The mass extinction of languages is inevitable. As of 2023, there are more than 7,000 languages being used in the world, and 90% of them are expected to disappear over the next 100 years (source). Countless languages have already disappeared in recent times.
As languages continue to disappear at a massive rate, the eventuality is that the world will be left with only a handful of languages.
Everyone can agree that losing languages is a bad thing. So why is it happening at such a fiercely unstoppable rate? While heartbreaking, the mass-extinction of Earth’s languages is an inevitable and natural effect of globalization. Language-saving efforts from linguists and politicians will ultimately be in vain.
Languages are, first and foremost, a utility. They’re an important aspect of showcasing a people’s culture, sure, but their primary purpose is to enable one to communicate and be understood. In the face of globalization, it’s only logical that people will prioritize learning and using the one language that best enables them to understand the world and conversely be understood by as many as possible.
English is the lingua franca of the world, and anyone who chooses to learn it will open themselves up to countless new opportunities and media that they’d otherwise miss out on. With everyone realizing that a single language is their ticket to understanding the entire world, the motivation for retaining a native language decreases with each generation.
I don’t think that all languages will disappear completely. But the lesser-used of them have lost their utility and will be supplanted by those with billions or hundreds of millions of speakers, favored for their broad practicality. This already is and has been happening for some time.
I think that many languages will evolve (devolve?) into dialects of a single, standard, global language. As a matter of fact, it’s already happening, isn’t it?
The Japanese word マンション (manshon) was borrowed from English mansion, but took on a different meaning. While mansion describes a large house or luxurious apartment in English, the word refers to any apartment within a high-rise building in Japanese, regardless of its size. For instance, a college student living in a cramped, 500-square-foot studio in Tokyo can accurately describe their apartment as a mansion.
The word relook, meaning to reconsider or re-examine, has been added to the Indian English lexicon. While not used or even recognized in British or American English, it remains part of the vernacular for Indian English-speakers.
Of course, English has commited its own fair share of atrocities when adopting words from other languages. The pseudo-Spanish butcherings desperado (Spanish: desesperado) and no problemo (Spanish: no hay problema) might be two of the most immediately obvious. Some other loanwords have managed to assimilate unscathed, such as French’s coup d’état, naïveté, and déjà vu. These words kept their original meanings and spellings, including the diacritical marks that don’t exist in English.
There’s nothing inherently special about English—it just spread globally and will continue morphing into endless, sometimes incomprehensible dialects over time.
As more loanwords find their way into the vernacular of another language, the overlap becomes great enough that the smaller one loses its status as a separate language, and will be considered a dialect or creole. Look at Haitian Creole, Jamaican Paotis, or Tok Pisin for a few examples of the eventuality that occurs when elements of a language gradually get replaced by loanwords and slang that become standard after some time.