Article from The American Prospect

[Robert Kelly]

it is interesting to reflect that during the period for a couple of
hundred years around the beginning of the Common Era the language of
western civilization was Koine Greek -- at a time when Greece was a
powerless, long-defeated province of the almighty Roman Empire, while the
NEar East used Aramaic, which was at the time the language of no nation,
no army...

this reflection can cut both ways -- English might linger (as Greek did)
long after American hegemony is done, or might be replaced even during the
American Imperium by some other language more easily 'spoken' -- and what
language would that be, on the Internet?

RK

On Thu, 23 Mar 2000, Sallie Lemons wrote:

> <<<My prediction is that at some time--maybe a hundred or two
> hundred years in the future--some other language will arise and gradually
> take the dominant place that English now has.  The most likely candidates, I
> think, are Spanish and Chinese--although Chinese will have to be used in the
> Pinyin spelling or whatever may replace it.>>>
>
>
> I'd would be curious to know why Spanish and Chinese are the picks.  While those
> populations may outnumber many other cultures, I've always thought that
> predominance was economically, politically, even militarily based.
> Internationally influential cultures hit thier height when other institutions
> were strong.  At the very least they are factors. I'm just asking the question.
> I am surely no expert here.
>
>