The English language’s global dominance is no accident. It can be traced back through a three-stage process: the initial spread of English by the British Empire, its proliferation through the two World Wars, and its reach through the soft power of the Internet age.
The British Empire, often referred to as “the empire on which the sun never sets”, reached North America, India, Australia, Africa, and Asia. English became the colonies’ official language of administration, justice, business, and education. Proficiency in English was a key factor for individuals seeking social mobility.
This historical footprint continues to be evident today. For instance, in Nigeria, a post-colonial nation with over five hundred languages and dialects, English is the only official language, with three other national languages (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba).
English remains an official language even for countries with a more homogeneous linguistic landscape. As the Irish sketch comedy group Foil Arms and Hog humorously depicts, it is very hard to break free from a union:
English became the go-to communication medium as international tourism flourished at the end of the 19th century. Mass tourism (group travels on fixed itineraries, often coordinated by tourism agents) is a concept popularized by the British businessman Thomas Cook in the late 19th century. Cook offered affordable day trips and extended vacations to diverse locations, capitalizing on Europe’s expanding railways.
Tourists, business professionals, and diplomats gravitated towards English as a universal language. This, in turn, intensified the demand for English language learning worldwide, reinforcing its status as lingua franca.
Jerome K. Jerome’s words encapsulate the unwitting role of the English traveller in popularizing the English language across Europe:
The man who has spread the knowledge of English from Cape St. Vincent to the Ural Mountains is the Englishman who, unable or unwilling to learn a single word of any language but his own, travels purse in hand into every corner of the Continent. One may be shocked at his ignorance, annoyed at his stupidity, angry at his presumption. But the practical fact remains; he it is that is anglicising Europe. For him, the Swiss peasant tramps through the snow on winter evenings to attend the English class open in every village. For him the coachman and the guard, the chambermaid and the laundress, pore over their English grammars and colloquial phrase books. For him, the foreign shopkeeper and merchant send their sons and daughters in their thousands to study in every English town. For him it is that every foreign hotel- and restaurant-keeper adds to his advertisement: “Only those with fair knowledge of English need apply.”
Did the English-speaking races make it their rule to speak anything else than English, the marvellous progress of the English tongue throughout the world would stop. The English-speaking man stands amid the strangers and jingles his gold.
“Here,” cries, “is payment for all such as can speak English.”
He it is who is the great educator. Theoretically, we may scold him; practically, we should take our hats off to him. He is the missionary of the English tongue.
Jerome K. Jerome – Three Men on the Bummel
Following the British Empire’s linguistic expansion, World War I and II witnessed the victories of English-speaking nations such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, along with their allies. In the aftermath of World War II, the United States emerged as a global superpower, reshaping political and linguistic boundaries.
As part of the Marshall Plan, the American initiative to rebuild Western Europe, English became the working language of numerous international organizations, including the United Nations or NATO. Consulting the Wikipedia page for the official languages of international organizations, it is immediately obvious that English is almost ubiquitous.
Another aspect of trying to understand the global reach of English is through soft power. Soft power contrasts sharply with hard power, the traditional measure of influence that relies on military or economic might.
Soft power co-opts, whereas hard power coerces. American political scientist Joseph Nye, who introduced the concept of soft power, explained that with soft power, “the best propaganda is not propaganda” and that with the Information Age, “credibility is the scarcest resource”.
As the philosopher Confucius argued, true civilisation had a habit of luring the border peoples in. They are tempted by its benefits, to the extent that they cannot live without them, and soon buy, or beg, or barter them for themselves. Sometimes they steal, but eventually they are subsumed within the civilisation itself. Today, we would call it ‘soft power’.
Jonathan Clements – A History of the Silk Road
English seeped into global consciousness through culture and technology.
Hollywood and the English-speaking music industry played pivotal roles in expanding the reach of the English language, embedding phrases, idioms, and colloquialisms into the lexicon of many societies. As audiences around the world sang, watched or read, they were not just enjoying the content; they were also part of a global English classroom, picking up vocabulary, sentence structures, and nuances of the English language.
But the most radical spreading factor was English as the dominant language of the Internet-fueled technology advancements.
Developed in the late 1960s, ARPANET, a project by the U.S. Department of Defense’s DARPA, was the precursor to the modern Internet. ARPANET’s primary objective was to develop a communication network that could withstand a nuclear attack. Given that this project was American-based, the initial communication and technical documentation were all in English.
Introduced in the early 1970s by the American-headquartered Bell Labs, the C programming language was crucial in establishing the English-centric syntax and documentation standard for further programming languages.
In the late 1980s, British scientist Tim Berners-Lee introduced the World Wide Web while working at CERN. Even though CERN is in Switzerland, the first-ever website dedicated to explaining the Web was written in English.
Home of the first-ever website, still online, still in English:
The late 20th century saw Silicon Valley in California become a global hub for tech innovation. As companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google surged, their products, interfaces, and documentation, though multilingual, began with and still primarily operate in English.
