Will English lose its power?

[Grtxkkyz 388]

Do you think english will lose its power as a lingua franca? You see,Latin was a widely used language many years ago,but ultimately fell down and was replaced.Many years later,english replaced french as a lingua franca,and to this day it still sits on the "throne" .Sure,english is widely used,but there's people who don't speak it,either because of cultural reasons or because how hard it is.So,do you think like Latin and French,English will get ultimately substituted by other tongue in the future?You see,if it happens,i'm a bit worried,cause i can speak english finely,yet i'm terrible at french,german and even portuguese (the closest language to spanish).So,what do ya think will happen with english?

[Untitled Goose Q 5,137]

I suspect that the English language will stay, but it will evolve. I doubt it will  be replaced, because of how globalized it is- the internet for one thing will keep it going. Latin and French didn't have the internet.

[Fridge 382]

The thing is the English language is not only pervasive but more adaptive than most others. We constantly steal words from other languages... Latin fell as a language because the whole Roman Empire fell, without an economy to need the use of this language it fell into disuse. English is far more widespread than either French or Latin ever were, especially as the Americans, Australians, Canadians and Brits speak it as the primary language. That's a sizeable chunk of the worlds population.

Of course Chinese is quickly becoming a popular language as they are becoming a dominant economic power.

I haven't even touched on how the Internet has affected it.

 

In short, I doubt the English language will lose its power for a while simply because of how widespread it is even without a empire and due to its adaptability.

Edited September 21, 2013 by Fridge

[Scootalove 10,689]

The English language will continue to be around, after a few more years. If a language spreads very quickly without being in just one area, it will start to adapt more. Anyway, the English language will not lose it's power.

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

English is a very...scattered language. There is quite a bit that makes no sense at all. Because English speaking nations generally are large influences on the economy and the internet, it still has a few years left in its reign. Because of the many problems of the language, it will likely split into more distinct regional dialects down the road.

[The Prime Reaper 180]

English will never lose its power, the fact why Latin language has influenced the world today and been living even after the fall of Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. English might be altered by the different people in the world but English  still be in power for more than thousands years.\

About the Chinese , you think everyone will speak Chinese in the future ?

Apparently, they will become a major world power in the future but please their language won't be everywhere. Just thinking about Jewish immigration to Europe since the crusades to modern time, The Jews speak Hebrew and the Europe at that time was overcrowded by them. Jews nearly in everywhere in Europe, they are successful but Hebrew didn't speak everywhere at that time and no one knows much about Hebrew. Did you you see the contrast between Jews and Chinese?

They both immigrated around the world (The Chinese is much more crowded) and they have similar history of immigration but yet their languages don't appear to be common in everywhere.

[caramba2654 602]

I hope not, because English is the only international language I can speak. And I'd hate to learn Chinese, although Japanese might be an option.

 

Also, I think we should stick with Portuguese. It's as versatile as English, very easy to understand, no hard-to-say phonemes, and there are some beautiful books written in Portuguese that lose their touch of magic when they're translated.

[Kulstor 254]

I do agree with it's globalization and the internet having so many pages and videos in English that it'll likely remain one of the main international languages.  Though as a living language it'll change over time, as it has in the past.

[CornBreadGang 514]

I'm really on the fence about this. I've heard that the English-speaking population in America is becoming a minority, and Spanish is beginning to rise in America. On the contrary, almost every country at least knows English, and it hasn't shown signs of weakening. So I really don't know.

[Silver Letter 1,832]

I don’t really care if English declines as it's not really my business if it does. Will it? Most likely. In our lifetimes? Probably not. What will replace it? Likely a language that both spreads and evolves over time. Chinese doesn't meet those qualifications.

[NightOwl 912]

I highly doubt the English language will disappear any time soon. As others mentioned it is a very global language I reckon it will stay for many years to come.  

[Le Kvlt Dawn 2,364]

English isn't going to go on a downfall anytime soon, nor probably ever. While Spanish may be on the rise in the US it's hardly a bad thing, it just means there's a rise in bilingual people who can speak both English and Spanish. Chinese isn't going to dominate either, while China has roughly 4.5x the population of the US I doubt Chinese will rapidly spread. Spanish and French are spoken more than Chinese.

