language talk

[bianca]

I have a couple of questions, or food for thought:

1. While it is probably true to say that the natural sciences are more anglicized than other branches, is there a risk that our mother tongues will also withdraw from the humanities? (I, for instance, prefer writing poetry or prose in English, less in Swedish. Maybe because I find Swedish more "commanding", academic and less sensual than English. Are there established non-English writers who write directly in English?)

2. Are other languages (French, German, maybe Swedish, Finnish...) on the slippery slope due to their restrictiveness and the world-wide expansion of English? (German and French are constantly on guard against foreign words.)

3. Can a country's strong political or economic image outside suffice to save its language from slowly drying out, when English expands? A language survives and grows through variety and usage.

[Englishlanguage]

As for point 2, I can tell you about the Italian situation. Italian linguists say 2% of the words in Italian dictionaries are English words. This may not appear a very large number but you must consider that the majority of these words are everyday words (not technical words) and their number is constantly increasing. Italian speakers make use of English words without knowing neither their meaning nor their pronunciation and some can neither speak English nor master their mother tongue.