Then, there is also the industrial need for linguistic standardization driven by safety and necessity.
Using a single dominant language may foster more streamlined communication and a common culture, as exemplified by Iveco. This multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company merged from Italian, French, and German companies.
The first step for a common culture: language
Merging companies of diverse nationalities can initially pose a significant problem, namely communication. Neither French, German nor Italian was spoken or understood well enough within the Iveco Group (other than in the specific market country) to be preferred over the others. It was, therefore, decided to play on neutral ground and choose English as the company’s official language.
The skies and seas have equally echoed the dominance of English.
Highlighting the importance of a universal communication medium, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) took steps to rectify potential safety hazards. Due to accidents where a lack of English proficiency played a tragic role, ICAO mandated that pilots and air traffic controllers, irrespective of their native language, must possess proficiency in English.
“In response to fatal accidents in which the lack of proficiency in English was identified as a contributing factor, ICAO adopted standards to strengthen language proficiency for pilots and air traffic controllers involved in international operations,” said Nancy Graham, Director of ICAO’s Air Navigation Bureau.
“The new ICAO endorsement service makes it easier to achieve that objective by providing States with impartial recommendations on selecting or developing English language tests that comply with our standards,” Graham added.
2011 ICAO newsletter – ICAO Promotes Aviation Safety by Endorsing English Language Testing
For instance, the Korean language has intricate ways of addressing seniors, which can complicate rapid communication during emergencies. This level of linguistic deference between junior and senior pilots is speculated to have played a role in a 2013 air crash. Using English in aviation might thus be advantageous since it lacks these hierarchical nuances.
The maritime realm has also seen the rise of English as its dominant language. The International Maritime Organization, responsible for global shipping regulations, has declared English the working language for maritime trade and communication. Given the historical supremacy of British naval forces during significant periods like the Age of Sail and the Industrial Revolution, this adoption was almost anticipated.
The SMNV [Standard Marine Navigational Vocabulary] was developed for use by seafarers, following agreement that a common language – namely English – should be established for navigational purposes where language difficulties arise and the IMO SMCP has been developed as a more comprehensive standardized safety language, taking into account changing conditions in modern seafaring and covering all major safety-related verbal communication.
English borrows liberally. It has a knack for assimilating words and phrases from other languages, making speakers of those languages feel a sense of familiarity and belonging. So here we are, rising another Babel Tower with English bricks.
Yet, as the story goes, the Babel Tower was shattered not by bricks tumbling but by linguistic division.
While using a single dominant language may foster more streamlined communication, it also stirs debates about power dynamics, cultural diversity, and ethical considerations. Also, the cultural ideas and values embedded into the English language can influence non-native speakers, sometimes leading to cultural homogenization.
This brings us to the controversial concept of linguistic imperialism (language and cultural norms of powerful nations overshadowing and often suppressing those of less powerful ones).
Not every culture embraces English or its influences in the same manner. Countries like Iceland and France advocate for linguistic purity and resist English incorporations. The Icelandic word for “computer” is not “computer” but “tölva”, a fusion of “tala” (meaning number) and “völva” (a prophetess or seeress). The French word for “computer” is “l’ordinateur”, from the Latin “he who puts order, orderer”.
Especially the Académie Française, the pre-eminent French council for matters about the French language, often proposes French equivalents for foreign words. For instance, instead of using “email”, they offer “courriel”, and instead of “weekend”, they suggest “fin de semaine”. However, in practice, French speakers often use adapted English loanwords, creating “le weekend” or “le brunch” (which the Académie Française would want to be replaced by “dejeunette”, “grand petit déjeuner” or “petit déjeuner-déjeuner”).
Globalization is a chaotic, complex process, and as time marches forward, the cultural threads only become more entangled.
W. David Marx – Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style
Ultimately, English’s rise as the language to learn is due to English-speaking countries being at the right time and place.
In the 19th century, Britain’s industrial might set the stage for English to spread. This momentum was only intensified when the United States, another English-speaking nation, emerged as a global superpower, reinforcing English’s dominance during a period of rapid technological advancement as never seen before.
And so, English became the language spoken by victors and money.
Had the wave of globalization and the rise of the Internet occurred during the 17th and 18th centuries, French would likely be our dominant digital tongue, given its prominence in diplomacy, philosophy, and early science. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Spanish might have claimed that role due to its extensive colonial reach. Earlier still, during the Middle Ages and the times of the Roman Empire, Latin would have been the unifying language.
Could another language replace English? As with everything else, for another language to take over, that language needs to provide such a value that leaving it out will hinder our competitive edge.
Until then …
Betty bought a bit of butter, but the bit of butter Betty bought was bitter. So Betty bought a better bit of butter, to make the bitter bit of butter better.
Further Reading:
Iceland is inventing a new vocabulary for a high-tech future
Learning New Words Can Help Recognize Our Emotions
The britishempire.co.uk website has a timeline for territories entering or exiting the British Empire.