Globish?

Ann Althouse is cross about a M. Nerrière's proposal for Globish - a global English simplified for everyday use. Once upon a time, I might have joined Althouse in blustering about someone watering down my language. But for better or worse, there's neither need nor purpose for debate.

I lived in France back when they were trying to get us to listen to balladeurs and all that other nonsense. And I've spent enough time at language study to know that there have been many proposals for simplified languages, from the artificial Esperantoes to Basic English. Althouse should know that Globish was already proposed and years and years ago. It ain't gonna happen.

Here's what will happen: I live in California, outside San Jose. I'm well acquainted with what happens to English when a bunch of non-natives have at it, and while it may be simplified, it's not systematic. Spanish speakers use highfalutin Romance words with the wrong prepositions, Japanese construct sentences perfect save for their absence of articles or properly conjugated verbs and the Chinese make do without verb tenses of any sort. The native speakers, accustomed to this, speak a clear, concise English relatively free of the quainter idioms. When Globish comes, it won't be systematically. Rather, it will pass unnoticed. In fact, it may already have happened.

Zahmenof, in founding Esperanto, thought to combine multiple elements from multiple languages to win people over. No need for the help, though, people can take care of this for themselves and will. The future is an English of simpler construction, sparser vocabulary and less colorful idioms, but in which new metaphors about technology, mass media and the like offer a new and different richness. I don't know whether the idiom will go fully global, but whether or not it does has little to do with either the protestations of purists or the aspirations of simplifiers. It will come, if it comes, all on its own.