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Post by Admin on May 11, 2020 18:59:08 GMT
This is an interesting question...The first other language that springs to mind is Spanish. It it widely spoken, and perhaps most associated with Spain (although Spain itself had a number of other language like Basque, Catalan, Galician etc.) but despite being named for it and originating there, Spain certainly doesn't own Spanish. As we all know, the US, Mexico, Central and South America have their own numerous varieties of Spanish. In the US, there is Chicano Spanish, for instance, which is a language in its own right, owned by those who speak it (https://www.pdx.edu/multicultural-topics-communication-sciences-disorders/chicano-english). At the same time, though Spain in the only country in Europe where Spanish is spoken "natively" there are Spanish users all over the continent, and Spanish does indeed belong to them. I speak a mix of Castilian Spanish, Mexican Spanish and Colombian Spanish, so...what is that then? I suppose that would be my own Spanish, that I took from different sources and made my own, far from a "Standard" variety but given that I use it, I own it. I hope this makes sense...Does anyone have other examples?
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Post by sameerco1971 on May 19, 2020 17:11:42 GMT
As far as I know, the Muslim community in many countries learn and speak Arabic language. They are not only in Arab countries. They are in many other countries.
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Post by Kunlong Jin on May 20, 2020 22:24:52 GMT
I am not a native or fluency user of French. But my understanding of French as an important role in international communities. French has been an official working language in many international bodies such as The United Nation, World Water Council, the International Olympic Committee, International Federation for Human Rights, etc. In English-speaking countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages.
Another 'kind of' power language would be Spanish. As far as I know, Spanish is the most commonly taught foreign language, though French is next.
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Post by erenkenny on May 27, 2020 15:28:39 GMT
I think Spanish is widely spoken.
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Post by Daniel Palmer on May 28, 2020 10:29:05 GMT
I am not a native or fluency user of French. But my understanding of French as an important role in international communities. French has been an official working language in many international bodies such as The United Nation, World Water Council, the International Olympic Committee, International Federation for Human Rights, etc. In English-speaking countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. Another 'kind of' power language would be Spanish. As far as I know, Spanish is the most commonly taught foreign language, though French is next. I have used my understanding of French a great deal in some countries that were a genuine surprise; while I expected to use it while visiting West Africa, I hadn't even considered that it might still be actively used in parts of South-East Asia, and even a remote part of China. When I used it in each of these cases, there were many differences to inflection and vocabulary to modern 'standard' French.
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Post by abdisyam on May 29, 2020 2:21:14 GMT
I cannot think of any language that is limited to intra-national status. It is possible for a language to be owned by other communities, and I think Indonesian language is also a perfect example in addition to Spanish and English. Indonesia is a multiethnic nation with hundreds of languages spoken in the archipelago. Some of the languages are spoken by millions while some others are only spoken by few hundreds. As colonialism in the region came to an end in 1940s, the Republic of Indonesia was formed, and it needed a Lingua Franca for its people to communicate. So, from more than 700 regional languages, Malay was chosen, not Javanese despite being the language of ethnic majority at the time, as the national language. Thus, Malay, which was originally the language of the people in Riau, Indonesia, is now spoken by the Javanese, Acehnese, Sundanese, Banjarese, Makassarese, and Papuan people of Indonesia as Indonesian language. With many different variations in many different communities in the country, every Indonesian claims ownership of the language. Obviously, there was an effort from the central government to have a standardised version of the language in the early stage.
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Post by andrea scabbia on Jun 1, 2020 21:11:15 GMT
I vote for Spanish
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Tom Le Seelleur Lisburn, NI
Guest
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Post by Tom Le Seelleur Lisburn, NI on Jun 7, 2020 16:53:05 GMT
Many languages have grown internationally whether in the past because of colonialism or because of religion or because it has become a lingua franca in that region. Obvious languages include Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Africaans, Hindi, Urdu, Manderin, Russian, Dutch, Cantonese, Greek, Latin, and probably many more.
