Re: What if.....?

Neil Greenough wrote:
> OK, here's a fictional scenario, but I think it would be interesting to see
> your opinions and this may cause a good debate here.
>
> "The European Union has ammended the new proposed constitution. This new
> proposal outlines that, from 2008, all member states will teach a new
> language, called "Europish" in schools. This language will become a new
> official language of Europe and by 2050, it is hoped that this language will
> be spoken just as much as the second language of the country, such as French
> in France. All member states will sign up to this as it is compulsory."
>
> Opinions please......

First a request for clarification: does this scenario assume that a new
language called "Europish" will be developed by 2008 or is this a
science fiction world in which a language known as Europish already
exists? We can treat these two scenarios separately.

1) The idea of creating a language for the sake of national identity
has already been tried in the Philippines but for most non-Tagalog
speakers "Filipino" is no different than Tagalog. Most non-Tagalog
speakers understand Tagalog anyway because that is what they hear on TV
and in movies. Similarly, most Europeans might suspect that "Europish"
was no different than English but with a few words taken from languages
all over Europe. Europeans wanting to establish a European identity
might be satisfied with learning British English, a language which is
still understood by Americans.

2) It wasn't that long ago that a language fitting your description
existed in Europe, namely Latin. Latin was the language of church
services and scientific papers, but nowadays relatively few people
understand Latin. So your scenario of "Europish" becoming an official
language in Europe could be interpretted as you imagining a science
fiction world in which Latin remained a living language and became the
Lingua Franca in Europe for people who had no other common language,
thereby becoming the logical choice as an official language for the
European Union. I can't comment on such a hypothetical situation.

There. How was that? Satisfied?

Martin

.

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