Is English bound for extinction?

[belamy]

Enjoy the silence.

 

[Beachguyj]

English is a very international language. On my cruise ships the people are from different countries and they all communicate in English, as do many merchant Marines.

It's the universal language of air traffic control.

 

[rareboy]

Hey Bel,

Are you saying that LOLCATZ is replacing English?

 

[belamy]

Hey Bel,

Are you saying that LOLCATZ is replacing English?

That cat was silent
How's your finantial situation these days?

 

[theworldwithout]

I don't see English as going extinct...

As is grows more and more with the international community I see it as evolving, and eventually it'll start incorporating more languages into it. So in say, a thousand years English could still be spoken, but sound drastically different that what is does today.

 

[belamy]

I don't see English as going extinct...

As is grows more and more with the international community I see it as evolving, and eventually it'll start incorporating more languages into it. So in say, a thousand years English could still be spoken, but sound drastically different that what is does today.

so it will not be English anymore...

 

[theworldwithout]

so it will not be English anymore...

I don't know about that...people don't use "Old English" anymore, but in all it's not all together a different language. It can still be understood.

 

[belamy]

I don't know about that...people don't use "Old English" anymore, but in all it's not all together a different language. It can still be understood.

You mean like Spanish and Italian, and like the fact that both Spaniards and Italians still speak Latin as their mother language.

 

[rareboy]

I thought the cat was just being subtle. But I knewed watz he wuz thinking.

On the financial front, I've been riding the bear market rally like a manwhore on viagra.

Still have some real old sick dogs in the kennel that I can't just bear to take out behind the barn and shoot yet, but since November, I've recovered about 60% of losses.

The real problem is that there's nothing out there for fixed income investments that makes it even worthwhile to shift cash.

One final observation, I find myself using french, spanish, italian and dutch phrases in everyday conversation in order to express something that English just doesn't allow for....maybe this is the future.

Better thn txtspk.

 

[belamy]

I thought the cat was just being subtle. But I knewed watz he wuz thinking.

On the financial front, I've been riding the bear market rally like a manwhore on viagra.

Still have some real old sick dogs in the kennel that I can't just bear to take out behind the barn and shoot yet, but since November, I've recovered about 60% of losses.

The real problem is that there's nothing out there for fixed income investments that makes it even worthwhile to shift cash.

One final observation, I find myself using french, spanish, italian and dutch phrases in everyday conversation in order to express something that English just doesn't allow for....maybe this is the future.

Better thn txtspk.

 

[burnoboi]

It depends what you call 'English'. There are many many different varieties of english being spoken all over the the world many of which can not be universally understood so you could say the language is already extinct. For example this is Modern English; Though some words may look similar the pronunciation is completely different to what we use today but that is still English

 

[belamy]

It depends what you call 'English'. There are many many different varieties of english being spoken all over the the world many of which can not be universally understood so you could say the language is already extinct. For example this is Modern English; Though some words may look similar the pronunciation is completely different to what we use today but that is still English

Yeah, and calling Beowulf's language Old English, not as some language spoken in "old England" before English was spoken, but as some sort of English, is one of the funniest academic statements I know of.

 

[Telstra]

English language evolves ... never extinct.

 

[DonQuixote]

My dear friend, Neil,
You certainly get lively discussions running, even when you're not feeling well enough to sit hunched over your terminal for hours on end crafting Brad and your other Great Canadian Novels.

I am afraid your proximity to La Belle Province - Quebec, and, by extension, the aforementioned L' Académie Française, that you may be becoming a bit too cynical about our mongrel language. A Germanic-Romance blend with liberal doses of any and every culture we've every interacted with for more than five minutes.

"Words", jargon, phrases, are continually being inserted into my native tongue - I'd say "our", but I'm not sure if you claim English, French, or Newfie as your personal choice for your "Native" language, and don't want to insult you. It is the test of time that determines what stays and, as others have pointed out, even what stays may over time be relegated to the "back archives" over time. BUT, if they are still in the back archives, they are still fair game for word minstrels such as yourself to resurrect and bring back to the fore, to add a certain spice- je ne cest quois?

Did you need to use your torch to get from the lorry to your flat, or did the flashlight suffice to get you from the truck to the apartment? Jobbio, I suspect, will be more comfortable with the first half of that sentence, while Sheep more at home with the second. Both are current dialect English, I believe, depending on whether you call Cambridge or New York home, eh?

I have greatly enjoyed reading the discourse that has evolved on this thread, particularly from our friends in the Romance language countries, where the Noblesse Noblige (centenarians) try to preserve the purity of their languages from the vagaries of our filthy one. Is this where I should invite Tantiboh to say, Byte me, and see how many of the scholars are reviled?

This thread has been so enjoyable, it might even earn a "23 skidoo"! And, no, I'm not THAT old. You are my senior by a half-decade, as we've discussed in our PM's. I only strive to the Great Works and chivalry of a bygone era.

Most of today's text speak will flow down the sewer drain of time as far as staying power as "Words" for, they are, in fact, not new words but, as others have suggested, merely the next wave of abbreviations for existing words in an effort to be lazy and type out lengthy notes, quickly.

Another author on this site with whom I IM frequently, likes picking on me because I type things out, by and large. He will interject type type type (ENTER) . . . to get me to post partial thoughts across the great divide.

Thanks to all for your lively discourse on the health of the English language. I agree, it will continue to evolve and, yes, we sometimes have to ask each other what it was that our fellow Native English speaker just said - and thank you to people like Bellamy, who appears to have a huge command of multiple languages -- and a prolific amount of time to spend on this site each day -- 10 posts a day, AVERAGE, over the life of your tenure on the site -- wow. But, if some of the posts are just xxiv to stimulate groans, I guess that might be considered cheating by some! But, that's another thread!

In closing, fear not, dear Neil, the English language is alive and well, and I suspect we'll be able to understand a fair chunk of it in 500 years, when they haul our sorry asses out of the cryo-tubes!

Take care, one and all.

 

[belamy]

^ Tell me about it. I once had a stupid Catalan (wannabe "true" Catalan) trying to defend "languages" before and American professor supposedly representing the bullying presence of English (American English) in the world.
They are people of the sort "you are either with us or against us", and won't even listen that "languages" are nothing of the folcloric heritage idea in which they believe, but a reality that flows and that evolves according to your choice to make some linguistic usages before others.
It's all about feeling and ideologies, not about science (not even bad one), let alone mere plain reasoning.

 

[DonQuixote]

Belamy, It's a bit off topic but, while I was thinking about your home town - you have some spectacular architecture. My son trekked thru Barcelona from Edinborough to Sienna on Easter break during a semester of study abroad a few years back. I got to see the pics. Sadly, my week long trip to Spain only included Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, y Toledo. It was Febrero, 1973, so you weren't even a gleam in your father's eyes, yet! Our teacher said the coast was a bit too expensive to travel down to. I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the trip- I can remember the fantastic food. After dinner, we'd all go walking around town. Juniors and Seniors in High School. I still remember stopping in front of a Citroen dealership in downtown Madrid, and seeing the nice little Maserati convertible in the window!

I've always wanted to be able to come back and tour all of europe - from the front seat of that Maserati! A 17 YO boy's wet dream cum true.

Well, back to today.
Salud.

 

[sexsomniac]

God forbid, NO! I'm still in the process of learning and I don't want to see my efforts going down the drain.