Lingua franca- Do they evolve faster?
By loudcry
@loudcry (1043)
India
January 26, 2010 3:26am CST
When I was watchig spelling bee last year, a contestant was given a word to spell. The contestant asked the host "Its french right?", to which the host replied "It is of french origin its English now"
I think we will all agree that English has come to become the Lingua franca today .(Wiki says, A lingua franca is a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both persons' mother tongues. )
Do think English has been evolving faster and has been adding more words to its dictionary than other languages because of its Lingua franca status?
Some Indian word that have been added to english are ;Guru,nirvana,avatar,karma,pundit,curry,dharma. These are some word I think of the top of my head. These are some of the recently added words, sanskrit and european languages share much deeper realtion.
Do list words you can think of.
2 people like this
3 responses
@headhunter525 (3548)
• India
30 Jan 10
I think the last century spread English language to many parts of the world than all the centuries put together. And with modern technology connecting each other from all over the world, English is gaining more prominence than others. Of course, it's because once upon a time the sun never sets in British Empire; and it's US empire, so to speak.
1 person likes this
@urbandekay (18278)
•
9 Feb 10
The English, unlike the French and Germans have always been happy to import words from other languages and this is the reason for the astonishingly large vocabulary in English. 1/2 million words classified and another 1/2 million unclassified as yet.
A graduate of a UK university may have a personal vocabulary greater than the total vocabulary of some languages.
It is this that gives English its unsurpassed accuracy and subtlety of expression.
The reason for it being the lingua franca is more to do with 2 factors. The fact that Britain had the largest empire the world has ever known; 1/4 of the worlds population were at one time under British rule. And secondly that so much was invented by Britain, which helped make English the dominant language for air and sea navigation, diplomacy and business and this influence has been extended with the British invention of the world wide web.
Interestingly though England was not the first country to have English as the official language, that honour goes, perhaps surprisingly to Scotland.
all the best urban
@harshadod (858)
• India
7 Feb 10
Yes, English is definitely evolving faster and adding more words.
It has borrowed from everywhere, especially Greek and Latin.
Why it has become the 'lingu franca', there is no clear answer. It adapts and attracts.
There are many languages considered more logical and easy but they have not captured the imagination of the masses.
There must be a certain inflection point beyond which success begets success.
Microsoft is more successful than macintosh, when experts consider the latter to be a better software, LUCK!!!
Even though the USA had different Europeans( Dutch, Germans, French, Spanish) and others as settlers, English has prevailed.
Chutney, moksha are some other words i can think of.
