by Leonard J Sherrott

Created on: January 07, 2008   Last Updated: March 23, 2010

The English language is a mixture of the tongues spoken by every early race which had the temerity to invade the British shores. As a result it is the most complicated and most difficult language in the world to master. Not only do many of the rules for spelling and application seem illogical, they are contradicted by exceptions which give no reason. Ironically, even within the tiny United Kingdom the natives sometimes have trouble understanding each other.

As a child in an English school, my uncluttered mind was loaded parrot fashion with rules which were committed to memory in the same way that I learned multiplication tables. I can't explain why 'i' must come before 'e' except after c. More importantly, I can't explain why there are times when it doesn't. I have no explanation for my children as to why the same composition of letters in a word can be pronounced in different ways and even have different meanings. As children we didn't question it we just absorbed everything.

While the structure of English gives rise to many pun intended gags, it is also causes considerable problems of ambiguity for students of the language. Using words outside of the community in which they were derived can have comical and even dire consequences in another because of a perceived difference in connotations.

In the twenty-first century globally, the relevance of such a Draconian system, which the majority of the world population loosely adheres to is slowly being eroded. Language is determined largely by culture. As the British empire continues to shrink so will the influence of its language on developing independent nations. A new way of life introduces new ideas and with it a whole new language. There is no better evidence of this than in the technological revolution which began in the twentieth century. As Britannia ruled the waves one hundred years ago, Microsoft could arguably claim to rule our cyber language today. Spell checkers encourage us to spell phonetically. There is a new color in our language that we may or may not favor. It matters little as long as we understand each other.

It could be said that communication via mobile phone text messaging is an adapted language of young people today. A series of abbreviated words,letters and even numbers form messages which are readily understood by the recipient. As a result, conversations occur remotely between two people at a remarkable rate.

In a vast English speaking community, the alphabet of twenty six letters will always be the basis of a communicable language. That framework will not change. Esperanto is the closest thing to a world language that has tried. While it is still engaged by a number of people worldwide, the fundamental differences and covert suspicions between cultures makes broader global implementation a very unlikely prospect.

For those of us from the old school, Mother England will maintain her stranglehold. Homonyms, antonyms and synonyms will continue to rule because that's the system we grew up with and U can't teach an old dog new tricks.

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