Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-31
SPREAD OF ENGLISH.
Its Supremacy Nov and Prospects
Throughout The World.
THB LANGUAGE OF THE FUTURE,
Year-Spoken by 1iS.000,0o0
OF People.
(chambers's Journal.)

United States, S. 900 200: Canada exclusive
OF French-Canadians). 100000; West In
dies. British Guiana. etc. 100000: Aus
,tralia, 100000: South Africa, India, and
other colonies, 100000. This only includes
those whose mother tongue is English. II
the number OF persons able 20 speak
English-but not regarding IL as their
mother tongues Included, the figures
would be considerably increased. To this,
however. one exception must be made;
the large number OF Germans, ScGndi-
navians, and other alien races that have
emigrated to the United States and the
British colonies and become absorbed
therein. are included in the above table.
tor English is their adopted language;
the Anglo-Saxon race, and their children
after them will be entirely English sieak-
Ing.
No other language Of modern times has
made such rapid progress as Englsh. ana
the increase OF English speakers may be
calculated at 2.000.OJO %annu1lly. Three
hundred years ago. in The time Of Queen
Elizabeth. the language was zpoken olly
by about 100000 Of people, nearly all of
whom resided in the BrI.ls1 HIS. L. was
about this time that England ! "a her
work OF colonization, to which he great
spread OF the English tongue is ma;niy
to be attributed.
The principal languages which enter into
competition with English. and which are
spoken by the greatest number of peO-
ple-leaving out of the account such Ian
guagcs as Chinese or HindOostanee-are
French, Spanish, Russian, and German.
OF these. French is practically stationary
as regards the number Of it's adherents:
and in point of influence 1t is distinctly
on the decline. 1t is no longer the uni
vcrsal language Of diplomacy and com
merce; in both respects it has had to give
way 10 English.
TO COLONIZATION.
Spanish. not English, is now very largely
spoken on the American continent, and.
like 1t. also owes It's wide distribution
to the colonizing genius Of its speakers.
There are not wanting those who see in
Ii a formidable rival TO the English:
and If Portuguese, which Is practically
"a branch of the Spanish. Is included, then
the win languages dispose OF a territory
even greater than the English. and with
infinitely greater room for expansion, and
are spoken by a population OF probably
ilVN 100 iiah t"fFf'fFFvs ~ 10 - iAioi hhOi
fact that the Spanish and Portuguese
have never been able 10 make any head
way in colder attitudes. In the United
States one can travel by rail more than
1900 miles. from ST. Augustine. 10 San
Diego, crossing the entire continent at
its widest part, without leaving territory
wfach was all Spanish a century ago, and
where the original colonists nave all re-
ceded before the Angio-Saxons. In South
America .he same phenomenon is TO be
seen; for, whila the whole Of that con-
tinent, with a few trifing exceptions, Is
occupied by the descendants of the Span
ish and Portuguese. the temperate re-
gions toward the South have never been
properly colonized by them. Patagonia
and southern Chile. which possess almost
an English climate, have little attraction
for the natives of Southern Europe.
Both German and Russian are increasing
rapidly in point Of numbers. although the
latter language has had but little inriu-
once on western civilization, which may
be owing to apathy OF the Russians them
selves. who are perhaps the best liguists
in the world. and often more at home in
French, English, or German than In the
language of their own country. h re-
fers especially to the upper classes. We
have frequently met Russians who spoke
not only perfect English, but had not
the slightest trace of a foreign accent,
AMI, az far as their speech was concerned
might be taken for Englishmen or Ameri-
cans.
The number OF persons speaking the
above languages may be timated as
follows: Russian, 100000: German, TO-
10000: Spanish, 5J.O0o.000; Portuguese,
15.OOO,0 900.
ABSORBED MILLIONS.
1t is a remarkable fact that while the
English in their colonies and offshoots
have absorbed millions OF aliens there
Is no record of any great body of English
speakers becoming absorbed by any other
race.
In the United States there are millions
OF who have become merged
with the English in a single generation.
Even the names are lost; Schmidt be-
comes Smith and Muller Miller. and the
children in many caSes.do not even under
stand the parents language. Likewise
In Florida, California, Texas, and other
states French or Spanish speaking set
Elements have become Anglcized. 1t Is
far otherwise in Canada There the
French-speaking population is increasing
faster than the English. 1t is not be
cause the French element absorbs the
English, but rather that II crowds 1t out.
Ii other parts of the world besides
Canada the French language has shown
considerable vitality and power Of resist
ance, but nowhere is it ABSORBED so
readily as other European languages ty
the Anglo-SaXon.
In Egypt the French language was all
powerful in official and commercial
circles some ten or twelve wears ago,
but here. also, IL has lost ground before
the English. principally owing to the oc-
cupatiOn of the country by the British,
and TO the increase of British influence
In the administration Of the Suez canal.
The spread of English in other parts
Of the world is scarcely less remarkable.
In South Africa the republics OF Trans
vaal and the Orange Free State only ten
years ago were almost entirely Dutch
in their speech: but English is now
dominant In both countries. Boer Dutch
being relocated to the country districts,
where II is retreating year by year before
the advances of its more powerful rival. in
spite Of the determined opposition of the
Beers themselves. This result Is. Of
course. mainly owing to the rush Of
settlers and Adventures into these coun-
tries. consequent upon the discovery OF
gold and diamonds: but the apathy Of
the Beers and their inaptitude for bust
ness must also be reckoned a contributing
cause. The shopkeepers and men Of bust
ness are invariably Europeans. the Boer
c%ontenting himself with farming pursuits,
which easily accounts for the ascendency
OF English In the towns. Even without
the stimulus OF the gold discovery there
Is little doubt that the same result would
have been attained. though more slowly.
THE DOMINANT LANGUAGE.
Besides the above there are other small
States where English is either the official
or dominant language; among these may
be mentioned Liberia, the Hawaiian Is
lands. Samoa, and some of the other petty
States of the Pacific. where English is
rapidly driving out the native dialects.
Even in Japan our language has been rec
ognized as a semi-oficial one, and is the
eigners.
The rapid spread Of English is largely
to be attributed TO the simplicity of its
grammar, which is less complicated than
that OF any other western nation. Its
marked poverty of infections. as dis
tinguished, for example. from the Ger
man. is Il great point in its favor, and
thus II Is much easier for a German TO
learn English than for an Englishman or
American 10 learn German. On the other
hand the extraordinary photographic in
consistency OF the English language Is a
decided drawback; and there Is little
doubt that II English were written on
phonetic principles, ar Spanish or Ger
man. It's speed would be much more rapid,
TO say nothing OF the great boon this
ns.t,tH no IN the Apoin- CO xnnS than, oalx.Aa