English noun
- The West
Germanic language of England, now widely used in many linguistic varieties throughout
the world.
How does one define something as all-encompassing
as English? The language defines so much of the world we live in
today. It’s how we communicate, how we understand, and the way we do
business. English has gone viral around the world, and it doesn’t even
have a YouTube video. The world speaks English, reads English, writes
English, and studies English. It has touched just about every square inch
of this planet that the human race has inhabited. Yet how can we begin to
define the scope of something without knowing how it’s used?
English can be used as a noun; there’s no doubt about
it. I just did it. How about as an adjective? Can we use the English
language as an adjective? Done! Supposedly, it can be used as a
transitive verb if followed by an object, such as if you’re going to translate
something. I’ve never heard this before but let’s try it. He’s going to English Don Quixote.
To me, it just doesn’t sound right. And I imagine grammarians hate this
argument – it doesn’t sound right! But why shouldn’t our ears be
guidelines to linguistic acceptability? I for one would like to hear
English used as an intransitive verb. Let’s give it some action. We were Englishing at the restaurant,
when we overheard the people behind us Spanishing. I kind of like
it! And why can’t we play English? We can speak it, write it, read
it, and listen to it. I’d much rather play English than do any of those
other things. I think it would also make a great adverb. If only
something could look, sound, or feel Englishy.
Like many things in this world, English has rules. Rules should be
followed, but quite often they are broken.
The beauty of the English language is that it's adaptable. The more people who try to learn English, especially as their second language, the greater the variance we see in the way it's both spoken and written. Today, English the most widely-used second language in the world. According to estimates by the British Council, about 750 million people speak English as a foreign language. It's also believed that over a billion people are currently learning English worldwide. Countries and empires will not conquer the world, bu the English language just might.
