Somehow I feel odd commenting on this topic since I am a native English speaker and am practically monolingual (with only a brief background in French, which I have forgotten for the most part). Having lived in the same country for my entire life and communicating solely in English except for my five years of French in junior high and high school, I have a bit of trouble seeing English as a language that would take over and "kill" another language. Neither can I imagine anyone feeling threatened by it.
However, I do understand that the prospect of my language (or any other language for that matter) becoming an international language can be a frightening prospect to some people in other countries. I know I would not like to be forced to use another language in my daily life or to take classes and learn in another language. And for me, "forced" is the right word. I would really need a compelling reason to make this change. But how much of this is because I have never really had to communicate with speakers of other languages in any language but my own? I'm not sure. I can only imagine that others must feel the same way: frightened and a bit of anxiety at the prospect.
I also know that, while I certainly do not consider English a "killing" language, others apparently do. Many groups seem to resent English "taking over" their language, and, given the elitist statement made by Prince Charles about how American English is "very corrupting," I can see why. I know I resent his comments. If he feels this way about American English, which is so closely related to British English, I have to wonder what he would say about other varieties of English in the Outer and Expanding Circles. His superior attitude about British English is, I feel sure, one of the reasons that speakers of other languages feel threatened by the spread of English and the possibility of it becoming a lingua franca.
Along these same lines, we talked about the way a good many Americans feel about the Spanish language being brought into the country and possibly "corrupting" our own language. After listening to Robin's comments, I understand how people in San Antonio feel when they cannot communicate in English in the same businesses where they used to, not so long ago, do business in English only. I'm sure they, and by extension other Americans, feel the same fear and anxiety that those in other countries do who feel threatened by English.
And so, I have come full circle. I have not resolved anything, except maybe to say that I still feel that English in itself does not pose a danger to any language. The danger to other languages seems to me to be the people who mandate the kinds of changes that might kill another language, not the language itself nor most of its speakers.
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From the first two paragraphs, I understand that English is trying to be at the top of all dominant languages but the consequences of this is that it is killing other language unconsciously.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when we look at the history, we find that languages pass through times of strength weakness. And all that depends on how much power that country was at that time.
The killer status of English, real in my mind, is a product of British imperialism and the political/cultural dominance of the U.S.A. since WW II. The situation is similar to that of Latin, which was put in place by the political and military power of the Roman Emperors and perpetuated by the Catholic Church.
ReplyDeleteThe last 150 has seen British strength in India, Africa, Australia, and Canada wane as the colonies gained independence. America has gained dominance through military, business, and industrial channels. The ubiquity of American TV, movies, and music has taken English around the world. The Internet may be doing in the 21st century what the Church did for centuries--keeping a form of a particular language in use. The church's Latin was static, like the "standard" English on the news sites like CNN or the BBC.
There are, on the other hand, those who claim that English is being killed and morphing into local varieties that soon will not be understandable. A Canadian may not understand the English spoken on a Caribbean island; the English speaker in New Delhi may not understand a New Yorker. I guess it's a matter of time, more time than we have.