#4
012.
(1) Why a language becomes a global language has little to do with the number of people who speak it. It is much more to do with who those speakers are Latin became an international language throughout the Roman Empire, but this was not because the Romans were more numerous than the people they conquered. They were simply more powerful. Later, when Roman military power declined, Latin remained for a millennium as the international language of education, thanks to a different sort of powerーthe religious power of Roman Catholicism.
(2) There is also the closest of links between language dominance and economic, technological, and cultural power Without a strong power-base, of whatever kind, no language can make progress as an international medium of communica independent existence, living in some sort of mystical tion, Language has no space apart from the people who speak it. Language exists only in the brains and mouths and ears and hands and eyes of its users. When they succeed on the international stage, their language succeeds. When they fail, their language fails.
(3) This point may seem obvious, but it needs to be made, because over the years many popular and misleading beliefs have grown up about why a language should become internationally successful. It is quite common to hear people claim that an international language is an ideal model, on account of its literary qualities and clarity of expression. Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic and French are among those which at various times have been praised in such terms, and English is no exception. It is often suggested, for example, that there must be something inherently beautiful or logical about the structure of English, in order to explain why it is now so widely used. It has less grammar than other languages," some have suggested. This is intended to mean that the language is grammatically not so complicated compared with other languages, so 6it must be easier to learn.
(4) Such arguments are misconceived. Latin was once a major international language, despite the fact that it seems grammatically much more complicated. A language does not become a global language because of its intrinsic structural properties, or because of the size of its vocabulary, or because it has been a vehicle of a great literature in the past, or because it was once associated with a great culture or religion. A language has traditionally become an international language for one chief reason: the power of its people especially their political and military power.