Language is defined, by the Oxford Dictionary (en.oxforddictionaries.com) as:
‘the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way or a non-verbal method of expression or communication’.
Today there are six or seven thousand languages worldwide. According to popsci (www.popsci.com), over the course of the next century, only about six or seven hundreds of those will remain. The number is declining because the languages which are spoken by less economically developed countries are not being used due to the fact of the people of that country have been learning the language of a country with more money because they need to trade with them. In this essay I am going to explore which could become the dominant languages.
The future of languages is still unclear but we know that the number of them is decreasing, making our chances of finding the language of the future greater. Many people look only at spoken language as having the possibility of becoming the language of the future. However, I am going to tell you how other ignored languages might possibly survive. Many small-scale languages are being taken over by bigger languages. People want to know the language of the future because they want to have time to learn and speak it so it does come all of a sudden. They want to teach their children the language when they are still young so it’s easier to learn because children have a growth mind-set, which means they can learn languages more easily. Researchers have a big job on their hands and they have suggested these ideas:
Emoji
People use Emoji all the time but they wouldn’t necessarily expect it to become the language of the future.
However, Emoji is now evolving faster than ancient forms of communication, such as hieroglyphics and the fastest growing language in the UK claims Professor Vyv Evans of Bangor University, according to www.bbc.co.uk
“As a visual language emoji has already far eclipsed hieroglyphics, its ancient Egyptian precursor which took centuries to develop,” he said.
In a survey by TalkTalk Mobile, 72% of 18 to 25-year-olds said they found it easier to put their feelings across in emoji icons than in text.
Hieroglyphics in a temple in Luxor, Egypt, first used more than 5,000 years ago
Emoji is very simple to learn and people use it all the time. The youngest children from toddler age could recognise visual symbols. There are 775 million people in the world who are illiterate in the world (www.theglobeandmail.com) so it would be easier for them to learn emoji. However it has a very significant disadvantage: You can’t speak emoji, you can only write it. Possibly in the future, people will find a way to be able to speak it. Right now, this has endangered its chances of becoming the language of the future.
Texting
People used to talk like writing and now they write as they talk when they text.
Texting has allowed us to use shorthand writing which is clear and legible.
If we look at the history of written English over the past 1,200 years (roughly from the time of Beowulf), writing was a skill used by few in the society. Up through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, writing was generally rather formal. Preachers read the Bible aloud; written speeches were memorised and delivered orally; plays were intended to be performed, not published. Not surprisingly, orthographic conventions were not strict; even Shakespeare spelled his own name at least six different ways. Gradually, with the spread of literacy and the rise of a ‘print’ culture, people wrote for their own daily personal use. (www.researchgate.net)
People were starting to distinguish formal from informal writing. Texting is now modern English’s informal language and is used by a wide range of people.
Young people are using texting as a new international language and it is considered to have many advantages. E.g. If a person speaks English and texts they are considered as bilingual. It is scientifically proven that being bilingual has many advantages. Adults as well as young people find it fun and quick to use.
Spoken languages
However, we know that, in the future, countries that are going to have increased economic growth will make the language they speak more important e.g. countries in Africa like Algeria, previously annexed by France, will develop and spread the French language
By 2050 the top 5 languages in the world will be:
1. Chinese (Mandarin), It is the centre of manufacturing in the modern world and it covers an enormous area, many large-scale companies are looking for people who speak Mandarin to deal with buying from factories and negotiating a good contract. Many factory owners are more willing to give a discounted price to people who speak their own language. China is also going to be the world’s next superpower by 2030; it will be influencing many countries with Mandarin, in this way. The problem is that Chinese is not widely spread around world and is rarely used in sciences and medical studies. This is due to much of the country’s past history of Communism and firstly, being isolated from the western world, where new discoveries were being made and secondly, other languages taking over the medical industry.
2. Spanish has dominated most of South America, used increasingly in North America and is learnt by many in the States as a second language. There are also forecasts that predict that the USA will be the largest Spanish speaking country by 2050, making Spanish a key language for doing business with the States. It is helpful in conducting everything from day-to-day business, in international trade, in government affairs and security. It is very useful for trading in South America and is a good language to know because, once the emerging countries of South America will have fully developed economically, it will be very important to know Spanish.
3. English is widely used as an international language: used at airports, conference meetings and global discussions. It is spread all over the world and is spoken by many large-scale businesses. It is estimated that there are 400 million people who speak English as a first language and there are 700-800 million people who speak English as a second language. Not only that but more than a billion more speak English as a foreign language. It has also widely spoken in TV shows and series. Many people have taught themselves English through watching these popular TV shows with the subtitles in their language. It has also risen through social media apps which sometimes don’t have the language that person requires so they will learn the most popular language for the app which usually English.
4. Urdu-Hindi, Hindi is widely spoken all over India and some people say that it has the capability of becoming the national language. By 2050, Hind will be dominating much of the business world in Asia. It is predicted that China and India will have 50% of the world GDP. These two languages been widely spread through the sale of items sold in India.
5. Arabic, is a very widespread language. It doesn’t have much use in trading but it used by many people who believe in Islam. Many countries like Morocco, previously annexed by the French, have changed their national language back to Arabic for it is a very Muslim country.
This means that those who are under the age of 10 now will be at the height of their careers in 2050, operating on a global platform that will demand an ability to function and negotiate in Asian markets.
However, the language of the future may not be dominant in the countries you live in or in the job you do. E.g. ‘Why would you need to learn Arabic, if you work in the south of the United States? You would most likely have to learn Spanish or Portuguese.
Music
Music is global for a reason.
Music can be considered as a universal language because it can convey emotions such as happiness, sadness etc. You can even call music the language of emotions because nearly everyone understands it. Music is incredible in its ability to be involved so many sounds, instruments, beat, genres, and people that listen to the millions of different types every day. Every culture in the world enjoy music; it is very simple to learn and play and their infinite ways of creating it. Anyone can produce it and this gives it the possibility of becoming the world’s primary language. It is quite simple to write music as well since you only have to draw a dot between a few lines to make a simple piece.
Each continent has many different music genres, according to the Huffington post (www.huffingtonpost.com), which can even contain their own sub genres or inspire other genres, for example, in America rock music evolved from blues music, and heavy metal came from an evolution of rock.
The Bangert study (2006) on musicians and non-musicians, using neuro-imaging; a study done by Tandfonline (www.tandfonline.com) is a perfect way to introduce this topic. The results of this study showed that musicians exhibit stronger activation than non-musicians in areas of the brain associated with language processing. This shows that music has many correlations with languages making it a valid applicant to the role of language of the future.
There are a few disadvantages:
People might not understand the more complex emotions that they are trying to convey using music and there are many different types of music and many people will argue over the meaning of them,
Conclusion
The future of language is most likely to be a spoken one. So if you want to learn the language that will be most useful for your future, consider learning a spoken one. Although Emoji and music are valid options for the role of language of the future, they are unlikely to become the most important, unless there is a drastic change in methods of communication in this time and age.