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Are we already headed towards a global language?

IcalasariIcalasari
edited 2012-02-28 16:30:46 in General
No rainbow star
People talk about picking just one language. But is this even needed?



For example, Japanese took words such as animation from English. English has stolen words from French. And so on. Hell, Kawaii was already accepted into English



So aren't we already on our way to a global language due to languages stealing words? Wouldn't this eventually result in every language having the same words over time (and eventually the same grammar and letter system)?

Comments

  • ForzareForzare
    edited 2012-02-28 16:33:18
    Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the last Day.

    I doubt it very much.


    There's too many words and too many languages and too many different rules for that to really work.

  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    Japanese took words such as animation from English



    No, "anime" comes from French.



    So aren't we already on our way to a global language due to languages stealing words?



    No, because grammar, writing and pronunciation aren't the same. This isn't a new trend. It's something that's been happening for pretty much all of linguistic history.

  • CrimsonCrimson
    Give us fire! Give us ruin! Give us our glory!

    I would like a linguist's opinion but I'd think what would actually happen is languages morphing into new forms and becoming more distinct rather than homogenizing.

  • WhaleWhale
    Champion of the Whales

    A global language already exists, its a form of American English called Globish which has 1500 words

  • NyktosNyktos
    a little muffled

    No, "anime" comes from French.


    It really didn't, though.

  • ClockworkUniverseClockworkUniverse
    edited 2012-02-28 16:36:20
    OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    Looked it up on Wikipedia. Turns out it's debated.

  • MillerCrossMillerCross
    You can change. You can.

    English is already the world's lingua franca, anyway

  • lrdgcklrdgck
    "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"

    Latin --> English, that one is sure. But the rest - whaddya think?


    Koine --> Chinese? Japanese? Russian?


    Frankish/Gothic --> Spanish? Russian? Arabic?


    Persian (whatever's the name) --> Farsi/Urdu? Arabic? Something from India?


     


    Probably the analogy doesn't extend much beyond the first one, but whatever. 

  • NyarlyNyarly
    edited 2012-02-28 16:48:25
    Likes cheesecake unironically.

    Well, we do have a global language. As others said before, it's English. That's why a German, who was born on leap year can post in a English-language forum, complaining about his people's idiotic vacation habits and that shortly before midnight, even though he should better go to sleep, and mentions exactly that in another thread, for no special reason.


    Of course, I'm not thinking of anybody in particular here.


    If you mean something like a global mother language, as in, every country has the same mother language, I don't think that this will ever happen and I don't think that it's desirable.

  • WhaleWhale
    Champion of the Whales

    If you mean something like a global mother language, as in, every country has the same mother language, I don't think that this will ever happen and I don't think that it's desirable.


     



    It can't happen because the Basque language has no known related languages.

  • NyktosNyktos
    a little muffled

    ...I don't get the relevance?

  • vandrovandro
    He who laments and can't let go of the past is forever doomed to solitude.

    She is mistaking mother language, as in native language, with mother language, as in linguistic ancestor, I think.

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