The last lingua franca
This book is an erudite and provocative examination of the rise and coming fall of English as the world's language. A lingua franca, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is a language used as a medium of communication between peoples of different languages. English has become the world's lingua franca -- the most widely spoken in human history. But its dominance has so far lasted no more than two centuries -- far shorter than the currency of many others, such as Greek, Latin, Malay, Swahili, or Persian. And now, as historian and linguist Nicholas Ostler persuasively argues in his provocative new book, English stands to be displaced as the world's language. At present, international English worldwide is spoken not by majorities, but by elites; and the countries where English is spoken natively are losing their command of the world's economic heights. Soon, the rising wealth of states such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China will shrink any international preference for English. - Jacket flap.
Stats for nerds
3recommend
5mentions
4people
2018–2023years
80% recommend20% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- A book I enjoyed:
> English is the world's lingua franca-the most widely spoken language in human history. And yet, as historian and linguist Nicholas Ostler persuasively argues, English will not only be displaced as the world's language in the not-distant future, it will be the last lingua franca, not replaced by another.
> Empire, commerce, and religion have been the primary raisons d'etre for lingua francas--Greek, Latin, Arabic have all held the position--and Ostler explores each through the lens of civilizations spanning the globe and history, from China and India to Russia and Europe. Three trends emerge that suggest the ultimate decline of English and other lingua francas. Movements throughout the world towards equality in society will downgrade the status of elites--and since elites are the prime users of non-native English, the language will gradually retreat to its native-speaking territories. The rising wealth of Brazil, Russia, India, and China will challenge the dominance of native-English-speaking nations--thereby shrinking the international preference for English. Simultaneously, new technologies will allow instant translation among major languages, enhacing the status of mother tongues and lessening the necessity for any future lingua franca.
* https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8366156-the-last-lingua-...
* Not in bookshop.org's database
- > I self admittedly an extremely amateur history buff but my impression was that Greece had completely declined by 200 ce when they are claiming this papyrus originated from.
Koine Greek was the lingua franca of the Mediterranean. In the Middle East during that time Aramaic (the language that Jesus spoke) was the lingua franca, as was Persian further east. See The Last Lingua Franca by Nicholas Ostler for a history:
* https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/dec/04/last-lingua-fr...
A language can survive the waning of the culture that it was associated with. For another example, see Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin, also by Ostler:
* https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/dec/08/featuresreview...
- > It is also one of the reasons why English is taking over ...
There are various reasons why a language may become a lingua franca (LF). If anyone wants to more about the history and process of this, I recommend The Last Lingua Franca: English Until the Return of Babel by Nicholas Ostle:
* https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lingua-Franca-English-Return/dp/...
* https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8366156-the-last-lingua-...
* https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/dec/04/last-lingua-fr...
He goes over past LFs like Persian, Aramaic, Ancient/Koine Greek, and how they waxed and waned over the centuries, and what may happen to English in the future.
- Yet Google, Apple, Microsoft are driving C's replacement for better alternatives, go figure.
https://msrc-blog.microsoft.com/2019/07/16/a-proactive-appro...
https://security.googleblog.com/2019/08/adopting-arm-memory-...
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2019/10/introducin...
https://developer.apple.com/swift/#fast
English only became the lingua Franca after the two big wars, and even then, good luck trying to make use of English in some world regions.
I recommend reading a bit about the history of lingua francas since the beginning of mankind.
"The Last Lingua Franca: English Until the Return of Babel"
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lingua-Franca-English-Return/dp/...
- The author makes the argument that automatic translation could prevent the rise of a new lingua franca: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lingua-Franca-English-Return/dp/...
Related
Ad Infinitum
2 recommend · 3
Lingua Latina per se Illustrata
32 recommend · 64
Lingua Latina
9 recommend · 20
Empires of the Word
5 recommend · 10
Lost languages
1 recommend · 5
Through the language glass
22 recommend · 37
The Unfolding of Language
9 recommend · 13
