Is English going to replace other languages?
If nothing changed from the state of linguistic diversity today, it's unlikely that English would ever cause the disuse of all other languages broadly. There are countries and regions with strong native languages that are largely not English speaking, though English is a common second language.
Globally Speaking, English is Everywhere
English tops the list of official languages spoken around the world. While it may not have the highest number of native speakers, it is the most popular second language, spread over every continent. And the number of English speakers is growing.
In the next century, we predict we'll see even more exciting changes among English dialects. New ones are evolving, especially in places where English comes into contact with other languages, and dialects that have existed for centuries might grow increasingly more distinct.
For the foreseeable future English will remain the dominant global lingua franca (a language used by people with different native languages to communicate with each other), but the role it plays in the lives of individuals or in policies will begin to change.
There may be no reason to assume that the role of English on the global stage will disintegrate any time soon. English is still by far the most widely-understood language in the world, and it's the lingua franca on the internet.
Exploring the Closest Languages to English
Dutch, Frisian, and German stand as the nearest kin to English, with Frisian holding the strongest resemblance. The syntax, lexicon, and phonetics of both Frisian and English demonstrate their shared lineage.
As lexicographer Kory Stamper explains, “English has been borrowing words from other languages since its infancy.” As many as 350 other languages are represented and their linguistic contributions actually make up about 80% of English!
Most scholars date Modern English to about the year 1450. It spread widely in England due to the expanded volume of printed materials, including the works of Shakespeare, beginning in the late 1500s, and the King James Bible, first published in 1611.
Language will never stop changing; it will continue to respond to the needs of the people who use it. So the next time you hear a new phrase that grates on your ears, remember that like everything else in nature, the English language is a work in progress.
Having emerged from the dialects and vocabulary of Germanic peoples—Angles, Saxons, and Jutes—who settled in Britain in the 5th century CE, English today is a constantly changing language that has been influenced by a plethora of different cultures and languages, such as Latin, French, Dutch, and Afrikaans.
Will English change your life?
Whether you're looking for incredible job opportunities or even romance, learning English is your short cut to success! All over the world, countless lives are being improved with English.
As of now, the English language remains one of the most widely spoken and influential languages in the world. It is an official or widely spoken language in many countries and is often used as a lingua franca for international communication.
It's unlikely that everyone in the world will eventually speak English as their first language. While English is widely spoken as a second language in many countries, there are thousands of languages spoken globally, and many people are proud of their linguistic and cultural heritage.
English does not have an inflectional future tense, though it has a variety of grammatical and lexical means for expressing future-related meanings. These include modal auxiliaries such as will and shall as well as the futurate present tense.
English is easy enough to learn
English words are very easy to understand, and their resemblance to words from other languages makes it possible to say that people who speak these languages can see the connection between them and understand how certain words originated in English.
Yet more to the point, by 2115, it's possible that only about 600 languages will be left on the planet as opposed to today's 6,000. Japanese will be fine, but languages spoken by smaller groups will have a hard time of it.
West Frisian, or simply Frisian (West Frisian: Frysk [frisk] or Westerlauwersk Frysk; Dutch: Fries [fris], also Westerlauwers Fries), is a West Germanic language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland (Fryslân) in the north of the Netherlands, mostly by those of Frisian ancestry.
Mandarin Chinese
Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the writing system is extremely difficult for English speakers (and anyone else) accustomed to the Latin alphabet.
- Frisian. Frisian is thought to be one of the languages most closely related to English, and therefore also the easiest for English-speakers to pick up. ...
- Dutch. ...
- Norwegian. ...
- Spanish. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- Italian. ...
- French. ...
- Swedish.
Like other languages such as Sanskrit and Greek, Latin does not have any native speakers, giving it the title of 'Dead Language'. But it has an importance in European and Western Science, Literature, and Medicine. Since all the Romance Languages are derived from Latin, it can never be called an 'Extinct Language'.
What country spoke English first?
England and the Scottish Lowlands, countries of the United Kingdom, are the birthplace of the English language, and the modern form of the language has been spread around the world since the 17th century, first by the worldwide influence of England and later the United Kingdom, and then by that of the United States.
English has its roots in the Germanic languages, from which German and Dutch also developed, as well as having many influences from romance languages such as French. (Romance languages are so called because they are derived from Latin which was the language spoken in ancient Rome.)
The English language as we know it today did not exist in 3,000 BC. The earliest form of the English language, known as Old English, emerged around the 5th century AD with the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain.
Spanish and English both have ancient roots, but the development of Spanish as a distinct language began later than that of English. Spanish, as we know it today, evolved from Vulgar Latin and began to take shape around the 9th century.
Old English language, language spoken and written in England before 1100; it is the ancestor of Middle English and Modern English. Scholars place Old English in the Anglo-Frisian group of West Germanic languages.
