Why is Latin an extinct Language. Could English go the same way in 2000 years time?

Answer 1

Latin did NOT become extinct. Latin (Vulgar Latin to be exact) fragmented into many different dialects which over time (read: 1,500 years) become so different from each other and from Latin itself that they were recognised as seperate languages. French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Romansch, Catalan, Sardinian, Occitan etc are all the children of Latin. Around 700 million people speak a Romance language today, a language that came from Latin. So whilst Latin has no native speaking communities it lives on today very much alive.

Depending on geo-political forces and exposure to other linguistic communities and the interaction with said communities different languages were formed over hundreds of years. It is a perfectly natural linguistic phonomen.

The question should be instead why is Latin still so important in 2007? Latin along with Greek were the Englishes of today in the Europe of 2,000 years ago. They flattened the languages native to the lands the Romans occupied. Latin allowed one to travel within the empire and work in the administration and join the army. The French state did the same thing in the C19th spreading the French language to all corners of France opresssing all the other regional dialects and languages. Still today Latin holds a place in the shperes of Christianity, medicine and science and because it was the Children of the Romance languages and also gave many phrases and words to English (directly and indirectly through Norman-French) Latin is very important today as a part of Western heritage.

Who can say what will happen in 2,000 years? Maybe English will kill off all the other world languages (perhaps for maybe Mandarin and Hindi and some other larger languages will survive) and then perhaps it will fragment just like Latin did. Who knows...The likely situation is that the national languages continue to expand for then next 200 years crushing the minority languages but borrowing heavily from English and then these Anglisized national languages will fall apart and in maybe 500 years all the world will speak one language but it will certainly not be anything like the English of today that is for sure.

The end of small and national language is closer than you think.

Answer 2

Latin became extinct when the Roman Empire collapsed and local populations continued to use their native languages. They had always usedt thm, but with Romans not stomping around speaking and writing Latin, it gradually left off use. Scholars and the Church still used it the way the international community uses English now, as a "least common denominator", a language that everyone could use regardless of their native language. Elements of Latin were absorbed into regional languages, creating new languages over time. Spanish, French and Romanian are examples of this. So even though the actual language fell out of use, there are plenty of languages that sound an awful lot like it.

Answer 3

When the Western Roman Empire fell in 476, Latin began to be replaced by the national languages from the different countries that were created, coming from Latin themselves.
Your second question, english already disappeared in the USA to be replaced by a dialect

Answer 4

Because the Pagan Roman Empire no longer exists; it was taken over by the Holy Roman Empire, and the vernacular languages of Europe borrowed from Latin, and those languages became dominant. Latin became a relic language used only in the Catholic Church after that time. For hundreds of years after, Latin was still used to conduct Mass in the Catholic Church. There are still some die-hards who won't attend any Mass not conducted in Latin.

Answer 5

The French have, during the past several years, had a deliberate policy of "abolishing" many "English" words from their vocabulary, which has not prevented those words from being adopted fom common usage. English, though a very difficult language, is seen, internationally, as an essential to international levels of communication. It may be that, many years from now, it becomes the one common language, but, in the meantime, I try to learn at least a few useful sentences from whichever culture I would visit (patronising?) - as a matter of manners if nothing else, and out of a sense of my own arrogance at expecting people in a foreign country to understand my language.

Answer 6

It's part of the evolution of languages as cultures disappear. English could evolve to some new language but not necessarily disappear given its worldwide popularity and core population of countries such as US, Canada, UK and Australia speak this language.

Consider Chinese, it has been around for more than 2000 years even though the language has evolved, but the writing system remained more or less intact.

Answer 7

I dont know about 2000 years from now, but as far as now is concerned, English the international language of business. Also, you cannot be a pilot or air traffic controller anywhere in the world without speaking fluent English. It's an international law

Answer 8

Same reason any other language goes extinct, People stop using it in favor of another. Everything has an end so English will at some point fall out of favor.

Answer 9

latin is not extinct,i believe those in the medical and science professions use it everyday!!!

Answer 10

i know exactly the reason y latin is dead.... it is so f-in hard to learn and well the dark ages didnt help either and then there was the fall of the roman empire..................