Blog #2 – How long can a global language last?


Try to imagine a world with only one language. Everyone speaks and refers to the same language, the same set of words and references. The impact it would have on the world is quite simple and positive, although it can easily have a lot of negative impacts. To talk about language, you need to understand where language comes from. Language comes from cultures and how we live our lives. It often comprises of short terms and half ideas that are perceived as whole thoughts because the person being spoken to would have come from the same the same social background. If the same sentence was spoken to someone with the completely different background they would not understand a thing. For example, if I said, ‘let’s get an Uber and hit up a Pizza Hut’. To someone in a modern city like Las Angeles, everyone will understand right away. If you said it to someone in sub-Saharan Africa they would not understand a thing. You would need to first explain what Uber is, a car, the internet, the payment system, then what a pizza is, how it is eaten. Once again, all things what would come naturally to someone living in a city like Las Angeles.

Because that is where language comes from and also evolves over time and in different regions of the world. So, there would not be a constant in language. We can have a standard language but it will change over time in different places in the world simultaneously. Making it essentially impossible to have and maintain a global standard language. It seems as the deeper languages evolve in different areas creates variations in a language called accents, it is when we adapt languages too far then a new language emerges from it. This is why a lot of languages sound alike. 

Wither or not having is global language is a positive change it is clear it conflicts with both positive and negative impacts. Initially, it, in theory, makes communication easier in terms of Air Traffic Controllers, police, fireman and emergency medical services. The negative impact of what is happening is striping the world from any diversity and change in how we express ourselves. If the language had a fixed set of rules it would certainly make the world a boring place to be.

Saed Abdulhadi – October 2017  

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