laesperanzapaz
Member
Really the title says it all. Although English is not my first language, I have grown to admire its properties that can make it THE universal language of the world. This thread is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of that theory. Please discuss only practical linguistic points, not things like "the peoples around the world will always hold onto their native language so it's impractical" or "american imperialism lol." DIscuss only the linguistic pragmatism or lack thereof.
With that in mind, I think English is the best candidate for universal, global language that i so far know of. Yes i know it's already 'the language of business' and the 'language of internet,' but with the declining power of US, the rise of China, and the inevitable rise of Second World countries [ex: brazil, china, india, maybe russia] and considering the growing complaints by other countries on the fact that much of the Internet control lies within the US [california, i think?], English's popular status is in trouble.
so Here are the advantages of English being a universal, pan-global language:
1 - no accents, squiggly marks, weird punctuation, etc.
2 - no gender-related stuff
3 - no differentiation between 'formal, respectful' language and 'casual' language, such as in french or spanish
4 - it is a physicallly linear, purely left to right language. compare this with [all?] asian languages, for example, where the structure is more in 'blocks' of syllables. This is important in terms of space and legibility. This is highly important to Internet, for example, URLs.
5 - English is already truly widespread around the world. Yes, we have British and Americanophile domination to thank for that, but would that really have had happened if English was not a pretty simple and easy language to learn? As a side note regarding the widespread nature: tho Mandarin speakers far outnumber Enlgish speakers, the latter are far more spread apart - and all in the right places, ie. the travelers, politicians, businessmen already are versed into English, while the bulk of Mandarin speakers still live as rural people.
6 - this is a bit subjective, but i think Enlgish is very 'nice-sounding' and 'neutral.' Compare this with CHinese or SPanish, both of which are harsh and sharp. British and Japanese sound 'cultured'' and 'sophisticated,' german sounds 'guttural' while french sounds 'flowing' and 'smooth.' English, tho, is a languagae that few people use with much speed [in contrast, spanish or french], and again this is highly subjective point, but it sounds NEUTRAL.
7 - the english version of saying something seems to be shorter and more concise than, say, the french and spanish equivalents. Having lived in parts of Canada and Central America, i know that products with two latin-based languages on them [ex: cereal boxes with EVERYTHING on two languages in Canada] almost always have the English version be smaller, require less words, and be more to-the-point.
8 - grammar is a breeze. "I, you, we, them" verb forms share the exact same version of the verb, and the "he" form is usually only marginally different. And there isn't a "you all" form either. This is related to points 2 and 3. FOr example, articles are merely 'a' 'an' and 'the.'
9 - already, English has proven to be very flexible in both accepting foreign language words into ENglish vocabulary, and melding English vocabulary into foreign language. For all those whose first language isn't English, you know what i'm talking about.
10 - This one's a bit subjective too but: there is something called a Sapir-Whorf principle, which states that our language is the thing that defines our culture, and defines our perception of the world. As most of the world's culture has historically been family-centered, community-centered, anti-rational, anti-individualism, conservative societies, the Americans have been one of the principle leaders in emphasizing individuality, independence, and rationality [ex: see point 3]. According to the SW principle, you see this in the English language, however miniscule or imperceptible it may seem. And although I have huge problems with American nationalism and general fuckedupness of today's AMerica, it is still far more open-minded and individual-centric than most of teh rest of the world.
11 - only 26 letters, with 5 vowels and 14 consonents, period.
12 - the word FUCK. I don't know a powerful word more eloquent or beautiful than it. [ex: Shabbat Shalom, motherFUCKERS!!]
and so on. Maybe you can come up with more.
Now, I'm not supporting AMerican global domination/influence. [ex: i hate the American system of measurement: gallon, inch, mile, etc] We've already seen the championing of similar, idiotic ideas from many sectors of US, and we know some of the disastrous results of it. This thread is all about a universal language, one that is shared around the world. English is the closest example we have, but its historically unique, special status is not permanent nor stable. China will be the next America, India may be the next RUssia [?] and America's inevitable decline has been accelerated in part by other countries but for the most part by blind actions within. I'm just arguing that ENglish is the easiest, simplest, most adaptable language in the world. Plus, internet is like my eternally-curvacious daily fuckbuddy, and I don't want it to change ;p
oh, and esperanto is not as 'simple' as its proponents make out to be, so that's like a dead language. It's not even mccain vs. huckabbee, it's more like obama vs. clinton.
