English Until the Return of Babel

The Last Lingua Franca

Nicholas Ostler is the author of the critically acclaimed Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World. He studied Greek, Latin and Philosophy at the University of Oxford and holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from MIT. With a working knowledge of twenty-six languages, Nicholas now runs an institute for the protection of endangered languages, an international organization that provides funding and support to document and revive dying languages. He lives in Bath.

In this provocative and persuasive new book, Nicholas Ostler challenges our assumption that English will continue to dominate as the global lingua franca. Drawing on his encyclopaedic knowledge of world languages and their history, Ostler reveals that just as past great languages like Latin and Sanskrit have died out, so English will follow. 
 
The influence of English now is hard to exaggerate - it is the world's preferred medium for business, science and entertainment, and is claimed to be a basic educational tool like mathematics or computing. So is it here to stay? For the last four centuries, the dominant world power has been English-speaking, but the global balance of power is shifting. And in countries like Brazil, Russia and China, English plays no part in the national tradition. 
 
Although globalization has helped the rise of English, trade, migration, economic development and technological innovation are now changing the way we access and use language. Ostler shows how we are headed towards a much more multilingual and diverse future. And as English retreats, no single language will take its place. 
 
We can embrace this future but first we need to accept it: the last competitive advantage of native English-speakers will soon be consigned to history.

Nicholas Ostler

Frequently jaw-dropping and never less than convincing

A linguist of astonishing voracity ... the predictions are striking

Extensive and engaging...A sweepingly learned and garrulous guide to historical curiosities

As Nicholas Ostler exhaustively documents...history shows that no language will dominate the world conversation forever...More provocatively, Ostler argues that, once the dominance of English has waned, no lingua franca will replace it.

A thorough analysis of the rise and fall of different lingua francas, Ostler provides us with a series of rich examples showing how these 'common languages' achieve prominence and how they subsequently, and inevitably, lose this, left to shrivel for use only as mother tongues.

The Rise and Fall of World Languages

In the twenty-first century, can we really take the dominance of English for granted? 
In their time, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Sanskrit and Persian have each been world languages, sweeping the globe for centuries at a time. And yet they have all been displaced, just as Nicholas Ostler predicts English will be. What forces drive these linguistic currents? What characteristics do lingua francas share? And most importantly, how do they lose their power? 
In this revelatory and exhilarating tour de force, Ostler explores the rise of a linguistic diversity that we could never before have imagined.

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

The perfect gift? A Penguin Shop gift card

East of Eden

Wuthering Heights

White Nights

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Boxed Set: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov

Nicholas Ostler

Praise for The Last Lingua Franca

Frequently jaw-dropping and never less than convincing

A linguist of astonishing voracity ... the predictions are striking

Extensive and engaging...A sweepingly learned and garrulous guide to historical curiosities

Frequently jaw-dropping and never less than convincing

A linguist of astonishing voracity ... the predictions are striking

Extensive and engaging...A sweepingly learned and garrulous guide to historical curiosities

Frequently jaw-dropping and never less than convincing

A linguist of astonishing voracity ... the predictions are striking

Extensive and engaging...A sweepingly learned and garrulous guide to historical curiosities

Books by Nicholas Ostler

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter