Many people have dreamed of a world in which everyone speaks the same language. Some international jobs use one language to avoid dangerous misunderstandings. However, even gestures can be misunderstood, as a shake of the head can mean “yes” in some countries and “no” in others!
There already is a universal language — a statement that is backed with ample evidence. That language is modern American English, also referred to as proper English. There are many good scientific and historic reasons for what has already happened, and the evidence is literally within these words that I type.
Yes, there is a tendency for languages to propagate and diverge, and yes, language and culture are one. As long as there are different cultures there will be different languages. But this has to do with how they are born. We do have a tendency to want to communicate with more people and the right people in the proper way. So there is a desire for a universal language.
But universal never meant international until very recently. If all you knew were the people in your village and had no contact with the outside world, universal would be your village. With media and better transportation, countries became smaller, and universal became national. So governments chose their national language and made it official. This is all hard evidence that backs this statement:
Hence, the real question is, (1) why doesn’t English diverge and (2) why doesn’t English immediately retrofit to cultures?
If you look at most languages in most countries, you will indeed see that languages naturally diverge into their dialects, and often this divergence is problematic for countries that wish to act as a whole. So in Japan for example, there is Standard Japanese (Hyojungo) that is defined as the language of Japan. Yet, plenty of dialects still are used daily, and most Japanese, if they are not born and raised in Tokyo, speak fluently in their local dialect as well as in Standard Japanese.
However, if you look at American English dialects, you will find that the language has an uncanny ability to remain rigid. Most English dialects lean towards different accents and intonations, and certainly local idioms and favoritism persist, but overall, English never breaks where other languages always do. Spelling and grammar remain, and proper English reigns supreme, globally. This all happened quite naturally… No one polices English. It organically grew into the role of a global standard. So what was the secret? What special powers does the English language possess?
Something interesting happened with English when it became the language of choice for scientists. English became more scientific. This happened in the mid-19th century. The scientific community was international and tight. They needed to be able to communicate, and the language they chose was English. They didn’t force their identity and wave their flags. They sought unity.
Picture Credit : Google