translator2 Senior Member United States Joined 6910 days ago 848 posts - 1862 votes Speaks: English*
| Message 1 of 2 30 December 2010 at 3:29pm | IP Logged |
With the U.S. headed towards bankruptcy, could English soon go the way of Latin?
The Last Lingua Franca
"...The days of English as the all-conquering international language of science, commerce, and hip-hop are numbered. This book recaps the rise and fall of lingua francas past--from ancient Sanskrit and Latin to French in the 19th century--to glean insights into how such languages spread--by military conquest, trade, and missionary work-- then shrivel when the originating country loses prestige and power. He concludes from this retrospective that English will recede (though not die), and that no new lingua franca will supplant it because translation software will let everyone communicate directly without learning a common language...
Edited by translator2 on 30 December 2010 at 3:30pm
2 persons have voted this message useful
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Patchy Newbie Joined 5119 days ago 25 posts - 46 votes Speaks: English*
| Message 2 of 2 30 December 2010 at 8:13pm | IP Logged |
Tenerife, Spain, Africa.
'Sounds interesting enough, for a science fiction book...
1 person has voted this message useful
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