[Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim]

Hi Minna
Thanks for your post.
My thoughts on linguistic predictions are a result of a variety of drastic changes in our global society. However, You should not forget I am solely making predictions based on the present world situation:

1. Desnity, Memory and Speed
As you know information is increasing on a daily basis. Our human knowledge has grown, is still growing and will continue to grow due to advances in nearly all disciplines. we are already experiencing information overlaod. The question is what will be in 20 or so years? Even computers are facing difficulty with memory challenges and new search engines like Google are adapted to more effective ways of information storage and retrieval. Academic language takes refuge in nominalization. Our present languages are not prepared to keep pace with such density and speed not experienced before and I don't know whether our memories and brains can accomodate and cope with these developments.

2. Global English
English is experiencing a development unprecedented in human history. Every day there are new speakers of English.Again what will be in 20 years or so? The impact of this new situation will be three-fold:
First, dominance of English to the "disadvantage" of other languages and cultures.

Second, loss of linguistic identity (to the "disadvantage" of the so-called "native speakers") which might have advantages since linguistic variety despite its beauty has been a source of tragic conflicts in the world. No more BE or AmE but a global English.

Third, English will change in its new role to accomodate other cultures and languages. Even now people mix BE and AmE and don't care about the pedantic view not to mix the two varieties.

Of course, in every change and development lie advantages and disadvantages but perhaps the advantages outweigh the advantages. In addition to what I mentioned, we will save a lot of time and energy spent on translations and removing communications barriers. This doesn't mean that a Global English in turn won't change or split but the fact that people in our global village and a 24-hour society are not kept apart as they used to by geopgraphical barriers. You and me can communicate freely and quickly through the medium of a global English. We have already reached the age of more direct and instant contact, communication and travelling. Future linguistic changes consequently will be of a different nature.

3. The priciple of convention and demorcracy in change:
I am not pleading for an aritificial replacement of the present world languages. On the contrary and as you said natural language are a means of social cuddling and cannot be changed by the dictatorship of a minority. It's always the dictatorship of the majority. There will be no revolution but changes are already underway. The natural flow of languages cannot be stopped or controlled because languages comply with the behaviour of people who speak it. It's a fact that a Global English is already underway to overrun many a language.

4. The Versatile and analogue Character of Natural Languages:
Natural (analogue) languages are cetrainly superior to artificial or digital languages because they accomodate nearly all of our present needs and can be used for all disciplines. However, we have already developed mathematical and computer languages to satisfy specific needs. In addition, natural languages leave room for ambiguity which still might be very useful to satisfy certain human needs (like literature, playing on words, implications, jokes ....) but can be a source of misunderstanding. On the other hand digitization is simple, boring and poor, cannot satisfy our present social needs but are precise, mathematical, can be reduced, stored and manipulated.

Regards
Jamshid