RobWords
Creator
YouTube Channel

Word facts and language fun.

Sign up today to ask RobWords a question!

QUESTIONS TO ROBWORDS

3/3 ANSWERED

What do you (and the world’s leading linguists) predict that the English language will look like in the next 100-300 years?
Is it possible to give an example?(and resources so I can find more myself?
I have been searching but without much luck)
Also, what will be the most spoken and written language at that time?

May 11th 2024
at 3:33 PM
May 14th 2024
at 7:23 PM

Hi there Connyr. I personally think the future looks rather bright for English. It has well established itself as a global language and I anticipate that it will continue to hold this position for many years to come. Especially given that demographic changes mean two countries with a lot of English speakers are set to make up a large proportion of the world's population by the end of this century (namely India and Nigeria).

English is currently the most spoken language in the world, and it is hard to see which language could replace it. The geopolitics of the next couple of centuries will perhaps be the deciding factor, but based upon the status quo, I see no reason for English to fall from its perch. China's population is set to fall, and Mandarin has barely established itself outside of China itself.

As for what "Future English" will be like: there are linguists who have speculated that existing dialects of English around the world may diverge from one another in the coming centuries to become languages that are no longer mutually intelligible. To that end, others have proposed that it might be necessary for speakers of these divergent dialects to also be able to speak a "standard" version of English, which they can use to communicate with one another. This sounds rather similar to the current situation with Arabic.

However, it seems more likely to me (and many linguists) that the world's Englishes will converge, rather than diverge. The internet means the same versions of English are being heard all over the world, so we should get better at understanding one another, not worse.

As for how English will look in a few centuries time... who knows? But for the past 1500 years or so it has followed a process of gradual simplification. Perhaps we should assume that it will continue on this path. Maybe we will lose a few more of our irregular verbs (start saying "catched" instead of "caught" or "flied" instead of "flew"). Maybe we'll lose our indefinite articles "a" and "an" (plenty of other languages manage without them). And it seems highly unlikely that our current pronoun regime will remain unchanged.

As for English vocabulary, I'm sure English will continue to effortlessly absorb words from other languages.

Leading linguist David Crystal has written much on the subject of the future of English. This article is a great starting point: https://www.davidcrystal.com/Files/BooksAndArticles/-4037.pdf

It was written in 1999, but when we're talking about centuries in the future, what harm does it do to step back 25 years?

Perhaps you can also get access to an article by John McWhorter called "What the World Will Speak in 2115". I couldn't find a non-paywalled link to share. In it, he argues that we should expect the next century (or so) to strip away many of the world's languages and simplify the ones that remain.

I hope this answers your question.

Regards,
Rob

Rob, I recently found your channel and have been binge watching your wonderful videos. Are you planning a book anytime soon?

December 9th 2023
at 8:41 PM
December 9th 2023
at 10:38 PM

Thank you so much for watching my stuff!

I would love to write a book at some point, but don't currently have one in the works. I rather venerate books and will need to have a really good idea before I set about writing one myself. But who wouldn't like to see their name in print?

If you enjoy my YouTube channel, I would heartily recommend to you Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. It's a glorious book about every quirky aspect of the English language and a joy to pick up. The first edition was written around 150 years ago (I recently found a copy owned by one of my Victorian ancestors!) and it is admired by many of the biggest names in modern literature and linguistics.

Perhaps 2024 will be the year when I attempt to join Reverend Brewer on the bookshelf. Who knows when inspiration will strike?

All the best,
Rob

Hi Rob, thanks for the work you obviously put into your videos, and please keep them coming! I wanted to know what you think about whether we should try to save dying languages. I'm torn. It's sad to lose anything of cultural and historical significance, but shouldn't we let language develop and die naturally? Also, please do a video on onomatopoeias, especially non-English ones!

November 12th 2023
at 12:31 AM
November 12th 2023
at 1:07 PM

Hi Harriet! Thanks for the question.

It's a tricky one, isn't it?

It's estimated that languages are going extinct at a rate of one per month and I find it hard not to see each one of those as a tragedy. As you say, it's a loss of something culturally significant. It's usually irretrievable too (so far as I know, Hebrew is the only language to have been revived to the point of being anyone's first language). I think that such a loss should be avoided where it is avoidable.

One could argue that we should be striving for a world where the maximum number of people can be understood by the maximum number of people, and that minority languages somehow impede that. Languages dying out could therefore be seen as a form of natural selection, enabling society to evolve. But I don't think that this evolution requires these lesser-used languages to pass quietly into non-existence, particularly when bilingualism is possible. The ideal situation would be for people who share a culture with these languages to speak both the heritage language and the language that enables them to communicate more widely. I know Irish and Welsh speakers who have precisely this skill.

This clearly isn't possible in all situations. If a tribe dies out, nobody from outside of that tribe can realistically be expected to carry on its linguistic tradition. But overall, I would say: let's do our best to preserve the diversity and multiplicity of the world's languages.

