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The Future of the English Language

The English language can be found worldwide: it’s recognised and taught on every continent.

The English language can be found worldwide: it’s recognised and taught on every continent,
and interestingly, it has a much greater prevalence than that of any other universal language, like
French, Latin or Greek.

One interesting aspect of this worldwide language is that today we see many local cultures, and
these include those in Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, the Caribbean and Singapore, already
creating divergences in how they use traditional words and grammar. Plus, we also see an
increased influence of African-American English and Spanglish in the United States; so one
begins to wonder what the face of English will be in years to come.

No-one would claim Latin as being their mother language, yet Latin is still very much a daily
presence in our lives. And we know that Latin was the basis for the Romance languages, which
came about as a direct result of regional adjusting and playing around with the official language
of the State.

Will the English Language Continue Adapting and Evolving?

So our question is – is it inevitable that languages will arise from the adaptation and evolution of
English? Perhaps there will be many more official languages, each with their own distinct
vocabulary and rules of grammar, all tracing their origins back to English!

Obviously, there are significant differences between the education system of today and that of
1000 years ago, and today, with the Internet, we have instant access to a world of information on
the correct usages of language. But as we know, by nature, human beings are constantly adapting
and, if they find that something works better for them, then they’ll take it on. Perhaps one day in
the future, translators will be tracing back future languages to their genesis in English!

The Changing Face of the English Language

One doesn’t need to be a world traveller to see that the English language spoken in India
does not sound the same as the English language spoken in England. By the same token, the
English language in Nairobi does not sound the same as the English language in New York.

And in India, Indian English is becoming less monolithic, meaning that the variety of English
spoken in Bangalore differs slightly from that spoken in New Delhi. The New Delhi English is
influenced primarily by Hindi and is often referred to as Hinglish, while the Bangalore English is
influenced by Kannada (which is Bangalore’s local language) and is often referred to
as Kanglish. So now we have several varieties of English being used within India, and while all
of these are closer to British English than to American English, in recent years we’ve seen
younger generations showing an increasing bias towards Americanisms. Despite all its
variations, Indian English remains undoubtedly English.
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In Kenya, both Swahili and English are official languages. But in Nairobi and other urban areas
we’re seeing a creole slang known as Sheng. Sheng has strong ties to Kenyan pop culture and
this slang has emerged as a means for young people to communicate in code. In Sheng, for
example the word for trousers is longi, which is derived from the English word long.

The future of English language

“[English] is spreading because it is expressive and useful." — The Economist

In the ongoing state of modern globalization, language has become a barrier that cannot be
ignored. At a point in recent history, some believed that Chinese might become the language of
the future, but today China exists as the world’s largest English speaking population. English
communication is thriving with some of the world’s largest and most disruptive companies based
in English-speaking countries, so it is no surprise that international communication is highly
dependent on English being a common ground.

So it is official, English is here to stay. But that doesn’t mean we will be able to recognize it 100
years from now.

The English language is a dynamic organism that has undergone many instances of
transformation, and will continue to do so. As English becomes more and more recognized as
being universal, it will undergo changes to better suit its role as an international language. The
implications for other cultures are great, but the implications for the English language itself are
also radical.

What Can the Past Say About the Future?

Historically, English has been simplified time and time again so that what we formally write and
speak today does not look much or sound much like the traditional Anglo-Saxon form. The
language has continuously taken on new characteristics mainly derived from the fact that the
majority of the English speaking population is not native to it. By 2020 it has been predicted that
only 15% of the English speaking population will be native English speakers.

This has never been lost on linguists. In 1930, English linguist Charles K. Ogden developed what
he called “Basic English,” comprised of 860 English words and designed for foreign tongues.
While it did not stick at the time, it has since become a strong influence for “Simplified English,”
which is the official dialect for English technical communications, such as technical manuals.

There are a number of reasons why Simplified English is essential to technical communications.
In considering the benefits of content strategy, one must consider the significance of content
reuse. Reuse, as it turns out, is also beneficial to the process of translation.

Translating content is no small cost, but companies can drastically reduce this expense through
reuse. In reuse, content is run through translation memory systems (TMSs) which identify
content strings (text) that have already been translated. This pattern-matching greatly reduces the
scope of the process and is referred to as an aspect of “intelligent content”. Accordingly,
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reducing the language and restricting the words used will also lead to savings in time and cost
when it comes to translation, especially using these TMSs. An unavoidable consequence of
Simplified English is the plain and repetitive language within the content; albeit constructive
repetition, but boring just the same.

In Managing Enterprise Content, Charles Cooper and Anne Rockley advocate for the advantages
of “consistent structure, consistent terminology, and standardized writing guidelines”. While
these benefits are undeniable, it is an active shrinking of the English language, at least within the
context of communications.

The frighten question then becomes, what will English look like in the future? Is this the death of
the English language?

The Enrichment of a New English

The English language is currently being shaped by foreign speakers, and our need of
communication with them. A deep study of five languages conducted by John McWhorter
suggested that when a large number of foreign speakers learn a language imperfectly, the doing
away with unnecessary bits of grammar is a key element in shaping language. Thus, the dialect
they speak can be thought of as a simpler version of the language.

However, McWhorter also notes that simpler or “different” is not synonymous with “worse”. In
a lively TED Talk, Txting is Killing Language. JK!!!, he branched away from the discussion of
what non-native speakers have done with the language, to direct attention towards what
technology has done to the language. Texting, he argues, is evidence that youth today are
“expanding their linguistic repertoire”.

Describing this as “fingered speech”—something altogether different from formal writing—

For McWhorter, the dialect of texting represents a new kind of language with an entirely new
structure. Isn’t this what we are witnessing with Simplified English as well? What McWhorter
significantly points out is that there is more than one aspect of modern life that is altering the
English language, but its dynamism can be a positive thing. He goes so far as to call texting a
“linguistic miracle”.

McWhorter is not the only one who sees this transformation in a positive light. Returning to the
concept of a universal or international language, The Economist argues that while language may
simplify because it is spreading, “it is spreading because it is expressive and useful”.

The Global Implications for the Future of English

Founding editor of The Futurist magazine wrote in 2011 that the concept of a single universal
language is a great one with wonderful opportunities for business relations, but the reality is that
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the cost of initial training would be absurd. Yet, it does not seem so far-fetched that the
transformation of the English language might helm a natural advancement towards an accepted
single language. And it may well be an English that we would no longer recognize in the
centuries to come. Perhaps George Orwell’s concept of Newspeak is actually on the horizon.

But the notion that only one language would be spoken does not account for the different ways
that non-native speakers adjust to English. For example, the EU Court of Auditors has gone so
far as to publish a style guide to address the problematic EU-isms when it comes to speaking
English. The guide features a sub-section in the introduction titled “Does It Matter?” that writes:

The European Institutions also need to communicate with the outside world and our documents
need to be translated—both tasks that are not facilitated by the use of terminology that is
unknown to native speakers and either does not appear in dictionaries or is shown to them with a
different meaning.

In response to this guide, The Economist noted that misuses of language that are still being used
and are understood overtime are no longer misuses, but a new dialect.

As The Economist pointed out, “languages don’t really decline”, but they do change. Without a
doubt English is changing, and for a number of valid reasons we may be better off to accept it
rather than to fight it.