By Eva Kokolaki,
Today, it is widely known that English is the most spoken language in the world. However, most English speakers are not “native”. Out of 1.5 billion people who speak English, less than 400 million people use it as their first language. The fact that more people use it as their second language shows that English could be labelled as a “lingua franca”, which means that English is a language often used all over the world for some populations to be able to communicate. English can also be referred to as a “global language” since it is spoken, either as a first or a second language, in most countries of the world. According to David Crystal, a famous British linguist, a language can achieve global status if it has recognition in every country. Hence, this begs the question: what is the future of the English language? Will it continue to be considered as a “global language” or will it lose its power in the global scene?
I believe that in order to think about the future of the English language, we must first and foremost understand its past and how it came to be such an important language all over the world. Evidently, the English language has gone through a lot of changes throughout the years. The history of English truly started with the invasion of Britain by three Germanic tribes (the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes), in the 5th Century AD. After that, Old English (450-1100 AD) arises, influenced by the similar languages spoken by the Germanic tribes. Old English is not at all like the English we know today, but a lot of words in Modern English have Old English roots.
Middle English (1100 – 1500) came to be after the invasion and conquest of England by William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy. The conquerors (the Normans) influenced the English language, having brought with them a kind of French which in time grew to be the language of the Royal Court. At the time, English was spoken by the lower classes and French was spoken by the upper classes. In the 14th Century, the English language dominated in Britain once again, having been influenced by French, and was called Middle English. Later on, Early Modern English (1500 – 1800) surfaced, which was different in pronunciation from Middle English, because of the Great Vowel Shift. Lastly, the English we know today is called Late Modern English (1800 – Present) and the main thing that changed from Early Modern English is the vocabulary.
But how did English gain such power in the global scene? In the 17th and 18th centuries, English became the language of Britain, the leading colonial nation and in the 18th and 19th centuries, English kept being the language of Britain, the leader of the industrial revolution. Moreover, in the late 19th and 20th centuries, English grew to be the language of the United States of America, which was the main economic power. Consequently, with new technologies came new linguistic opportunities and, in this way, English became the leading language and affected various aspects of society such as industry, academic meetings, world trade, mass-media and world politics. Therefore, the English language in time acquired the status of “lingua franca”.
Nowadays, there are various opinions regarding the future of English but personally, I think that in the future, English will only strengthen its power globally. Firstly, English is a living language, and it transforms according to the way people use it. As of today, approximately 16 percent of the world’s population speaks English, either as a first or second language, which means that today English can be thought of as a universal language. This phenomenon can only continue in the future, given the fact that people from non-native-English speaking countries start learning it from an early age, believing that English can be a changing factor in their future. Secondly, in the opinion of David Crystal, language belongs to culture and culture is embedded in language. As a result, different varieties of the English language are emerging when the language itself alters to be able to adapt to the various cultures of the diverse countries using it. Basically, we will see dialects affected by a pre-existing non-English language and this trend could accelerate to the point that in the future instead of one standardized version of English, we have multiple versions of dialects based on the English language. Lastly, it is obvious that power always drives language. Therefore, as long as the world’s most powerful nations (i.e., United States of America, Britain etc.) continue using English then other nations will want to learn English as well to be able to interact with them and in this way, English will not cease to be a global language.
To sum up, we have established the importance of the English language in the past and in the future as well. I believe that English will strengthen its power and continue being called a “global language” but it is best not to be dogmatic. The future is unpredictable and if you think about it, a thousand years ago no one would have predicted that Latin would no longer be used in a thousand years’ time.
References
- History of English. English Club. Available here
- The Future of English. Rate Issues. Available here
- What is the future of English as a global language? StudyMoose. Available here
- The Future of the English Language. GradesFixer. Available here
- lingua franca. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available here
