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REPLY TO ALL: No one "picks" a universal language. Is spontaneous chosen when people adopt because it drives the most value for them. Its not the end-all that
by zarro 7y ago
REPLY TO ALL:
No one "picks" a universal language. Is spontaneous chosen when people adopt because it drives the most value for them.
Its not the end-all that English is that language, but I think its fair to say that anywhere in the world atm English might be the closest to a "universal language".
I for one would rather stick to English, until a better alternative "proves" itself in the "marketplace of ideas".
As for the main argument about the phonetics, I think most languages have this problem, for instance in Germany every region has its own nuance and dialect, but the common one is "High German".
Same thing in English, and I would argue (even as an American) that our common version is "RP English or BBC English". If you can speak in this dialect, not only will (almost) everyone understand you, but speaking it also comes with a hint of "Respect", as its not so easy/common to do.
Is it not possible to consider that part of the English languages perceived disadvantages as a universal language could be also perceived as an indirect advantage? In that learning its grammar and structure is fairly easy (Barrier to entry is low), but perfecting the nuances of its depth in precision and pronunciation is fairly difficult.
- FrojoS 7y agoMarketplace of ideas? More like geopolitical power. The most reasonable scenario change at the moment would be a world dominated by China and then Mandarin becoming the new lingua franca. I wouldn’t bet on either of these events, but it seems plausible.
- jgwil2 7y agoMy perspective may be skewed as a Westerner, but it seems to me that the Chinese writing system is too difficult for it to be effective as a lingua franca. To be fair (and as the article points out) English has a lot of non-phonetic spellings, but you still only need to know 26 characters have some idea of how a word is pronounced. But you are right, if we were choosing a language based solely on its objective qualities, we would probably have to choose Spanish or something like Esperanto.