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

I doubt it considering three major countries(The US, Canada, and the UK) have it as a primary language and it's so capable of evolving over time in both usage and vocabulary. It also seems to be the internet's first language and many major websites have it as the default and preferred.   

[OkBuddy 586]

English is still kind of a new language. Much more new words are being added than the ones going away. I seriously doubt that English will leave by 200 years or so. English is also being spread with the Internet, so there's something else that will cause the language to gain ground.

[Shanks 10,816]

It is possible that English may eventually stop being a widely used language if that does happen I don't believe it will in any of our lifetimes. English is a very diverse and adaptable language perhaps the most of any language in the history of mankind, so although it has changed a great deal it still lives on and is still adding new words and phrases.

[~Rule 63~ Lyeco 527]

English is a very easy to learn language and it's the best way if you want to become multilingual.

Another thing is most things invented and improved are by Americans and British, like computers and internet.

If you check the most popular inventions used today, majority of them are the people who like speaking English the most.

So will it? No, unless someone is going to control our brain power

Edited September 22, 2013 by Lyeco

[Zygen 6,066]

Hopefully not, because I am pretty crap at learning languages and i am already kinda blah at English despite it being my native and only fluent language.

 

I'm taking Spanish in school, but I'm pretty bad at it, I'm just not good at learning languages.

 

I think due to just how many people speak it, and how long it's been used, it'll certainly be a bit before it loses it power, if it ever truly does.

 

I imagine it'll evolve some as it has over the years.

 

I don't know if it'll lose it's power though.

[GhostPony750 959]

It will eventually change, but it won't be replaced. English is quite around the world now, and it became even more popular because of the internet.

 

The english language is already changing, we got some new expressions and words we created, I wouldn't be surprised if "lol" finds his place in the dictionary, everyone uses it, even in real life.

 

Edit: French is a simplified version of Latin actually.

Edited September 22, 2013 by GhostPony750

[Fridge 382]

Oh, I didn't touch on something else in my last post. Latin in its hayday only had one medium, other than the spoken word, to be spread, and that medium was written text, which as I said once the empire fell came into disuse. Like Latin the French language also only had written text to spread itself limiting it greatly.

But English... Well after it had become the dominant language of the world, through mass settlement and the British empire. Things like radio, film and TV popped up, and since English speakers invented them of course they were the first to use them on a global scale. This helped spread the language further, then comes the Internet... Well as everyone else has pointed out its pretty clear that most of it is written in the English language.

 

Anyway, yes it will one day no longer be the dominant language, but I doubt we'll be around to see that. In fact it's more likely it will evolve beyond our recognition and become another language all together (just like how English in the 1700's is almost a totally different language).

 

It will eventually change, but it won't be replaced. English is quite around the world now, and it became even more popular because of the internet.The english language is already changing, we got some new expressions and words we created, I wouldn't be surprised if "lol" finds his place in the dictionary, everyone uses it, even in real life.Edit: French is a simplified version of Latin actually.

lol was offically added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011 and meh was officially added to the Collins English dictionary in 2008. Edited September 22, 2013 by Fridge

[Hawk Moth 390]

Just as long as English doesn't turn into internet speak, text speak, ebonics, or any of the other ridiculous dialects corrupting the language. This pony will never stop speaking proper English.

[GhostPony750 959]

lol was offically added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011 and meh was officially added to the Collins English dictionary in 2008.

Wow, that is totally epic! xD

I'll be waiting for other words to get in the dictionary. xD

 

So we have a proof, here that the language is constantly evolving.

[Fridge 382]

Wow, that is totally epic! xDI'll be waiting for other words to get in the dictionary. xDSo we have a proof, here that the language is constantly evolving.

Yeah, they add loads of new words every year and cut out older ones that are less used. There's even a radio show on the bbc that discusses the different new words once a year, it's usually worth a listen to because not only do they get experts but comedians too.

There have also been shows that discuss the origin of certain words... It's weirdly fascinating to listen to.

 

Just as long as English doesn't turn into internet speak, text speak, ebonics, or any of the other ridiculous dialects corrupting the language. This pony will never stop speaking proper English.

The last change to the English language that annoyed me was they added a meaning to the word 'literally' to mean 'figuratively' because so many people keep getting it wrong. That's like changing 1+1 to also add up to 9 because people get it wrong. Edited September 22, 2013 by Fridge