Why does the english language have global dominance?

1. Why does the english language have global dominance?

2. The simple reasons: • English is a lingua franca: Current language of international discourse • English is an official language of 50 countries • Size of the language family? • Indo-European: mutual comprehension? Consider all of the following: • • English: “Our Father, who art in heaven ...” • Dutch: “Onze Vader, die in de hemelenzijt ...” • Spanish: “Padre nuestro, qeestás en los cielos ...” • Polish: “Ojczenasz, którys jest w niebiesiech ...” • Greek: “Patera mas, poùeïsaistoùsouranoùs ...” • Albanian: “Atiynëqë je nëquiell ...” • Kurdish: “Yäbäwk-ïëma, ka la äsmän-ä-y ...” • Romany: “Dádeamaré, kajisiénk’odevlé ...” • Sanskrit: “Bhoasmäkhamsvargasthapitah ...” Notice the similarities (for example: “pitah,” “patera,” “padre”; or “father,” “vader,” “dáde”) and differences.

3. Dominance of English Media and Internet: Internet Hosts Fig. 5-1-1: A large proportion of the world’s internet users and hosts are in the developed countries of North America and western Europe.

4. Internet Hosts, by Language Fig 5-1-1a: The large majority of internet hosts in 1999 used English, Chinese, Japanese, or European languages.

5. The Pleasures of English • Most widely spoken language, global dominance of media, internet. • No gender, number or case changes; easy formation of plurals. • Relatively simple verb forms (except for irregular verbs). • Huge, flexible vocabulary.

6. The Perils of English • Idiomatic verb and preposition combinations (“put up,” “get down”) • Irregular plurals (ox and oxen; foot and feet, etc.) • Spelling (25% irregular, 27 graphemes vs. 40 phonemes) • Bizarre written forms: “Though the rough cough and hiccough plough me through, I ought to cross the lough.” • No rules for pronunciation and stress • Polish vs. polish; dove vs. dove; to, too, two; there, their, they’re

7. Preserving Language Diversity • Languages can die. Today, in the face of the global dominance of English and other “world languages,” some people are trying to preserve and even revive languages. • Maintaining survivors: Celtic languages (Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Welsh (Cymru), Breton. • Bringing back the dead: Hebrew, Manx. • Why bother? Because language is about more than just “communicating facts.” Language is about identity, history, continuity – language is a fundamental part of who you are.