Making communication much easier imposing tough sanctions or millitary action against countries like the USA who abuse it with mispronunciations(tomato) and misspellings (color)
2006-11-05 02:10:39 · 12 answers · asked by maddogs 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Oh come on! You say tomato, I say tomato! There is one universal language-Love! I also love the colour blue. It is my favourite colour.
2006-11-05 02:16:50 · answer #1 · answered by looloo1122 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
GOD NO
lol
communication as it is isn't too hard. language is one of the most beautiful and complex thing invented by man. take some time to learn other languages. English in some ways is a very limited language. An english speaker cannot even imagine the shades of meaning other languages are capable in english. of course this goes both ways. For example in english we can distinguish between ongoing action in the present and action which occurs in the present but is not necessarily going on at this moment.
I am walking
I walk
but in Latin both those meanings are encapsuled into one form
ambulo
An opposite example is Ancient greek and English
where english has one infintive "to teach" Greek has two.
"didaskein" and "didaxai"
didaskein means to teach (continuesly)
and didaxai means to teach (once)
Each language gives its speaker a different way of looking at the world and different ways of expressing their thoughts which another language may lack.
Also read 1984 if you haven't. It talks about "newspeak" a consolidated language for all people. The government uses it to control the people by taking away different shades of meaning. "free" no longer means politically liberated, it loses that meaning and people no longer can express that idea. By slwoly ridding the language of words concerning free will and the like the government removes the risk of rebellion since no one can even express that idea.
2006-11-05 19:53:51 · answer #2 · answered by datacovdelives 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh yes definitely, but i think that some other countries might get a little miffed over it! What about people in other European countries who learn to speak several languages so that they can interact socially and financially with their close neighbors. Are you really saying that you are so much lazier or inept that this is impossible for you? English as a base language for international trade might have worked. But, i'm thinking you probably need to learn some Chinese now, or don't you follow the news!
2006-11-05 10:47:09 · answer #3 · answered by lucky 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's interesting that you choose the word "harmonize." I think of harmonizing as many voices joining together, not exactly alike, but all with the same intention, to make beautiful music. If you take away the rich and varied languages of the world, you will not have harmony, but only unison. MILITARY ACTION agains countries who mispronounce/misspell words? Please tell me that this is a tongue-in-cheek suggestion. Remember, too, that language is deeply intertwined with culture. The folklore that the Eskimo language has over 40 words for "snow" has a grain of truth to it - each language places emphasis on words that are important and relevant to its corresponding culture.
2006-11-05 13:04:30 · answer #4 · answered by mthompson828 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
much less than 80% of the world speaks English as its mother tongue. Why on Earth should that 80% suddenly give up their language in favour of English only really that popular in the world due to most English Speakers having that very attitude!
2006-11-05 15:42:01 · answer #5 · answered by langsteacher 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd say no. Buy using English as a worldwide language you erase a lot of amazing culture of hundreds of places. It might do well as an international language used for business transactions, but not for everyday use.
2006-11-05 10:19:02 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Though this is absolutely one of the most retarded ideas ever, If there was a single "language", it would have to be Spanish. I take the class, and it is incredibly easy to learn.
And to the guy who said Chinese- think maybe it has the most speakers because China has the most people?
2006-11-05 20:00:46 · answer #7 · answered by Joel 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are more people in the world speaking Chinese than English. Stew on that!
2006-11-05 10:12:05 · answer #8 · answered by poohu812many 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
if we universalized english...there would be a massive loss of culture around the world. the whole world would be american...makes me wanna puke
2006-11-05 13:35:02 · answer #9 · answered by fatto_in_napoli 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Couldn't anyone who spoke any language think that about their mother tongue?
2006-11-05 10:21:33 · answer #10 · answered by kinako 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