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Why different languages?
2

Why different languages?

Why different languages?

(OP)


Because of ancestral geographical localism nations communities developed their own code of speaking their own language. With the actual universalism concept and communications facilities the world tendency is to speak a unique language apart from native languages. The English language is well positioned to play that role. In the future all of the world will speak English.

Regards

Luis Marques

RE: Why different languages?

As a native Ohioan (USA), it seems that in the future all of the world will be speaking Spanish. That is until we switch to Chinese.

RE: Why different languages?

A few years back, it was Japanese (remember electronics and cars). Then, it was Russian (remember oil). Then it seemed to be Spanish (remember Mexico and border patrol).

Next, I am guessing Arabic (state is currently encouraging Arabic so that they can develop interpreters and other people to work for the government/agencies).

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Why different languages?

Yes, I think Arabic (and maybe Farsi too). That way we can all understand the Q'uran, and not have to rely on interpretations (opinions?) of others.

RE: Why different languages?

2
Do I dare bring up the tower or Babel.....

RE: Why different languages?

Make that of Babel

RE: Why different languages?

Why so many animals, chicken and beef is enough.

Forever Young

RE: Why different languages?

I speak English and American.

Chris
SolidWorks 06 5.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 10-27-06)

RE: Why different languages?

I speak English.

I understand American (mostly).

Je parle un peu le Francais.

Soy Anglais, no hablo espanole (or something like that).

RE: Why different languages?

One response to snowfire:
 Huh?

RE: Why different languages?

I was still thinking before I say "huh?".
You beat me to it Ron.

Chris
SolidWorks 06 5.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 10-27-06)

RE: Why different languages?

wat evr hapned to ebonics?  

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

RE: Why different languages?

I think it was blacklisted. tongue

cheers

RE: Why different languages?

I never learnded eboniks.cry

Chris
SolidWorks 06 5.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 10-27-06)

RE: Why different languages?

eboniks - its easy.  For example, here's how you conjugate the verb "be":

I be
You be
He be
She be
They be
We be

RE: Why different languages?

Gives me the He-Be-Je-Bes.

cheers

RE: Why different languages?

ime hookd on foniks.  medal

Robert

RE: Why different languages?

Re Ebonics...

I once heard that Idaho never enters a contestant in the annual Miss Ebonics competition.

RE: Why different languages?

(OP)
Hi bruddas!

English is nothing but a world Creole language as Portuguese is at a lower scale.

RE: Why different languages?

JAE - but thaz ow they torks down in Zomerset an zom other plazes down tha west contry.
They be tha zalt o the earth.

Bill

RE: Why different languages?

... Where I come from "Zomerset" is considered to be in the North East.  It's quite amusing how the "westcountry accent" peaks so far away from the actual westcountry (i.e. Devon & Cornwall).

RE: Why different languages?

Once saw a bumber sticker that read:

"Axe me about ebonics"

RE: Why different languages?

Every empire has its rise, and every empire has its fall.  Once upon a time this same conversation was taking place about Latin.  I agree with the person who was talking about Chinese.  I recommend brushing up on your Mandarin if you plan on sticking around another 30 years or so.

RE: Why different languages?

(OP)

World languages used through Internet





Luis

RE: Why different languages?

I wonder what percentage of the Chinese population has access to the internet.  Must be very low.

Of the 34% English users, I wonder what percentage are Indian.  Do most Indians prefer English sites over Hindi?

Interesting pie chart.  Care to share the source?

RE: Why different languages?

I heard that there are more people in China speaking English than there are Americans speaking English.

So why would we soon be speaking Chinese?

Charlie
www.facsco.com

RE: Why different languages?

"...speaking Chinese?"  What, pray tell, might that be?  Would that be Mandarin, would that be Cantonese, or would that be one of several other languages spoken in China?  English, even with the various forms that exist in different parts of the world, is - as I understand - much more unified than anything that might be called "Chinese".  Because there are so many people in the world who know English as a second language there are more English speakers than speakers of any other single language.

RE: Why different languages?


<Reference>

Genesis 11

The Tower of Babel
 1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, [a] they found a plain in Shinar [b] and settled there.
 3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel [c] —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

RE: Why different languages?

