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Old 02-28-2014, 03:56 PM
 
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English became the lingua franca around WWII, but it was already used all through the British Colonial Empire, establishing it in North America and Australia among others. here is a citation of Wikipedia:
It[English] has replaced French as the lingua franca of diplomacy since World War II. The rise of English in diplomacy began in 1919, in the aftermath of World War I, when the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as in French, the dominant language used in diplomacy until that time. The widespread use of English was further advanced by the prominent international role played by English-speaking nations (the United States and the Commonwealth of Nations) in the aftermath of World War II, particularly in the establishment and organization of the United Nations.
[...]
When the United Kingdom became a colonial power, English served as the lingua franca of the colonies of the British Empire. In the post-colonial period, some of the newly created nations which had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the lingua franca to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others. The British Empire established the use of English in regions around the world such as North America, India, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, so that by the late 19th century its reach was truly global, and in the latter half of the 20th century, widespread international use of English was much reinforced by the global economic, financial, scientific, military, and cultural pre-eminence of the English-speaking countries and especially the U.S. Today, more than half of all scientific journals are published in English, while in France, almost one third of all natural science research appears in English, lending some support to English being the lingua franca of science and technology. English is also the lingua franca of international Air Traffic Control communications.

 
Old 03-05-2014, 10:25 AM
 
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I think that the spread of the internet has cemented English as the unofficial global language. As mentioned French was formerly the language of the aristocracy and therefore used for diplomatic purposes. Between the end of WWII and the end of the cold war, Russian was in competition with English to a certain extent. But as said, the fall of the USSR left only one superpower the USA which never had a real aristocratic class using French solely. Therefore the USA's status plus the spread of the internet really has helped make English the language for international communication.
 
Old 03-05-2014, 12:30 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpg35223 View Post
It's more important to ask "Why" not "When."

1. The British Empire. At one point, the British directly or indirectly controlled one-fourth of the world's land area. That's a pretty staggering number. Meanwhile, the French influence has been waning since Napoleon began his retreat from Moscow.

2. Even as British power eclipsed, American power came on the stage. It's hard to believe today, but the United States was mostly an isolationist power until World War I compared to the Europeans, and only became a truly international player in World War II. The U.S. moved into the power vacuum left at the end of the war when it was the only country capable of staring down the Soviet Union.

3. The other thing about the post-war age that's hard to comprehend today was the enormous economic advantage the United States enjoyed in worldwide trade. Europe's industrial capacity was shattered, as was Japan's. Elsewhere, economies were still in a stage of immaturity. Only the United States and, to some degree, Canada had a manufacturing capacity that was untouched by the war. So with such a huge preponderance of economic might, the United States had twenty years of unmatched economic hegemony and the world's biggest market. So you either learned English or were irrelevant. English also became the de facto language of academia.

4. An interesting byproduct of the British Empire is the spread of English to all parts of the globe, often becoming the substitute language for a colonized people. Look at India. With the exception of the United States, India has more speakers of English than any other country. The Times of India has the largest circulation of any English-language paper in the world. Almost 50% of Pakistan's population speak English. All because in many countries, the sheer number of spoken languages (In India, more than 30 languages are spoken by more than a million people) made English a convenient alternative -- one that didn't require giving one ethnic group supremacy over another. The same is true in countries such as the Philippines.

5. The pervasiveness of American and English cinema, literature, and music, all of which are language-driven art forms.

6. The continuing pioneering of English-language speakers in the realm of the sciences and the industries of the information age. The internet has only accelerated this.

7. Lastly, it is the nature of the English language itself. It is a highly flexible and adaptive language that is constantly acquiring new vocabulary which, in turn, adds new nuances and precision. For example, some academic with lots of time on his hands found that sentences translated from English to other languages, on average, require 30% more words. Further, while English can be highly idiomatic, it also lacks a highly rigid grammatical form. Compare this to Slavic languages such as Russian which have a lot more cases and even have case-driven adjective endings (Trust me. I sweated out three years of Russian). On the other hand, France really blew it when it instituted an academy dedicated to adjudicating which words were allowed into the French language. Meanwhile, English picks up thousands and thousands of words indiscriminately every year, words you don't even think about, such as Shampoo and Cot from Sanskrit. In that sense, English unconsciously stopped being a colonialist language and began being a world language through its promiscuity.
French has been the language of diplomacy going back to when Europe was ruled by monarchs, and still is one of the only two used in translation at the UN (the other is English).

French is still the second most studied foreign language in the world.

Yes, English was exported around the world via Britain and it's Empire, but it was the rise of the United States of America as a world superpower post WWII that began the process of spreading that language in particular it's version of it round the world.

American businesses and Interests began to expand through Europe and the world post WWII and with it exporting it's values and culture. A large part of this has occurred I would say starting in the 1980's onwards as technology introduced changes in the world.

American culture is exported today via films, television and other media. While this has been true for ages many things would be dubbed in to the native language. However many young persons and others like the "real thing".

