Folium: What If Everyone On Earth Spoke the Same Language via HSW
Folium: What if everyone on Earth spoke the same language?
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Did you know at one point in time everyone spoke the same language? According to old biblical stories, post-flood, you know… Noah’s Ark era, was when everyone spoke the same language. But how would that transfer over to today’s world? Could this be achieved? More importantly, should it be achieved? Colleen Cancio in her article makes us really think about how our world would be if everyone spoke the same language.
Colleen makes the point that we don’t know exactly where each of the world’s languages came from, but we do know that the world’s people have not spoken the same language at any point in recent history. But we do know that humans have come from a past where everyone spoke the same language until an event that occurred with a huge tower that was built up to the heavens, where the language of the people were confused and they no longer spoke the same language.
“Every language that has ever existed is just a modification of something before it.” – Dr. Noam Chomsky
Many experts believe that as a world, we are coming to an age where eventually we will all speak the same language. But as linguist experts continue to study the pattern of languages and culture, it shows that language and culture are so closely tied together that the chances of everyone in the world speaking the same language wouldn’t believe likely “not in a million years.”
Many linguists worry that if it comes to the point where the only language available is English, it would affect our diversity as a species. Language is not only how we express ourselves, but also affects how we view the world. There is also a fear that with the loss of our language and identity, there would also be a loss of culture. Language is defined by the type of culture we live in. For example, even in some parts of California you will hear different words used and different types of slang than what is used in Alabama.
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“Best estimates put the current total at 6,909 distinct languages around the world…”
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Another question that boggles linguist specialists’ minds is “which language would it be?” There is little doubt that English is a pretty safe guess with Chinese and Spanish as options as well. There are many already who use English in some facet of their profession. And if everyone were suddenly adopt the English language as their own, there would be need for an adaptation to the culture as well. English comes from a very rich history, and many would have to contort their ways of living in order to match their vocabulary.
“English may well be the language of global communication at the moment, but it can certainly be displaced at any time due to shifting global demographics and priorities.” – HSW
Colleen concludes her article with stating; “Despite the difficulties of counting languages, most experts agree on one thing: There are fewer languages around today than yesterday. That’s because languages are disappearing at an alarming rate – some experts predict that half of the current languages will be gone by the year 2100.” Language is the keystone of the human experience. If there were to be only language, it would disrupt the distinctness of the human race. Keep being diverse, and keep learning new languages because you never know which language could end up being the only language that everyone speaks.
Julie Martin
LEAF Editor & Contributor
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