Worldwide Common Language

[Vinayaka]

I say embrace the diversity. (Just like with religion) Languages are disappearing. Translators are losing their jobs.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Just as an aside, its

Jag-u-ar

Not

Jag-war

How would one go about codifying that for future generations? Put it into a cookbook? Write it in Chinese?

 

[Brickjectivity]

I say embrace the diversity. (Just like with religion) Languages are disappearing. Translators are losing their jobs.

Languages have died and arisen in mere centuries. Why should we let it continue to happen? Why not make a permanent language?

 

[Subduction Zone]

I always root for English in a case such as this. It has been shown that everyone understands English if said loudly enough and clearly enough, preferably with a southern accent. And that applies to animals as well:

 

[Polymath257]

I agree the spoken language is easy. The concept of the Chinese letters is interesting, but nobody wants to learn pinyin. Its like tangerines versus oranges. "I will learn the second-best way to write Mandarin, so that I can almost say that I know Mandarin." Its like two stage language. When I think about learning Mandarin I want to skip the pinyin.

It certainly helps to have people around that speak Mandarin. So far, for me, pinyin has been a good transition stage. But I know I have to learn the characters also to be fluent.

 

[Vinayaka]

Languages have died and arisen in mere centuries. Why should we let it continue to happen? Why not make a permanent language?

That's just what certain religions think too. You really want one religion, or non-religion? So much is lost when we lose languages, as often, language is culture. When I travel, I love listening to people get excited in their native tongues. Mauritian Creole, Cree, Tamil, Bushmen... there are just so many. They're beautiful to hear. You'd be taking an entire identification away from so many people. Some medicinal plants only have the one name ... that of the people who use it. Without a word to describe it, it's become some weed, instead of medicine.

Besides that, with all the ethnic pride on the planet it's implementation is nigh impossible. Already been tried, with little success. It becomes more of 'my way' except it's 'my language'.

For use as some international trade thing, sure, although as others have pointed out, some parts of the world can't even agree to metric.

Might as well make just one make of car while you're at it.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

We have a common language in progress. English and American imperialism, and Christian missionary work from those two countries, have spread the English language worldwide.

Agree, but it's interesting that you and the others never mentioned the effect that the Internet is undoubtedly having on giving every human being on earth an incentive to understand English.

An opposite trend also exists : translation software, which might undermine the world agreeing on a single common language for lack of a need or benefit.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Over the centuries there have been many languages used internationally for diplomacy or scholarship: in the West, Akkadian, Greek, Latin, French, English. The one thing about them is that no-one sat down and asked what language they should be using: they all arose from social or political factors. You cannot make people use a language if they don't want to (Gaelic in Ireland) or stop them using a language that they like (Catalan in Spain).

The linguist André Martinet, once a supporter of the idea of an auxiliary language, ended by writing

The common mistake of nearly all language makers is to assume a demand where there is practically none. Well publicised and perfectly utilisable artificial languages have now been in existence for more than seventy years. Everybody knows about Esperanto, but no one, except a handful of idealists, ever bothers to learn it. The reason for this is not hard to find : except for professional linguists and a few amateurs, a language is never an end in itself. It is a tool with which one expects to achieve definite aims. … But who will take the trouble of learning even the simplest language if it does not give him access to new values ? Would it not therefore be sound, before launching into the shaping of a new language, to investigate whether new values can be created which could be reached only through the proposed linguistic medium ? If none can be thought of, it would certainly be wise to desist from the start.

As for Esperanto, it's not really easy: it's an example of what linguists call Standard Average European — which English isn't. For example, you have to memorise whether verbs are transitive or intransitive, and the choice is as arbitrary as in French or other SAE. Thus fendi "split" is transitive, but krevi "burst" is intransitive. It ignores many universals. Thus it has two cases, nominative and accusative, but uses the nominative after a preposition where all other two-case languages would use the accusative. The pronunciation is difficult for most of the world's population: knabo, kvanto, scias [i.e. stsias]. I could go on, but I'll spare you!

 

[Brickjectivity]

That's just what certain religions think too. You really want one religion, or non-religion? So much is lost when we lose languages, as often, language is culture. When I travel, I love listening to people get excited in their native tongues. Mauritian Creole, Cree, Tamil, Bushmen... there are just so many. They're beautiful to hear. You'd be taking an entire identification away from so many people. Some medicinal plants only have the one name ... that of the people who use it. Without a word to describe it, it's become some weed, instead of medicine.

