Vocabulary: Global English, a New Tower of Babel?

English's global dominance has deep historical roots, spreading first through the British Empire from the seventeenth century onward, and then further still through American economic, technological and cultural influence after the Second World War.

Today it functions as the default language of diplomacy, science, aviation and business, used daily by many more non-native speakers than native ones.

Having become the language of international communication, English raises a central question: does it truly bring cultures closer together, or does it standardise exchange at the expense of local specificity?

English, a World Language

a global / world language : une langue mondiale
a lingua franca : une langue véhiculaire
to bridge cultures : rapprocher les cultures
native speaker / non-native speaker : locuteur natif / non natif

Concrete example: English is now the dominant working language in international organisations and multinational companies, allowing speakers from very different cultures to communicate.

Globish and the Disappearance of Nuance

globish : l'anglais simplifié international
to standardise / to flatten : uniformiser / aplanir
a vernacular language : une langue vernaculaire
to preserve linguistic diversity : préserver la diversité linguistique

Concrete example: some linguists worry about the spread of Globish, a simplified form of English which, they argue, cannot convey the cultural richness of vernacular languages such as Māori in New Zealand or Gaelic in the British Isles.

Key takeaways

Lingua franca: English's central role in international exchange, built on empire then American influence.
Globish: simplified form of English, criticised for its standardising effect.
Vernacular language: local language threatened by the dominance of global English.