Why the English Language is the Best International Language

[Fiji Hill]

...the idiocy of assigning masculinity or femininity to inanimate objects

Interestingly, Mädchen, the German word for "girl," is neuter, as is Fräulein ("Miss").

[dighton]

‘Mr Waugh is a great writer from England. He will tell you how to be great writers.’

‘Well,’ I said, ‘well. I have spent fifty-four years trying to learn English and I still find I have recourse to the dictionary almost every day. English,’ I said, warming a little to my subject, ‘is incomparably the richest language in the world. There are two or three quite distinct words to express every concept and each has a subtle difference of nuance.’

This was clearly not quite what was required. Consternation was plainly written on all the faces of the aspiring clerks who had greeted me with so broad a welcome.

‘What Mr Waugh means,’ said the teacher, ‘is that English is very simple really. You will not learn all the words. You can make your meaning clear if you know a few of them.’

The students brightened a little. I left it at that.

— Evelyn Waugh, A Tourist in Africa.

[ken21]

is russian the language of modern commerce world wide?

[SAJ]

One assumes you mean ''pidgin''...although you used ''pidgin'' twice.

Right?

[Political Junkie Too]

Can you even do Mad Libs in another language?

-PJ

[wolf78]

First rule of linguistics: You can say everything in every language. It's just that some things are more difficult to express, while other things get easier. E.g.: While Mark Twain is correct when it comes to his humorous observations regarding German, German compounds actually make engineering manuals much more precise and easier to understand. Japanese symbols are a pain in the rectum, but Japanese grammar is very straightforward. Spanish grammar is not as complicated as e.g. German, but you have to learn countless idioms and figurative expression, something mostly absent in German. And so forth...

There is no "best" language, as language always means cultural identity. The "best" language is always the one your parents taught you.

As to "best" language for international commerce: A lingua franca just emerges historically - regardless of how easy it is to learn.

However, EaLF (English as Ligua Franca) is an artificial language, its vocabulary is not intended for everyday use. It's more like "airport-speak", whereas at home you say things like "dude", "mom" etc.

[SAJ]

Of course not. I was discussing how languages grow in vocabulary.

Russian has a decent chance of surviving for another hundred years or so. French does not. Ideographic languages will survive for some centuries, I'm sure, based on huge local use, national pride, and inertia.

[SAJ]

Apologies. ‘’Pigdin’’, twice.

[KarlInOhio]

One of the most difficult problems in learning German is the neuter gender, to which about a third of all the nouns belong. I believe most, if not all romance languages have only a masculine and a feminine gender, which simplifies learning.

I didn't have any problem with three genders as opposed to two. My biggest problem was the strange overlap of articles. Is there any reason why die is used in feminine and plural nominative and accusative, while der is masculine nominative, feminine dative and feminine and plural genitive? Six words are spread over 16 pairings of gender and case with no logic I ever really found. I memorized it for tests, but I never really learned it.

      M   F   N   Pl
Nom: der die das die
Acc: den die das die
Dat: dem der dem den
Gen: des der des der

[dalereed]

English has always been the language used in the international air traffic control system.

[Petronski]

A pigdin is a loud noise made by a hog.

Pidgin is, I believe, the word you want.

[SAJ]

You'll love Russian. It has 36 forms in declension of nouns and pronouns, 6 cases x 3 genders x 2 (singular + plural), many of which can overlap.

Ist das nicht ein lotta fun?
Ya, das ist ein lotta fun!

(ducking smoothly, und ;^) ...)

[Fiji Hill]

To shave: native Russian, bruitcya, or, adapted, ''shavovat' ''

When I was studying Russian in the 1970's, I don't recall "shavovat'"--it must not have been considered standard at the time. However, "telefonirovat'" (to phone) was gaining acceptance.

[quadrant]

I don’t know much about German, but I understand that most Romance languages assign masculine or feminine gender to inanimate objects such as tables or cars. How ridiculous.

[dalereed]

“why don’t we just use the language that every commercial pilot uses at every international airport”

We do, it’s called english!

You had better comply even if you are a private pilot!

[SAJ]

The ''rule'' (haha) is, particularly in cities where the majority of people were educated in English in the old Soviet system, that, for a simple English verb (''to kick'' for example, as opposed to ''to transliterate'' -- the latter won't go at all), the addition of ''-ovat' '' creates an acceptable, if informal, substitute for the native Russian verb.

Verbs so constructed invariably follow the ordinary conjugation of any native Russian ''-ivat' '' or ''-ovat' '' verb, e.g. just as razgovarivat', to converse, to chat.

[SAJ]

This is an inheritance from classical Latin, and numerous other quite ancient languages. Very inconsistent, always has been (consider puera ''girl'' -- 1st declension, feminine, and agricola ''farmer'' -- 1st declension, masculine).

It is what it is, right?

;^)

[Yardstick]

Does Esparanto have gender for its nouns? Wondering because I see the latin feminine article “la” there.

[Fiji Hill]

English has always been the language used in the international air traffic control system.

It's also used througout the airline industry. In 1972, when I flew from East Berlin to Moscow on an East German airliner, the tag on my suitcase read MOW--the designation for Sheremetevo Airport, which is based on the English spelling of the name of Russia's capital. At the time, it struck me as odd that English would be the language of air travel in the East Bloc.

[quadrant]

I agree it is what it is, but no reason exists for such a rule in the 21st Century.