The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-06-28
THE PREVAILING OF
 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
(By Miss Annie Murray Laing.)

| tby MISS AHn1e Murray Ldang.) | Let us see first how far the English | language has prevailed. Toward the
 end of the fifteenth century the Eng
 lish-speaking people, living almost en- ! tirely in the British Isles, numbered | less than four million. At the begin | ming of the twentieth century, little more than four hundred years later, the number had increaSed to one hundred and twenty-six million, no longer limited to the British Isles, but scattered all over the world in the | United States, Canada, Africa, Austra- | lia, Asia, and the hundreds of colonial
 islands The English people and the
 English language have spread won- | derfully in the past; why should they | not in the future? But their growth | will probably not be SO great, for there | Is not the same extent of territory open for settlement.
 But as to the prevailing of the lang uage among nations which are not English-speaking. English is said to | be in sense, the official language of Japan, and may be adopted for gener- | al use. It is taught more than any other foreign language in the schools of Europe, and travellers on the con- tinent are surprised at the fluency with which so many people speak 1t. Professor Schroer, in advocating the compulsory teaching of English in the schools of Germany, says that there is need of universal language,
 but that languages such as Volapuk,
 having no literature, are not accept.
 able. He says further, 'tNor are they
 necessary, for a world language al-
 ready exists; that is to sayta language,
 which, by its extension over the whole
 globe, and the ease with which 1t can
 be learned, has obtained such a foot
 ,01I Io
 coming in the near future, the great means of international communica-
 tion. This language is English"
 Will English ever be the universal language? Will there ever be any
 universal language? Some authorities say there will; others, that there never will be such a language. Brander Matthews says. that if there is world language, it will be either English or Russian-not German, or Spanish, or French. He gives as reason, the decline in the spread of the latter tongues within the last few centuries while the former have in- creased wonderfully, and are still in creasing.
 But what advantage has the Eng fish language over other languages that it may claim universality. It is said to be more readily understood by foreigners than any foreign language Is by the English, and this is surely great point in it's favor. Then too, as Professor Schroer said, it can be learned easily. One reason for this is the simplicity of its grammar, it is the only language which is free writer, it were predestined for uni- versatility" And what relief mo in- flexions'' means, only those who have struggled through them know.
 Another important point is, that it is sort of compromise, we might say, between two of the greatest languages of to-day-the French and the Ger man. The language of Great Britain before the eleventh century was An glo-Saxon, but after the Norman h. vasion under William the Conqueror in 1066, the Normans began to come into England, bringing with them their manners, customs, and language. The Saxons struggled against giving up their language, but the natural in tercourse between Saxon and Norman led to a fusion of the two languages nation of both.
 Its already wide diffusion leads one to wonder if it will not continue to spread. Also, the fact that it is the native language of the two great est nations of the earth is strong claim for its worldwide use.
 Now that we have seen the points in its favor, let us see what the draw backs are. All authorities agree that the greatest of these is it's irregular spelling. How many of our English words are pronounced so differently from the way in which they are spell ed. Even the most practical critic must admit that our spelling could be greatly improved. It is here that for eigners have the greatest difficulty with our language. The grammar is easy, the language is easily under stood, but the spelling is Sextremely difficult. Another criticism is that we have so many sounds for one let ter, especially for the vowels. Some people advocate making over the alphabet, adding several new sounds.
 Another drawback is the tendency to fall into dialects. But with the constant intercourse between English speaking people, and because of the fact that we possess a common litera- ture, accessible to men of every rank and every country, this is not a very appalling danger. But we can detect differences in the accent of people in different parts of our country, and it is a thing which we must guard against. There is danger that if we do fall into dialects, the English lang uage will not be preserved. and there fore could not become "a universal