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Post by Sally Urquhart on Jun 17, 2020 10:25:31 GMT
Having lived in Spain and met many LAMs, Catalans and Castellano Spanish speakers, I am very aware of one language being used in lots of different ways having grown internationally. And it's wonderful.
The growth of language internationally due to colonialism and globalisation, in my opinion, do not allow a language to be 'owned' or limited to a local area. My favourite case is the presence of Welsh spoken in Patagonia.
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Post by evarojo on Jun 24, 2020 15:44:06 GMT
There are many languages like English and Spanish that are, or were, widely spoken along the globe. French was quite popular during the XIX and XX century and the French spoken in Paris differs from the one spoken in Corsica in the same France. Latin was the lingua franca for centuries due to religious reasons. Whatever reason makes a language to be chosen as a lingua franca, it gives the opportunity to be used in many different ways around the world. I am a Spanish native speaker and English teacher, my husband will agree with the statement that my Spanish is quite peculiar, mixed with English and with local influences of all the places I have lived within Spain and abroad. I think, we, speakers, own the language and in that sense, we leave our mark, our identity on it.
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tony
New Member
Posts: 15
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Post by tony on Jun 25, 2020 4:26:10 GMT
Russian is spoken not only by Russians but also by people living in (some of) the CIS countries, thus there are varieties of Russian language that are influenced by local cultures, traditions and languages. I was born and grew up in Kazakhstan, and I can use some words and expressions that Russian people who have never been there would probably not be able to understand. But of course, Russians and Kazakhs, for instance, can converse in Russian uninhibitedly despite coming from different social milieus.
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Post by marian on Jul 1, 2020 21:24:49 GMT
This is an interesting question...The first other language that springs to mind is Spanish. It it widely spoken, and perhaps most associated with Spain (although Spain itself had a number of other language like Basque, Catalan, Galician etc.) but despite being named for it and originating there, Spain certainly doesn't own Spanish. As we all know, the US, Mexico, Central and South America have their own numerous varieties of Spanish. In the US, there is Chicano Spanish, for instance, which is a language in its own right, owned by those who speak it (https://www.pdx.edu/multicultural-topics-communication-sciences-disorders/chicano-english). At the same time, though Spain in the only country in Europe where Spanish is spoken "natively" there are Spanish users all over the continent, and Spanish does indeed belong to them. I speak a mix of Castilian Spanish, Mexican Spanish and Colombian Spanish, so...what is that then? I suppose that would be my own Spanish, that I took from different sources and made my own, far from a "Standard" variety but given that I use it, I own it. I hope this makes sense...Does anyone have other examples? As Spanish is my mother tongue, I feel like you but in my case about English. Sometimes students want to know if I speak British or American English (they assume these are the only varieties of English), and my answer is that I believe people like me, who have learnt English from non-native teachers, speak a mix of many Englishes.
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Post by Ulla on Jul 24, 2020 13:31:45 GMT
I am not a classical scholar although I was taught Latin at school, but I wonder if the development of Romance languages can be seen as local communities taking ownership of Latin and making it their own?
Here in Austria, few people study the languages of some of our neighbours (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia). One reason is that these languages are seen as more difficult than, for example, Italian, the language of another neighbouring country which is quite popular in language schools - but maybe Hungarian etc. are also seen as regional languages whose usefulness is therefore limited?
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Post by miabae on Aug 2, 2020 15:14:37 GMT
Russian is still a lingua franca all over the globe (however, it's importance is diminishing, sadly). I saw in the previous comments Kazakhstan was mentioned. The same goes to other former USSR republics and countries of the USSR block (like Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic) as well as other countries the USSR supported (lots of African states, like Congo).
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Post by Anita on Sept 6, 2020 12:58:20 GMT
India,as an Outer circle Country speaks English as a second language. The official language is Hindi.I agree with Widdowson's comment that English cannot be owned by a country.I believe in the pluralithic form of English.
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