worldwide context :hmmm:

Either that or Vendoran :DL

:hmmm:.....tricky.....:DL

Jimbuna

01-01-11 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vendor (Post 1564602)

:hmmm:.....tricky.....:DL

Meh? :hmmm:

papa_smurf

01-01-11 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet (Post 1564102)

The English language has been dead in the United States for decades.

I know, jelly is jam and jam is jelly:doh:

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