Is Globalization Destroying Language? (Part I)

This post is Part 1 of a two-part series. 

Globalization is changing the way we travel, eat, play and even write and speak. As improvements in transport and telecommunications have brought civilizations around the world closer together, the languages we employ to communicate have been affected in various ways: while a few languages have been strengthened by this closeness, almost every other language in the world has been weakened by a constant pressure towards homogenization. Some would even say that if this trend continues to progress unfettered the effects of this globalizing force will whittle away at languages around the world until the entire planet ends up speaking only one: English.

What will be the languages of the future? Will we all speak a single tongue? Will it be English? What will happen to the rest of the languages of the world? Why does this matter?

I love language. Some might even say I am obsessed with languages——world languages, obscure languages, growing, dying and extinct languages alike. I would therefore like to think that the cultural richness we have amassed in the almost 7,000 tongues around the world will survive into the future. The truth, however, is that the vast majority of them will not. Further, it is unlikely that new systems of speech will arise around the world in sufficient numbers to maintain the diversity we have today. Globalization, like every other moment in history that has brought different groups of people together, will gradually change languages, their relationships to one another and the very concept of language itself. This does not mean that languages will all die systemically and that English will become the solitary language of the planet. No. In my opinion, although the vast majority of languages will become extinct in the next 200 years, many will survive and the cultures, stories and myths they enclose will live on with them.

This is an emotionally-charged subject for most of us. There are few things in our lives that we cherish more closely than the very words we enounce every day. We place an identity on every language, we ascribe value to them and we define our lives by them. But as much as we hold our languages in great esteem, the truth is that we have other imperatives beyond our seemingly innate desire to preserve our cultures and languages. We want to eradicate poverty; we want to mature into more efficient societies, economies and polities; we want to become a global community that has learned to live in peace. All of these objectives can be more easily met as a global society if we work together in unison and, arguably, anything that serves to divide us——including language——can disrupt that badly-needed cooperation. Could it be that the price we must pay for progress and peace will be our mores, traditions and speech?

What can we expect from here onwards? Does the future of language necessarily have to be bleak? Again, no. Progress may come at a price, but it does not have to result in a total cultural loss. In part two of this post, I will describe what in my opinion are the characteristics of those languages that are going to survive. Additionally, I will explore possible scenarios and outcomes and a potential alternative that may allow us to realistically maintain a minimum amount of linguistic diversity in spite of the overall trends brought about by globalization. For now I leave you with this preview: 

The languages of the future will be those that unite; languages that divide will by that very fact create the conditions for their own demise. 

Stay tuned!