Besides that, with all the ethnic pride on the planet it's implementation is nigh impossible. Already been tried, with little success. It becomes more of 'my way' except it's 'my language'.

For use as some international trade thing, sure, although as others have pointed out, some parts of the world can't even agree to metric.

Might as well make just one make of car while you're at it.

Lingua phobia? The mean languages are coming to take away our cultural identity! In my case I simply don't want to be bothered with extra languages, but I'm not worried about losing a cultural identity. You just take it with you. You translate it.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Agree, but it's interesting that you and the others never mentioned the effect that the Internet is undoubtedly having on giving every human being on earth an incentive to understand English.

An opposite trend also exists : translation software, which might undermine the world agreeing on a single common language for lack of a need or benefit.

Yeah, and that language software will eventually get very good -- once they work out how to connect vision, motion and language in the same software. We're talking about a genuine universal translator eventually. Then nobody will need to learn a language if they don't want to.

 

[ChristineM]

How would one go about codifying that for future generations? Put it into a cookbook? Write it in Chinese?

I did the codifying above "jag-u-ar"

Just say it correctly ;-)

 

[Vinayaka]

Lingua phobia? The mean languages are coming to take away our cultural identity! In my case I simply don't want to be bothered with extra languages, but I'm not worried about losing a cultural identity. You just take it with you. You translate it.

Ask the Quebecois that.

 

[ChristineM]

Agree, but it's interesting that you and the others never mentioned the effect that the Internet is undoubtedly having on giving every human being on earth an incentive to understand English.

An opposite trend also exists : translation software, which might undermine the world agreeing on a single common language for lack of a need or benefit.

Depends where your internet providers TLD is. I have a hell of a job getting google to serve me english results.

Most multilingual sites default to the country your TLD is

 

[Brickjectivity]

Ask the Quebecois that.

Quebec language, culture threatened?

It appears some feel the need to protect the French language.

This article is by someone who speaks Welsh and feels that whats killing the language is the pursuit of authenticity: exactly what some of the Quebecois are pursuing: Why is the Welsh language dying? Because the land of my fathers is obsessed with purity

 

[Ellen Brown]

Would it make a difference?

What language would stick the longest and be the most universal?

Why should/shouldn't we promote a worldwide language?

How should it be chosen?

Years ago, someone was promoting "Esperanto" (?) was it? I don't know what happened to it?

 

[Brickjectivity]

Years ago, someone was promoting "Esperanto" (?) was it? I don't know what happened to it?

Its still around just like Vulcan and Klingon.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I did the codifying above "jag-u-ar"

Just say it correctly ;-)

No Jag-uar. Jag-u-ar is a car, Jag-uar is a cat. In Spanish, which it came from, it would be closer to "Hahg-hwar". As a fan of Top Gear in the old days I can understand why Brits would want to have their car company pronounced the way it is in England. But then to be fair they need to learn how to pronounce "Tesla" and especially "Chrysler". Those are "s"s in those names not "z"s.

 

[ChristineM]

No Jag-uar. Jag-u-ar is a car, Jag-uar is a cat. In Spanish, which it came from, it would be closer to "Hahg-hwar". As a fan of Top Gear in the old days I can understand why Brits would want to have their car company pronounced the way it is in England. But then to be fair they need to learn how to pronounce "Tesla" and especially "Chrysler". Those are "s"s in those names not "z"s.

Jaguar, cat or car, same word, same pronunciation, hence the logo


Z's, thats an American thing, we hardly us them and sound s as s. But it probably sounds odd to americans

 

[Audie]

We have a common language in progress. English and American imperialism, and Christian missionary work from those two countries, have spread the English language worldwide.

It has been the only positive result of those two efforts, IMO.

Prease give examples of Engrish splead by American Imperialism?

 

[Audie]

French was the common language of international liaison between government and diplomacy. Now French still plays an important role but English has taken over.

English is also the language of the air and sea. Since 2008 international pilots and tower staff must speak english in a measure to improve safety. Likewise the common language of shipping (seaspeak) is based on english.

I guess if an international language is chosen it should follow what already exists for safety reasons.

Really! See German Cosst Guard Trainee on youtube