Traditional English is facing extinction

The English being used in many parts of the globe with the exception of English speaking countries has deviated itself from the traditionally acceptable English grammar. The following common expressions are academically acceptable in many countries despite their wrong usage in Standard English :
(1) "I want to go back" insted of saying "I want to go home"
(2) " Last time I went to his house " insted of saying " In the past, I used to go to his house "
(3) " Please revert this letter to your manager " insted of saying " Please send/give this letter to your manager.
(4) " How is the weather today" insted of saying " what is the weather like today"

Through my personal conversations with native speaking tourists in my country, the usage of localised English expressions are vividly understood by them. Even in academic writing, localised expressions are considered correct by local professors of English.
There is a case whereby a British-trained local professor of English allowed his students to write a research insted of writing a piece of research or some research.

It seems that international English schools in my country have adopted consciously or unconsciously local English expressions without much concern.

In short,the era of traditional English ( King's English ) has been transformed into a plethora of regional English even a county English which has gained its momentum in international communication. I am extremely confused or rather felt entwined as to seek " solace" in the acceptable form of the English Language. There are many masters' or doctoral theses which are written in localised English but they are not being frown upon. The teaching of English in many countries has been harped on local English.

It seems that the global English has taken the place of traditional correct English. Many English speakers thorough the world have ignored the finer points of gramamtically correct English structures. Is this a cause for concern ?

I see this drastic trend as an impending danger of the pure English Language to face " "burial" if precautionary measures are not seriously taken by the " lovers' of correct English.

I would appreciate it very much if panel of English experts could enlighten me on this " English Language mutation. Thanks.

[abaka]

If perversion it be, and past glory die out, the tongue shall survive though its speakers all die. And the crumbling old paper, supplanted with noise, shan't long bear still all that we once were.

Even the Queen does not speak as she did fifty years ago. So sad.

So alive.

[Tdol]

This will bring us straight into a discussion, usually heated, about exactly what correct English is. Twenty years ago, there were heated debates about things seen by some as errors that sound perfectly natural now. English is an adaptable language and will continue to change in ways that purists may worry about, but it is there to serve its speakers and their current needs above all.

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by English traditionalist

I see this drastic trend as an impending danger of the pure English Language to face " "burial" if precautionary measures are not seriously taken by the " lovers' of correct English.

Of course it is a danger to pure English as it is now known, though I think that lovers of correct English would be the least competent people to deal with the problem of mutual understanding between the various types of international English. This is because lovers of correct English have only one solution (the teaching and insistence upon correct English), which you have demonstrated does not work for the majority.

[abaka]

English is not the first language to be spread far beyond its original territory by conquest, trade, cultural dominance or whatever else, positive or negative.

Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese spread in the same way.

Several of these languages were or have been sustained and developed by the peoples among whom they spread, initially to bitter complaints by their original speakers.

And Latin developed into a whole family of languages of immense and enduring cultural importance.

So even if English should splinter, there is really nothing to be concerned about.

[DougLewis]

This is a most interesting topic.

My first inclination was to say that the English language we would recognize is really not that old. From memory, I believe it gained it's semblance of modern formation during the 1600's.

I primarily credit the work of Sir Francis Bacon with the "smartening up" of what we now call "English language."

It could be said, the works of Shakespeare, one of his contemporaries, combined with the (Bacon edit of the) King James Bible... represented the DOS version I, of the new world "Programming Language."

Without the new English "diction and dictionary" standards required for the new disciplines of science, (as prescribed by Bacon), or the global commerce needed to finance them, or common understanding of laws and regulation to sustain them... the English language would have been but local noise without "bigger world" salient purpose.

In any event, computers are programmed using "English" language, a preponderance of global commerce is conducted or facilitated using the English language, one might say it has served it's modern "practical" purpose well.

I have always suspected, (quietly of course), that even HE--has English as HIS first language.

The language has over a million words to date, it has far too many exceptions to the rule to be reliable or even comprehensible, it's use is both quirky and confounding, laced as it is with idiom and collocation... on the other hand it is well suited as a communication medium, offering opportunity for sublime and ridiculous, rhetoric and stark edict, often in the same body of work.

If nothing else it is eminently malleable for purpose.

There will always be purists. There will always be "proper" English to satisfy their need for purity, just as there will always be someone who has collected ALL the train numbers.

The rest of us, as you can well see, will bumble along in any event, trying to make sense of a quick brown fox jumping over a lazy dog while spot runs and the cat sits on the mat.



Please... do not attempt to correct or mark this... it is a quagmire and a trap!

[konungursvia]

I think the genius of English is that it is so open, so unbound. To think of it as dying is perhaps missing the forest for the tree. It is in such wide use that it is unlikely to be replaced, and it is so open to innovation that it will certainly evolve. So it's just a question of the generation gap -- we oldies find new locutions odd at times.

[DougLewis]

Originally Posted by konungursvia

I think the genius of English is that it is so open, so unbound. To think of it as dying is perhaps missing the forest for the tree. It is in such wide use that it is unlikely to be replaced, and it is so open to innovation that it will certainly evolve. So it's just a question of the generation gap -- we oldies find new locutions odd at times.

Agreed! And very well said.

[Tdol]

Critics have been announcing the death of the language for centuries, but I think that the tension between the forces of change and those of conservatism could be a good thing- those who are always decrying the changes may act as a check that stops it rushing off too fast, a centripetal counterbalance. Also, the cares and worries of the-end-is-nigh crowd are not static; those who are against change are also changing and evolving.