The specific characteristics of the English language as the language of world-wide communication
Authors:   National Research Tomsk State University, Smokotin Vladimir M. , Gural Svetlana K. ,   National Research Tomsk State University
Published: December 2024

The present reseach into the specific properties of the English language as the language of world-wide communication acquires special relevance in our time when its transformation from one of international languages into a new phenomenon in the system of world languages as a result of its singling out in the course of globalization in the late 20th century into a special group of languages of global communication due to its exceptionally high communication potential (Q-value). The authors of this article have set the goal of investigating specific properties of languages that emerge when the languages are used in intercultural and interlingual communication, and which can, to a considerable degree, bring about an increase of their communication potential and eventually lead to their transformation into languages of global communication. In accordance with the set goal the authors of this work sought answers to a number of questions connected with the change of the status of the English language in the conditions of its wide spread in the world and its penetration into all spheres of life and activities.
The most important of these questios are the following: 1) What factors exercised a decisive effect on the choice of the English language as the languge of global communication? 2) What are the specific qualities of the English language which may contribute to the growth of its communication potential? 3)What role in the choice of the language of global communication is played not by its intrinsic qualities but by a high potential of its extraneous power?
The English language stood out among the group of the large international languages by its unprecedented growth already in the 19th and early 20th century, which attracted attention of a number of well-known linguists, including Otto Jespersen. Already in that period of the growth of the importance of the English language in realizing of international connections attempts were made to explain its rapid spreading in the world not only by the might of the British empire and its supremacy at sea, but also by the intrinsic properties of the language itself and by the high cultural as well as scientific and technological potential of the English-speaking world and, first of all, of the Anglosphere and its leading representatives, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In early 20th century, the French language retained yet its status of the language of diplomacy, but with the foundation of the League of Nations after the First World War the English language came to share the status of the language of diplomatic relations with French. At the same time, none of the natural languages was considered as capable of becoming the world’s lingua franca, that is the language of world-wide communication in all spheres of human activity. According to the received opinion at that time, the universal language could be created only on a rational basis by scientists in the field of linguistics, and not be the result of chaotic language-building activity of masses of ordinary people. It was also believed that granting a natural language the status of the universal means of communication would result in the native speakers of this language getting special advantages. The project of the most popular artificial language, Esperanto, did not get suffient support in the League of Nations, and though a search for a language of universal communication never ceased, in practice interlinguistic and intercultural communication continued to rely exclusively on the widespread natural languages.
Following the Second World War, the internationalization of the world economy brought about an unprecedented growth of international contacts not only in the world economy and trade, but in scientific fields and in the spheres of education and culture. Globalization has urgently called for a universally recognized means of international communication and the English language rose to the challenge. The change of the world system of languages which brought about the emergence of a new group of languages , that is the languages of global communication as a new phenomenon, has caused a significant interest of researchers in different fields of knowledge. Particular attention is paid here to the investigation of both the intrinsic properties of languages that contribute to their transformation into a global means of communication, and to external factors.
As a resut of the present investigation it has been found out that the English language, as the most widely used international language, in the course of its spreading around the world as a means of intercultural and interlingual communication has acquired to the highest degree the traits of globality in its most extensive vocabulary compared to other languages, which made its use effective and efficient in any sphere of human activity and in any sphere of communication. However, the acquisition by the English language of the status of the language of global communication has been determined not by its specific characteristics, including its level of development and the wealth of its vocabulary, but due to the economic, political, scientific and cultural potential of its native speakers.