what would you make Earth's official language?
- Thread starter Mr. Omega
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Esperanto was a nice idea, but if I remember right it was designed by a Finn and losely based on Finnish, a language with about 15 fricatives. I'm not sure English even has 5, and some languages don't have any. In terms of pronunciation it's not brilliant for everyone to learn.finiii said:
English gets points in my book for simplicity. Sure, it's got some weird and dumb exceptions, but it has 2 distinct advantages over a lot of other languages: 1) no conjugation and 2) no declension. 2 things which are utterly needless, as evidenced by the fact that a good number of languages get by without them.
I suppose if I could choose any language at all, maybe... Syhar? I dunno.
It's a moot point anyway, give it 100 years and we'll all be speaking Simplified Chinese.
Zamenhof was Polish, not Finnish. And Esperanto has eight fricatives and very standardized pronunciation overall.ExileNZ said:
Well, English would be the practical choice. But why the fuck would we want to be practical?
I'm gonna say Flemish, or Vietnamese...
I'm gonna say Flemish, or Vietnamese...
Well considering English is basically a collection of bastardized everything and ASCII revolves around it, i'll just stick with it.
It's hard to learn but an extremely expressive language that is easily modifiable and the use of common latin characters makes it easy and quick to write in, too.
I'd probably adopt the standard English and throw in some more French words, just because.
It's hard to learn but an extremely expressive language that is easily modifiable and the use of common latin characters makes it easy and quick to write in, too.
I'd probably adopt the standard English and throw in some more French words, just because.
English - alongside your native language. I would also impose learning a third language of choice in all of the schools on Earth. Though that wouldn't be mandatory, just an early-school option.
Currently in the UK you learn either French, Spanish, German and sometimes Latin, but you rarely get a choice on which one you do: the school decides for you and it's mandatory.
I had to learn Spanish in my first school, with Japanese, Italian and Russian an hour a week on the side. I only wanted to do German out of the taught languages at the time. When I moved I was forced into Welsh and French instead - my own countries language I had just 2 years, at 1 lesson a week, to become competent in while everyone around me had been doing it for 10 years+. French - I just couldn't give a damn about. Never has interested me.
None of those went well and all I can blame is the UK school system. Give students CHOICE in the languages they learn, or they will look at "languages" on their school time tables as "Free's".
Why don't UK schools offer more, like Greek? Spiralling off topic ftw!
Currently in the UK you learn either French, Spanish, German and sometimes Latin, but you rarely get a choice on which one you do: the school decides for you and it's mandatory.
I had to learn Spanish in my first school, with Japanese, Italian and Russian an hour a week on the side. I only wanted to do German out of the taught languages at the time. When I moved I was forced into Welsh and French instead - my own countries language I had just 2 years, at 1 lesson a week, to become competent in while everyone around me had been doing it for 10 years+. French - I just couldn't give a damn about. Never has interested me.
None of those went well and all I can blame is the UK school system. Give students CHOICE in the languages they learn, or they will look at "languages" on their school time tables as "Free's".
Why don't UK schools offer more, like Greek? Spiralling off topic ftw!
English, its already the internation language of commerce, science and aviation. also possibly shipping, but less sure on that. And its the most spoken language on the planet, not the most spoken FIRST language, just the most spoken, be it first, second or third. So makes sense really.
Italian.
I got into an argument with an Italian in my Linguistics class. I said that it would be better if we had an official, global language. He got mad at me because he mistakenly assumed my native language was English and that the global language I was proposing was English (even though I never said that). He yelled at me, asking "why should everyone have to learn your language?" when that wasn't what I had in mind at all. I just think it would be beneficial not to have language barriers.
So this is for you, angry Italian guy.
I got into an argument with an Italian in my Linguistics class. I said that it would be better if we had an official, global language. He got mad at me because he mistakenly assumed my native language was English and that the global language I was proposing was English (even though I never said that). He yelled at me, asking "why should everyone have to learn your language?" when that wasn't what I had in mind at all. I just think it would be beneficial not to have language barriers.
So this is for you, angry Italian guy.
Yeah, that pissed me off. I have friends in Gibraltar who regularly slip into spanish, so spanish would be good to learn. Nope, french.Bvenged said:
OT: English, simply because it's the most understood language already.
I come from an Urdu speaking background, and while I can't give you any specific examples, (I don't speak it well myself, but can sort of understand it) but I've seen plenty of times where a Tv show, or picture or something has been hilarious. Languages all serve a common purpose, to enable us to communicate. Humor is one of the most basic human ... (can't think of the right word, but you know what I mean), all languages are able to express creativity and sarcasm and whatnot.trty00 said:I'm going with English. My reasoning is a bit odd, but here goes... English has the best sense of humor. It's just so witty. To my knowledge, there's just no other language that has such a great potential for creativity. And,as far as I know, no other language has the awesome grasp of sarcasm, and irony, that we do. I know, that sounds weird, but that's just me.
P.S: If I'm incorrect in my assumptions, please let me know.
I think your comment that English is so funny and creative, is because most of the humorous content on the internet is in English.
By the way, do you have any experience with languages other than English?
It has to be something particularly ridiculous, because if we're going to be speaking it for the rest of our lives I want to have fun with it.
And for this reason I'm going for either Welsh, Finnish or Icelandic.
Welsh - covering everyone you're speaking to in phlegm is HILARIOUS.
Finnish - has the most batshit crazy grammar I've ever come across, and the words for numbers are so long that telling the time is a hoot; once you've managed to say it it's no longer accurate.
Icelandic - They have a place called Jökulsárgljúfur. 'nuff said.
And for this reason I'm going for either Welsh, Finnish or Icelandic.
Welsh - covering everyone you're speaking to in phlegm is HILARIOUS.
Finnish - has the most batshit crazy grammar I've ever come across, and the words for numbers are so long that telling the time is a hoot; once you've managed to say it it's no longer accurate.
Icelandic - They have a place called Jökulsárgljúfur. 'nuff said.
English would be the best choice. It's easy for speakers of other Germanic languages to pick up, it's versatile, adaptable, and it's eminently practical. The language is already used around the world, and seeing as it's quite easy to learn, it's the most convenient candidate for Earth's official language.
If we cannot have a sensible language, then I would nominate free jazz. According to Sun Ra, they even speak it on the moons of Jupiter.
If we cannot have a sensible language, then I would nominate free jazz. According to Sun Ra, they even speak it on the moons of Jupiter.
Isn't Japanese is widely regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn? I seem to remember hearing that somewhere. I might be wrong, though.Justank said:
