The new lingua franca of the 21st century - "Why don't you guys just speak English?"

[2d6]

I had this thought come into my head the other day. With the end of the US as a sole superpower with the ascension of China in world politics, what will become the new language of trade, communication, etc...? English is already used in international trade, air communication, scientific journals, and so on. With that entrenchment, it's entirely probable that English will remain in large use even if it recedes from the position as lingua franca. English is well known for it's many inconsistencies and exceptions however, which can make it difficult for people to learn. What do you predict will happen with language in the future: will we continue to use English as a language of commerce and trade or will it be supplanted by another tongue just as it supplanted French?

 

[MediocreMilt]

Is it African American Vernacular English?

Bitch! Dawn. Make. Me. Axe. You agin!

 

[Thumb Butler]

Is it African American Vernacular English?

Bitch! Dawn. Make. Me. Axe. You agin!

Sounds like Futurama English? Yes, just watched it.

 

[Ex Cummunicated Sasser HD]

Pidgin English mon.

 

[The Shadow]

Klingon, duh.

 

[mr.moon1488]

Ebonics

 

[Aaa0aaa0]

Bitch I can barely speak english I don't know shit.

If I were to guess though, it would either stay English or change to A) something easier like Spanish B) something easter thats NOT Chinese. China may take over earth by 2033, but holy shit Mandarin a bitch, hard to learn if you weren't born into it. English has shitty grammar rules but 1 billion characters and tonal changes meaning different words is absolutely hellish on most foreigners.

 

[2d6]

Bitch I can barely speak english I don't know shit.

If I were to guess though, it would either stay English or change to A) something easier like Spanish B) something easter thats NOT Chinese. China may take over earth by 2033, but holy shit Mandarin a bitch, hard to learn if you weren't born into it. English has shitty grammar rules but 1 billion characters and tonal changes meaning different words is absolutely hellish on most foreigners.

Yeah, now that you mention it any new lingua franca would need to stick with the Latin style alphabet or thereabouts and not with the kanji (I'm not sure of the technical title) alphabets of East Asia. I don't think any eastern calligraphy would be practical for an international adaptation.

 

[Ensign]

Twitter Newspeak and TikTok Patois have an equal chance

 

[Sage In All Fields]

It'll continue to be English for at least 100 years until typing in other languages sucks less, at which point it will become Arabic or maybe earlier if everyone switches everything to perhaps a better version of the Arabic chat alphabet because of the massive Muslim population that will dwarf everyone else by then and who basically all know at least some Arabic

 

[Meriasek]

Bring back Interlingua and togas.

 

[Francesco Dellamorte]

Global English usage was first spread by English colonisation and then by American occupation of Axis countries post WWII. Whichever future superpowers win the next global conflict and then begin the reconstruction and reformation of the losers might see their languages adopted.