Inner circle First language UK Australia New Zealand

Inner circle First language UK Australia New Zealand South Africa USA Canada West Indies 375 m Outer circle Second language Africa Expanding circle Foreign language 750 m Asia 375 m Kachru, Brai. 1985. In Quirk and Widdowson, English in the Word, CUP

Inner circle First language UK Australia New Zealand South Africa USA Canada West Indies 320 -380 m Outer circle Second language Africa Expanding circle Foreign language 500 -1, 000 m Asia 300 -500 m Crystal's figures, 2003

Taxonomy! PK 2004, English as a Dead Language

John Cowan <cowan@ccil. org> wrote to me Thu, 08 Nov 2007 about the ration of L 1 -L 2 speakers in English, well worth quoting: . . However, I must take issue with your claim that the position of English today is comparable uniquely with that of Latin. If there was a period when Latin had more L 2 than L 1 speakers, it was surely during Imperial times, when Latin was by no means dead but had not yet fully differentiated into the Romance languages. There may well have been more L 2 speakers in Gaul, Britain, Africa, and the other western provinces than native speakers throughout the empire. But this was commonplace in pre-modern empires of every sort. It was very likely true of Alexander's empire as well, and provably true of the Persian Empire, which after abandoning dead Akkadian went on to adopt Aramaic as the standard language of record-keeping and communication throughout the empire, for if educated men were rare, actual Arameans were even rarer.

In modern times, there are quite a few languages with more L 2 than L 1 speakers: a googling of Ethnologue comes up with Afrikaans, Bulu (Cameroon), Indonesian, Sango (Central African Republic), Sranan (Surinam), Swahili, and Thai; there are undoubtedly more. Swahili is particularly notable, with an L 2/L 1 ratio of almost forty to one. Creoles that have become national languages also have this property: almost everyone in Vanuatu speaks Bislama, but less than one in twenty are native speakers. Admittedly none of these has the worldwide reach of English, being confined to particular nations, as indeed were the imperial languages, including Latin, listed above. So I don't think any claim for Latin and English "cross[ing] an extraordinary threshold" can be sustained.

English Home developing L 1 • Increasing tension between pronunciation and spelling • Increasing diversity International stable L 2 • Spelling pronunciation – simplification of sound system and adjustment towards spelling forms – rhotic • simplification of grammar

Home developing: Increasing tension between pronunciation and spelling. sight site cite use food good blood bend friend bread reed red lead led sun son sum some money honey funny important - evident (return if time)

Home developing: Increasing tension between pronunciation and spelling. right - rite

Home developing: Increasing diversity THOUGHT London Los Angeles

Home developing: FLEECE GOOSE

International stable • International English is stable in that it is not a "living language" or L 1, but an L 2 which is taught in schools and spreads only among adults.

International stable • Its medium is writing, which leads to "spelling pronunciation" • STRUT word spelt with "o" – – ton, love, come mother. . – sun son • said paid • many

International stable • Its medium is writing, which leads to "spelling pronunciation" • Firmly rhotic: farmer, figure, iron • No weak forms: normally usually correction

International stable – but simplified • International English undergoes simplification: FLEECE KIT GOOSE FOOT

International stable – but simplified • International English undergoes grammatical simplification: – You come tomorrow, isn't it? – They signed without read it first. – I look forward to see you tomorrow. – You must control that she do it. – Please not to walk on grass.

International stable – but simplified • "Incorrect" use of articles and non-count nouns – Please send us informations. – We take suitcases with us in car. – The replies may be sent by the e-mail.

International stable Home developing • Changes in the Home Englishes not only mean that they are moving apart from each other, but they are also moving apart from International English. • Prophesy for the next 2 -300 years: "English" refers to International English with simplified grammar and spelling pronunciations; • "Australian", "American", "Estuary" become separate languages.

reprise: Home developing: Increasing tension between pronunciation and spelling. Go to: English Spelling reform

British American Australian etc. Home developing India Africa etc. Asia Europe etc. International stable English