With that in mind, I think English is the best candidate for universal, global language that i so far know of. Yes i know it's already 'the language of business' and the 'language of internet,' but with the declining power of US, the rise of China, and the inevitable rise of Second World countries [ex: brazil, china, india, maybe russia] and considering the growing complaints by other countries on the fact that much of the Internet control lies within the US [california, i think?], English's popular status is in trouble.
so Here are the advantages of English being a universal, pan-global language:
1 - no accents, squiggly marks, weird punctuation, etc.
2 - no gender-related stuff
3 - no differentiation between 'formal, respectful' language and 'casual' language, such as in french or spanish
4 - it is a physicallly linear, purely left to right language. compare this with [all?] asian languages, for example, where the structure is more in 'blocks' of syllables. This is important in terms of space and legibility. This is highly important to Internet, for example, URLs.
5 - English is already truly widespread around the world. Yes, we have British and Americanophile domination to thank for that, but would that really have had happened if English was not a pretty simple and easy language to learn? As a side note regarding the widespread nature: tho Mandarin speakers far outnumber Enlgish speakers, the latter are far more spread apart - and all in the right places, ie. the travelers, politicians, businessmen already are versed into English, while the bulk of Mandarin speakers still live as rural people.
6 - this is a bit subjective, but i think Enlgish is very 'nice-sounding' and 'neutral.' Compare this with CHinese or SPanish, both of which are harsh and sharp. British and Japanese sound 'cultured'' and 'sophisticated,' german sounds 'guttural' while french sounds 'flowing' and 'smooth.' English, tho, is a languagae that few people use with much speed [in contrast, spanish or french], and again this is highly subjective point, but it sounds NEUTRAL.
7 - the english version of saying something seems to be shorter and more concise than, say, the french and spanish equivalents. Having lived in parts of Canada and Central America, i know that products with two latin-based languages on them [ex: cereal boxes with EVERYTHING on two languages in Canada] almost always have the English version be smaller, require less words, and be more to-the-point.
8 - grammar is a breeze. "I, you, we, them" verb forms share the exact same version of the verb, and the "he" form is usually only marginally different. And there isn't a "you all" form either. This is related to points 2 and 3. FOr example, articles are merely 'a' 'an' and 'the.'
9 - already, English has proven to be very flexible in both accepting foreign language words into ENglish vocabulary, and melding English vocabulary into foreign language. For all those whose first language isn't English, you know what i'm talking about.
10 - This one's a bit subjective too but: there is something called a Sapir-Whorf principle, which states that our language is the thing that defines our culture, and defines our perception of the world. As most of the world's culture has historically been family-centered, community-centered, anti-rational, anti-individualism, conservative societies, the Americans have been one of the principle leaders in emphasizing individuality, independence, and rationality [ex: see point 3]. According to the SW principle, you see this in the English language, however miniscule or imperceptible it may seem. And although I have huge problems with American nationalism and general fuckedupness of today's AMerica, it is still far more open-minded and individual-centric than most of teh rest of the world.
11 - only 26 letters, with 5 vowels and 14 consonents, period.
12 - the word FUCK. I don't know a powerful word more eloquent or beautiful than it. [ex: Shabbat Shalom, motherFUCKERS!!]
and so on. Maybe you can come up with more.
Now, I'm not supporting AMerican global domination/influence. [ex: i hate the American system of measurement: gallon, inch, mile, etc] We've already seen the championing of similar, idiotic ideas from many sectors of US, and we know some of the disastrous results of it. This thread is all about a universal language, one that is shared around the world. English is the closest example we have, but its historically unique, special status is not permanent nor stable. China will be the next America, India may be the next RUssia [?] and America's inevitable decline has been accelerated in part by other countries but for the most part by blind actions within. I'm just arguing that ENglish is the easiest, simplest, most adaptable language in the world. Plus, internet is like my eternally-curvacious daily fuckbuddy, and I don't want it to change ;p
oh, and esperanto is not as 'simple' as its proponents make out to be, so that's like a dead language. It's not even mccain vs. huckabbee, it's more like obama vs. clinton.
