Re: The chain-of-dialects

Mark Odegard writes:
If an elite language maintains its elite status over time, it may
totally replace the original language, as
Greek displaced Pelasgian, as Arabic has displaced Coptic in Egypt and
Aramaic everywhere else,
and as Latin-Romance displaced all other languages (save Basque) in
Iberia, France and Italy. But a
very long period of bilingualism seems the rule before such a thing
happens.

Gerry: In the past, immediate written communication was not available
nor was instant publishing. Today we have both options thanks to the
internet. That a very long period of bilingualism existed then is
understandable; however, since English is also the language of "trade"
and of stocks and bonds it would appear that a long bilingual period is
less likely than a total English take-over. Placing an historical spin
on the issue at hand, it appears that Vulgar German wins out in the end
and sadly, money talks.

Mark: At present, no other language presents any real competition to
English as the 'world language'. I
don't see English replacing any national languages for a long time yet,
but eventually, something like
this will probably happen.

Gerry: And I think your long time is sooner than you think.