Thanks again for the question, and also for the video suggestion. I've had many fun discussions with my wife about the words for animal noises in her native French. I think it's an excellent idea.

What do you (and the world’s leading linguists) predict that the English language will look like in the next 100-300 years?
Is it possible to give an example?(and resources so I can find more myself?
I have been searching but without much luck)
Also, what will be the most spoken and written language at that time?

May 11th 2024
at 3:33 PM
May 14th 2024
at 7:23 PM

Hi there Connyr. I personally think the future looks rather bright for English. It has well established itself as a global language and I anticipate that it will continue to hold this position for many years to come. Especially given that demographic changes mean two countries with a lot of English speakers are set to make up a large proportion of the world's population by the end of this century (namely India and Nigeria).

English is currently the most spoken language in the world, and it is hard to see which language could replace it. The geopolitics of the next couple of centuries will perhaps be the deciding factor, but based upon the status quo, I see no reason for English to fall from its perch. China's population is set to fall, and Mandarin has barely established itself outside of China itself.

As for what "Future English" will be like: there are linguists who have speculated that existing dialects of English around the world may diverge from one another in the coming centuries to become languages that are no longer mutually intelligible. To that end, others have proposed that it might be necessary for speakers of these divergent dialects to also be able to speak a "standard" version of English, which they can use to communicate with one another. This sounds rather similar to the current situation with Arabic.

However, it seems more likely to me (and many linguists) that the world's Englishes will converge, rather than diverge. The internet means the same versions of English are being heard all over the world, so we should get better at understanding one another, not worse.

As for how English will look in a few centuries time... who knows? But for the past 1500 years or so it has followed a process of gradual simplification. Perhaps we should assume that it will continue on this path. Maybe we will lose a few more of our irregular verbs (start saying "catched" instead of "caught" or "flied" instead of "flew"). Maybe we'll lose our indefinite articles "a" and "an" (plenty of other languages manage without them). And it seems highly unlikely that our current pronoun regime will remain unchanged.

As for English vocabulary, I'm sure English will continue to effortlessly absorb words from other languages.

Leading linguist David Crystal has written much on the subject of the future of English. This article is a great starting point: https://www.davidcrystal.com/Files/BooksAndArticles/-4037.pdf

It was written in 1999, but when we're talking about centuries in the future, what harm does it do to step back 25 years?

Perhaps you can also get access to an article by John McWhorter called "What the World Will Speak in 2115". I couldn't find a non-paywalled link to share. In it, he argues that we should expect the next century (or so) to strip away many of the world's languages and simplify the ones that remain.

I hope this answers your question.

Regards,
Rob

Rob, I recently found your channel and have been binge watching your wonderful videos. Are you planning a book anytime soon?

December 9th 2023
at 8:41 PM
December 9th 2023
at 10:38 PM

Thank you so much for watching my stuff!

I would love to write a book at some point, but don't currently have one in the works. I rather venerate books and will need to have a really good idea before I set about writing one myself. But who wouldn't like to see their name in print?

If you enjoy my YouTube channel, I would heartily recommend to you Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. It's a glorious book about every quirky aspect of the English language and a joy to pick up. The first edition was written around 150 years ago (I recently found a copy owned by one of my Victorian ancestors!) and it is admired by many of the biggest names in modern literature and linguistics.

Perhaps 2024 will be the year when I attempt to join Reverend Brewer on the bookshelf. Who knows when inspiration will strike?

All the best,
Rob

Hi Rob, thanks for the work you obviously put into your videos, and please keep them coming! I wanted to know what you think about whether we should try to save dying languages. I'm torn. It's sad to lose anything of cultural and historical significance, but shouldn't we let language develop and die naturally? Also, please do a video on onomatopoeias, especially non-English ones!

November 12th 2023
at 12:31 AM
November 12th 2023
at 1:07 PM

Hi Harriet! Thanks for the question.

It's a tricky one, isn't it?

It's estimated that languages are going extinct at a rate of one per month and I find it hard not to see each one of those as a tragedy. As you say, it's a loss of something culturally significant. It's usually irretrievable too (so far as I know, Hebrew is the only language to have been revived to the point of being anyone's first language). I think that such a loss should be avoided where it is avoidable.

One could argue that we should be striving for a world where the maximum number of people can be understood by the maximum number of people, and that minority languages somehow impede that. Languages dying out could therefore be seen as a form of natural selection, enabling society to evolve. But I don't think that this evolution requires these lesser-used languages to pass quietly into non-existence, particularly when bilingualism is possible. The ideal situation would be for people who share a culture with these languages to speak both the heritage language and the language that enables them to communicate more widely. I know Irish and Welsh speakers who have precisely this skill.

This clearly isn't possible in all situations. If a tribe dies out, nobody from outside of that tribe can realistically be expected to carry on its linguistic tradition. But overall, I would say: let's do our best to preserve the diversity and multiplicity of the world's languages.

Thanks again for the question, and also for the video suggestion. I've had many fun discussions with my wife about the words for animal noises in her native French. I think it's an excellent idea.