Now that we are in a global market place where everything from finance to trade are linked English in particular American has spread because outside of French it is one of the world's common languages. Bills of lading, customs documents etc... are all usually in English and French. Just as passports are both in a country's native language and often French as well.
 
Old 03-05-2014, 05:44 PM
 
Location: SE UK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BugsyPal View Post
French has been the language of diplomacy going back to when Europe was ruled by monarchs, and still is one of the only two used in translation at the UN (the other is English).

French is still the second most studied foreign language in the world.

Yes, English was exported around the world via Britain and it's Empire, but it was the rise of the United States of America as a world superpower post WWII that began the process of spreading that language in particular it's version of it round the world.

American businesses and Interests began to expand through Europe and the world post WWII and with it exporting it's values and culture. A large part of this has occurred I would say starting in the 1980's onwards as technology introduced changes in the world.

American culture is exported today via films, television and other media. While this has been true for ages many things would be dubbed in to the native language. However many young persons and others like the "real thing".

Now that we are in a global market place where everything from finance to trade are linked English in particular American has spread because outside of French it is one of the world's common languages. Bills of lading, customs documents etc... are all usually in English and French. Just as passports are both in a country's native language and often French as well.
Why do people keep suggesting there is an American version of English? There isn't its just English whether spoken by an Englishman, an Australian or an American!
 
Old 03-05-2014, 06:54 PM
 
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Originally Posted by easthome View Post
Why do people keep suggesting there is an American version of English? There isn't its just English whether spoken by an Englishman, an Australian or an American!
Well yes, but each version tends to have some of their own in terms of use and style. There are also idiomatic phrases and such unique to each country.

For instance "****" to most persons speaking "UK" or whatever English usually means a male bird. That is *not* the first thing most Americans think of upon hearing that word however.
 
Old 03-05-2014, 07:23 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BugsyPal View Post
Well yes, but each version tends to have some of their own in terms of use and style. There are also idiomatic phrases and such unique to each country.

For instance "****" to most persons speaking "UK" or whatever English usually means a male bird. That is *not* the first thing most Americans think of upon hearing that word however.
Erm, what word is that? It's censored and I'm drawing a blank. Cok?
 
Old 03-06-2014, 07:33 AM
 
Location: SE UK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BugsyPal View Post
Well yes, but each version tends to have some of their own in terms of use and style. There are also idiomatic phrases and such unique to each country.

For instance "****" to most persons speaking "UK" or whatever English usually means a male bird. That is *not* the first thing most Americans think of upon hearing that word however.
Thats a terrible example, the word is used in exactly the same way in the UK! Your whole post looks like English to me? I can't see anything particularly 'American' about it! an odd slang word or mis-spelt word doesn't make it a different language.
 
Old 03-06-2014, 07:55 AM
 
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Quote:
Meanwhile, English picks up thousands and thousands of words indiscriminately every year, words you don't even think about, such as Shampoo and Cot from Sanskrit. In that sense, English unconsciously stopped being a colonialist language and began being a world language through its promiscuity.
You know I'd go out on a limb and suggest that perhaps that that 'Bard' in England living in the 16th century was perhaps the fellow who helped start the English explosion. Why? Well he wrote for the 'commons' and picked up how the language functioned in its society. He put great attention on it in his works. But perhaps even more important the language he used enabled him to explore everything about human behavior and sort of 'get it out' so it could be discussed. The other thing is he did it very very well making the language powerful in its eloquence. And at the same time Englaish has given us probably the most famous 4 letter word in language in the world!!!....;-).... It's probably said somewhere at sometime in the world every 5 seconds.

So I'd think if here was a problem with 'English' per se we'd see it in Shakespeare's hands. He didn't and that 'bastard tongue' has lived on...;-)....
 
Old 03-06-2014, 08:29 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by travric View Post
You know I'd go out on a limb and suggest that perhaps that that 'Bard' in England living in the 16th century was perhaps the fellow who helped start the English explosion. Why? Well he wrote for the 'commons' and picked up how the language functioned in its society. He put great attention on it in his works. But perhaps even more important the language he used enabled him to explore everything about human behavior and sort of 'get it out' so it could be discussed. The other thing is he did it very very well making the language powerful in its eloquence. And at the same time Englaish has given us probably the most famous 4 letter word in language in the world!!!....;-).... It's probably said somewhere at sometime in the world every 5 seconds.

So I'd think if here was a problem with 'English' per se we'd see it in Shakespeare's hands. He didn't and that 'bastard tongue' has lived on...;-)....
That is an excellent point. While Chaucer gave English legitimacy, Shakespeare was the towering genius who put the tongue on the path it is today.
 
Old 03-06-2014, 08:49 AM
 
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It's also important to not exaggerate the dominance of English. While English may be the closest thing to a global lingua franca, it's still far from actually being such a thing--most of the world's population doesn't speak it.
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