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Changes in language over the ages

 

When people get into contact with other civilizations they need a common language to communicate. During the Age of Exploration European navigators simplifiedtheir language to communicate with the nativesof North and South America. Such languages are called pidgin languages.

Even standard languages change over centuries. English during the time of Shakespeare is much different from the English we speak today.

 

Future of languages

Over the past centuries, English has become the dominant world language, mostly because of the British Empire and the rise of the United States as a global political and economic superpower. Many linguists say that Mandarin Chinese will become the new number one language, because it is the mother tongue of over 1 billion people. China is on the verge of becoming a new economic superpower and many international corporations already advise their workers to learn Mandarin.

In the past, some attempts have been made to create a global language for everyone. A Polish scientist, Ludwik Zamenhof, invented Esperanto at the beginning of the 20th century.  His goal was to form a neutral language with easy words and grammar that is not so difficult to learn. Linguists claim that up to a million people use and speak Esperanto today.

Languages that are not actively spoken any more die out over a period. Linguists claim that 90% of the world’s 7000 languages will become extinct within the next 50 years.  Other languages, like Latin or ancient Greek, died out centuries ago, but are still needed in fields like medicine, biology, history or archaeology.

 

Language Total Speakers (Natives, First and Second Language Speakers (in millions)
English 2100
Mandarin Chinese 1100
Spanish 530
Hindi 500
Arabic 350
French 230
Russian 270
Portuguese 217
German 110

 

Words

  • advise = suggest
  • authority =organization or government department that  has the power to do things and make decisions
  • century = a hundred years
  • certain = special
  • civilization =culture , people, society
  • colony = faraway country or area that a larger country controls
  • common = popular, widespread
  • connect = link
  • corporation = very large company
  • develop = grow
  • dialect = form of a language spoken only in one area; the words and grammar are a bit different than the normal language
  • dominant = number one, main
  • economic = about trade, industry, as well as buying and selling products
  • emerge = come up, appear for the first time
  • especially = above all
  • express = say and tell what you are thinking
  • few = not many
  • global =worldwide
  • humans = people
  • immigration = going to another country to work and live there
  • influence = affect, shape, change
  • linguist = someone who studies or teaches the structure of languages
  • local = only in a small area
  • minority = small group of people within a larger group
  • mother tongue = main language that you learnt when you were a child
  • natives = people who are born in a place and have always live there
  • navigator = person on a ship who decides which route to take
  • official = here: the main language
  • point = time, phase
  • popular = common, widespread
  • recognise = accept
  • rule = something that you are allowed to say in a language because it is correct
  • society = people in general, who live together in a country
  • through the ages = over history
  • translate = change written and spoken words form one language into another
  • verge = edge, close to
  • widely = generally, mostly

 

Sources from:       http://www.english-online.at/society/languages/history-of-languages.htm

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