Me to pick a topic of relevance for a global community - not the thing I have proven to be best at in the past... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ouch.gif" alt="" />
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />
I had a discussion with a friend not so long ago, on the development of a universal language - and since language and communication is something affecting all of us, I am going to 'steal' the topic and request your global views and visions.
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The European Union now has 25 countries with about 20 official languages. No agreement could ever be reached (not for lack of trying) to define one official common language to facilitate the communication in this economic union. On a larger scale, the problems of international communication affect any non-isolated society.
The lack of political consensus does not rescind the actual and factual need for a global or universal communication tool - international industry and economy speak => English.
So there are those who postulate that regardless of political discussions, and the fierce tenacity to defend 'own culture' by nurturing languages at an unreasonable low regional scale (think of Switzerland = 4 official languages in a rather small country) English will evolve into THE universal language, as
- one of the biggest economic entities, the North American continent, does already speak it;
- in Europe, the second big economic entity, it's the most spread second language
- in upcoming economies, like China, South-Est Asia, it's the language of international economics simply because the other major economies already speak it;
- it's relatively easy to learn and handle (at least compared to Chinese, for example).
So:
- Do you think that English will evolve in a universal language, that ultimately will be recognized as such and its teaching be made mandatory?
- Or do you think another language will make that evolution?
- Will non-universal languages die in a distant future? If so, should they be preserved? What would be lost to humanity, as a whole, if and when languages die? Is language the (only) key to cultural identity?
- Or do you envision other universal communication forms in the future (who knows, someone may find the Babelfish <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />)?
