The dynamic shifting of world history means that languages, along with cultures and empires, rise and fall, going from obscurity to the heights of power before diminishing into obscurity again. In the modern era, it has been observed that the importance of some prestigious languages has waned, while other languages, though insignificant half a century ago, have risen to prominence.
Why Languages Become Important
Languages spread and become more widely-spoken due to the needs and desires of those who speak them and those who need or want to learn them. Some languages become attractive due to the culture they represent. The desire to learn these languages often outweighs any pragmatic need to learn them. An example of this is Japanese, a language that links to a culture that is hugely popular, especially in the west where it has a considerably large fanbase.
For the most part, however, second languages are learned in order to create opportunities that the speaker otherwise wouldn’t have. Most of those who learn English do not do so out of the love for English culture, but of the need for a common tongue, especially in the realm of business, trade, and commerce. English acts as a lingua franca, and it has become an essential tool for people of differing cultures to revert to when attempting communication.
The power of the British Empire, followed by the dominance of the United States in world affairs and world business, firmly stamped English as the trade language of choice.
Languages That Are Becoming More Important
There are several languages that have gained traction as languages with international function and prestige. While English remains the unassailable top-dog in the business world, many other languages are experiencing massive growth in interest. Specifically in South Asia, Hindi, Bengali, Indonesian, and Urdu have become significantly more prominent over the past few years, and the number of first and second-language speakers of these languages has seen enormous growth. This is in part because of the population growth of these areas. Brazil is also experiencing population growth, making Portuguese a more prominent language in terms of numbers.
Portuguese is spoken by around 258 million people, and is the national language of Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor. It is the fifth most-spoken language in the world. And along with Hindi and Urdu, it is one of the top three fastest growing languages in the world.
Chinese Mandarin
Much in the way that English became a lingua franca due to worldwide presence, trade, industry and subsequent linguistic growth, Chinese Mandarin has experienced growth as a result of the same dynamic. As China asserts itself on the world stage as the world’s newest superpower, along with its international influence, its language of choice has become an attractive mode of communication for those wishing to trade with the industrial giant and engage with the opportunities it offers.
English remains the world’s most spoken language with almost 1.5 billion first and second language speakers. Hot on its heels is Mandarin, a set of Chinese dialects which have a total number of over 1.1 billion speakers. As China’s per capita income rises, and the country’s gross national product increases, Mandarin is likely to become even more competitive on a global scale as its speakers strike out into international waters and take on the world of international business.
Conclusion
The world is an ever-changing place. The economic power of countries ebbs and flows. This dynamic affects languages too and languages that are useful today may see a massive reduction in their prestige tomorrow. While other languages, of which little thought is given today, may rise in prominence to become regional superpowers!
