this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2025
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There were many lingua francas of which French was supposedly the first global lingua franca. That changed and it became English (from what I understand). We will probably see another language become the lingua franca, so my question is: should it be English? Are there better candidates out there? Why / why not?

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[โ€“] warm@kbin.earth 5 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

English is Germanic, so it's a pointless change. Latin would be cool I guess, but English is mostly derived from it anyway, just simplified.

English isn't going anywhere. It's too embedded now.

[โ€“] atro_city@fedia.io 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

English isn't going anywhere. It's too embedded now.

That's what French was until the second world war changed everything.

[โ€“] warm@kbin.earth 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Look at how we are communicating. This is why it won't change again. The world wasnt connected like it is now.

[โ€“] atro_city@fedia.io 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Never say never. Many things can change. English became the lingua franca in a single generation. Someone born in the 50s is old enough to remember a different lingua franca.

The US could align itself with Russia and create such animosity that people not only eschew its products but also the language. Right-wingers could get so much power and become so radical that they demand English be abolished as it tarnishes their own language. China could swoop in, nuke Western powers, and establish a new world order with Mandarin as the world language. An unexpected geological event could pollute the skies and seas in and around Europe, force massive emigration to Africa and Asia, and African governments could unite to declare Arabic, Swahili, and Zulu as the main languages of Africa for all to learn. Brain to computer interfaces might become so widespread that an intermediate and more practical, universal brainwave language is used instead of English (see Gibberlink for inspiration).

[โ€“] warm@kbin.earth 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, of course, not impossible, but we won't change from it just because. There would have to be a real reason, like as you say, crazy technology advancements or an insane apocalypse makes its widespread use die out.

People have never been this connected, so it's not going to change anywhere near as easily as it has in the past, is my point.

[โ€“] atro_city@fedia.io 1 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

I wouldn't say it changed easily, but fair point.

[โ€“] warm@kbin.earth 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Yup, not "easily" but in comparison to what I personally believe it would take to change now ^^

[โ€“] atro_city@fedia.io 1 points 5 hours ago

Hehe, yeah, you're right :)

[โ€“] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 1 points 11 hours ago

but English is mostly derived from it anyway

IMO English is more Germanic than Latin. There's certainly a lot of latin/french loanwords, but that's true for all other Germanic languages, too (even if to a somewhat lesser degree). Romance languages like French and Italian are actually derived from Latin and they are a lot different from English but fairly similar to each other (especially Italian, Spanish and Portuguese).