... but from baked brick and tar to A36 steel and B7 bolts, we never stopped building higher and higher towers.

RE: Why different languages?

... and during the time that, "we never stopped building higher and higher towers", the language has become more and more universal.

Should we expect another visit soon? smile

cheers

RE: Why different languages?

Well I've heard talk that having one universal language is a sign of the end times and that the internet (with associated standard http protocols etc) is that language.

However, these were the same people that claimed to have letters sent from the government by mistake asking where you wanted the barcode tatooed on you.  I believe the letter wasn't meant to have been sent till 2005, I still haven't got mine.

RE: Why different languages?

(OP)
KENAT

You haven’t got yet the barcode tattooed on you?

Lucky on you! It is a sign that you don’t pay taxes.

Or… instead of the barcode tattoo, probably you have a fiscal number card.

Cheers

Luis

medal

RE: Why different languages?

Bar codes? I would  assume that along with universal language, we would get something akin to our SSN mandatorially implanted in a subdermal chip in our foreheads.
Are we off topic or what?

RE: Why different languages?

[segue]It may be off-topic but at least we are all using English as the common language.[/segue]

cheers

RE: Why different languages?

If God purposefully confused the language, why did he counter that by creating the babel fish. I thought he vanished in a poof of logic anyway.

RE: Why different languages?

I thought the credit card numbers were sending us to hell....

Charlie
www.facsco.com

RE: Why different languages?

FACS: Not really, just involuntary servitude---a type of hell.

RE: Why different languages?

(OP)

Babel fish is a very useful tool, Babel tower is just a Babel, any way, ingenuously I believe in a good GOD.

Luis

RE: Why different languages?

Me too, Luis

RE: Why different languages?

But he works in mysterious ways no?

RE: Why different languages?

(OP)
Kenat

Speaking here, each other, in peace, without knowing us, for sure it is a miracle of GOD. To have the capacity to learn and understand each other through a different language of our own, or through a gesture language this is the mysterious of GOD.

Cheers

Luis

RE: Why different languages?

Worldwide, the statistics for first language look quite different from the internet language figures:

Mandarin Chinese 13.69%
Spanish 5.05%
English 4.84%
Hindi 2.82%
Portuguese 2.77%
Bengali 2.68%
Russian 2.27%
Japanese 1.99%
Standard German 1.49%
Wu Chinese 1.21%

(2004 est. - source: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/xx.html#People)

A.

RE: Why different languages?

Wow! French didn't even make the list

RE: Why different languages?

(OP)
http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm

“After weighing six factors (number of primary speakers, number of secondary speakers, number and population of countries where used, number of major fields using the language internationally, economic power of countries using the languages, and socio-literary prestige), Weber compiled the following list of the world's ten most influential languages:
(number of points given in parentheses)

1.    English (37)
2.    French (23)
3.    Spanish (20)
4.    Russian (16)
5.    Arabic (14)
6.    Chinese (13)
7.    German (12)
8.    Japanese (10)
9.    Portuguese (10)
10.    Hindi/Urdu (9) “
Cheers

Luis

RE: Why different languages?

Really!

French in second and portuguese in ninth. Well, I don't think I will believe Weber.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."   
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

RE: Why different languages?

6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

One of the most interesting passages in the Bible to me.

rmw

RE: Why different languages?

Have you ever tried to learn Hindi?  Holy Cow, that's a hard language...   winky smile

RE: Why different languages?

michfan-

I have (have tried, not have learned it).  You're not kidding.  But then I'm pretty much a language idiot.  Anyone know a really really easy language for me to learn? ;)

RE: Why different languages?

Klingon?

RE: Why different languages?

"Oddle-poddle" - Bill & Ben

Flobbadob !

RE: Why different languages?

Don't be silly - oddle-poddle is really hard. I keep getting the "flob"s confused with the "flobb"s and don't even get me started on the "dob"s!

RE: Why different languages?

I had a copy of an article written by a German Enginee, and it seems appropriate to this discussion.

The European commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English" (or preferably, "SI English").

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy.  The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k".  This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have
one less letter.  There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f".  This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords containing "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza.  Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

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