Quote:
Originally Posted by Tdol  In the case of English, I think the grammar will tend towards greater simplicity as it becomes more internationalised, and this may well require greater lexis to compensate.  |
Well, it could go the other way. The langauge could become more complex, integrating L2 interference errors that are accommodated by the rules of English grammar, and thereby generating new rules--creolized.
As for the amount of new words entering the language, I don't see a connection to how the rules of the grammar should or would change. English has had this history of making borrowed words and neologisms its own by applying its rules to those new forms; e.g., pizza, pizzas; taco, tacos; e-mail, email, emails.
Jamshid, the statement
the grammar and the lexicon ... go in opposite directions is a new one for me. Could provide the article where you got it? I'd like to see what it is exactly the author is referring to.