Global Language in the Digital Age?
There are just over 7,000 languages in the world today. About 2,000 of which are endangered. This according to Ethnologue. It sounds like a lot of languages, but when we realise there’s around 8 billion people, it seems a lot less.
Language, which comprises of spoken, written, symbolic and gestural elements is a key survival technology for humanity. We even have signed languages for the hearing impaired. Even how we touch one another forms a part of language. Language enables us to tell stories, which helps us find a common understanding of reality, trust one another and get things done.
Languages are constantly evolving. Culture plays a key role here. Culture informs how languages are used from a national to hyper-local scale around the world. And as I’ve written before, culture also shapes how we use technologies.
As we move further into the Digital Age, it is highly likely that languages around the world will change. But what might this look like? What does this mean on a global scale? Could we ever have one universal language we all speak and write? Could we end up with universal gestures? One sign language? What about cultural variations?
Two factors come into play in terms of arriving at a global or universal language; trust and cultural agreement. But it may be near impossible to have a complete language that also includes gestures and touch.
Trust is vital to a languages development and evolution. When we trust one another within a society, it is based on cultural traditions, norms and behaviours. They signal that we can trust one another with the words written and spoken, how, when and what gestures and touches are made.
At this point you might be thinking, ah yes, well amoji’s and texting can play a key role or solve for this problem. Maybe, but that too, would be very difficult. The poo emoji may well be universal, but smiles are used in different ways. There are 19 understood ways of smiling around the world and only six are used for happiness.
LOL Around the world:
Then of course, there’s Esperanto which was created by Polish ophthalmologist Zamenhof in 1887. It featured heavily in science-fiction novels, TV shows and movies. It is considered an auxiliary language. The idea being that it could be spoken around the world by everyone.
Agreeing on a Global Language
Language, the spoken and written elements, have been evolving for many thousands of years. Today, we are probably in one of the most significant times of language changes in terms of written and spoken elements in a very long time.
It is possible that at sometime in the future, we may arrive a standardized global language, but it will likely be an auxiliary language used for trade and political purposes. But languages are increasingly dying out. A hyper-connected global society will create pressures to arrive at a global language.
Here, politics and social changes will play a role. With the rise of populism in many countries, there will be pressures by political figures who are populist to keep and strengthen the existing language. France is highly protective of the French language, governing it carefully.
As we will see migration patterns shift around the world in coming years due to conflict, climate change and economic factors, this will add pressures to come to a more global auxiliary language.
Digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence tools, the internet, social media and devices will play a facilitating role. But it will be driven by geopolitics and sociocultural systems.
As the chart above on just how we express LOL/laughter and smiling shows, even such a seemingly simple aspect of a language has significant sociocultural differences.
As a result of digital technologies such as the internet, which as I wrote before is a huge global sociocultural experiment, we are entering a time of significant societal changes. Economic models are undergoing change, countries are realigning based more on value systems. Climate change is going to put increasing pressures on migrant movements.
A global auxiliary language will come later. A factor that could speed up a global auxiliary language could be humanity uniting to deal with climate change. Or the arrival of aliens, but that’s well, let’s say highly unlikely.
And while we may at some point all agree on a global language, which includes universally agreed upon emoji’s (which already are to some extent), the gestures and touching aspects of language will largely remain different by cultures.
