Monday, October 31, 2005
English: the 18th century underdog to be lingua franca
Trivia from LL:
In 1783, the Berlin Academy held a competition for essays on the subject of the widespread usage of French, and its prospects for continuing as the lingua franca of European intellectuals. Apparently nine submissions argued that French would continue; nine that it would be replaced by German; and one that Russian would win out. (English got no votes.)
De Rivarol made his case for French:
What distinguishes our language from other ancient and modern languages is the order and the structure of the phrase. ... The French language, by unique privilege, is the only one to remain faithful to the straightforward order, as if it were all reason, and it doesn’t matter if we disguise this order by the most varied movements and all the resources of style, it necessarily still exists; and in vain do the passions overwhelm us and urge us to to follow the order of our sense impressions: French syntax is incorruptible.