English as she was spoke The days of English as the world's second language may (slowly) be ending

The Last Lingua Franca: English Until the Return of Babel. By Nicholas Ostler - The Economist:

ENGLISH is the most successful language in the history of the world. It is spoken on every continent, is learnt as a second language by schoolchildren and is the vehicle of science, global business and popular culture. Many think it will spread without end. But Nicholas Ostler, a scholar of the rise and fall of languages, makes a surprising prediction in his latest book: the days of English as the world's lingua-franca may be numbered.

Conquest, trade and religion were the biggest forces behind the spread of earlier lingua-francas (the author uses a hyphen to distinguish the phrase from Lingua Franca, an Italian-based trade language used during the Renaissance). A linguist of astonishing voracity, Mr Ostler plunges happily into his tales from ancient history.

The Last Lingua Franca: English Until the Return of Babel

Posted by Jim Zellmer at December 24, 2010 4:32 AM
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