English: Widest Channel of Human Solidarity

 

English Language Day 2023 / 23 April / Article

English: Widest Channel of Human Solidarity

Fr Dr M. D. Thomas

Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi

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‘English Language Day’ is celebrated on the 23^rd day of April. It was established by United Nations Department of Public Information, in 2010. The day is traditionally observed as the birthday and date of death of William Shakespeare, the greatest writer in English, as well.  

Creating awareness about the history, culture, achievements and future of English language, boosting the proficiency of English speakers all around the world as well as promoting multilingualism and cultural diversity was the purpose of the day.

The day is dedicated to educating people of all ages about the beauty, complexity and universality of the English language. It was also intended to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the United Nations Organization.

Reading books, viewing films, writing poems and stories, conducting quizzes, having discussions, holding conversation, developing a new way of teaching English, inventing new styles of English, and the like, are some of the ways of celebrating this day.

 

More often than not, English is referred to as a ‘world language’ or ‘bridge language’ or ‘common language’. It is the ‘lingua franca’ or the language spoken by people who speak various native languages across the nations.

 

It is interesting to note that English was spoken by only three tribes some 1500 years ago. Today, it is spoken by around two billion people. About 75 countries have given official status to English. It seems to gain more and more ground with every passing year.

 

William Shakespeare lived in the 16^th-17^th centuries. He was fondly called ‘Bard’. He has contributed a lot to the English language. He created a number of new words and phrases, which are in use today, too.

 

Geoffrey Chaucer is known to be the ‘father of English language’, since the 14^th century. He was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat and diplomat. He is considered a ‘model of writing to be imitated by English poets’, as he wrote only in English.

 

English, from its inception, has taken on grammar, tones and words from every language it has come in touch with. Therefore, some people argue that English is no longer a language of its own, but an amalgam of many languages.   

 

As ‘lingua franca’ of the entire world, English has been bringing together people of all countries for trade and communication. It is like a second language in almost every nation, if not the first. At the same time, in some respects, English is one of the most complicated languages.

 

The origins of the English language could be traced back to the Angles, a Germanic tribe, in medieval England. As they invaded Britain in the 5^th century AD, they developed the Old English language, the archaic version of the English that is universally spoken.

 

In the 14^th century, at the demise of the Old English, Old English mixed with French words, called Middle English, became the dominant language in Britain. The rise of Modern English took place at the beginning of the 16^th century.

 

Modern English is known for its shift in pronunciation, called ‘Great Vowel Shift’. For that reason, vowels in English language are pronounced shorter and shorter. The standardized modern English of Britain emerged thus, along with the first English Dictionary in 1604.

 

Further, industrial revolution required to use more words. A quarter of the territory of the world became part of the global British empire, too. English imbibed many foreign words as well. Thus, today’s English language developed with wider circulation. 

 

English began as a quiet language on a cluster of islands, off the coast of Western Europe. It developed and spread with colonialism. It grew from the language of once the most powerful nation in the world to a language of commerce and contact all over the world. 

 

English has several variations across the world. It has diverse colloquial offshoots and slangs. It is a rich and compact language, with a lot of facilities. It is a smart language and is ever on the march towards being a dear and beautiful language to one and all. 

 

Besides, English is one of the easiest and simplest languages of the world. It has a style and elegance of its own. It is systemic and symbolic as well as dynamic and cultural. English is a very polished and courteous language as well as direct and to the point. It could even be said that English is the most efficient and effective language of the world.

 

Furthermore, a musical feel, rhythm, intonation, pitch range, stress, gestures, pause, phrasing, and the like, are exceptional characteristics of English language. Reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing are five branches of English. English facilitates exploring the human heritage across the countries and cultures, the most, too.

 

What’s more, the beauty of English language is in its suppleness and facility, the rich variety of words and the vast source of its words. It has a softer and fluid structure, being globally influenced by so many languages, along with its growing vocabulary. It is a great language to have fun with and to play with, too. Even though every language has a facility of its own, it has to be said that English language has a beauty that is beyond compare.

 

‘English Language Day 2023’ of the United Nations is a great occasion for citizens in India and world over, for resolving anew to relish speaking and writing English as well as contribute to the growth of the language.

 

It is also a golden opportunity to learn and promote the facility of English, in view of bringing the humanity across the nations and communities together, in view of celebrating the world solidarity of the humans.  Hail English Language Day of the United Nations!   

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The author is Director, Institute of Harmony and Peace Studies, New Delhi, and has been committed to education, cross-cultural perspectives, cross-scriptural values, constitutional values, interfaith relations, social ethics, communal harmony, national integration and social wellbeing, for the past over 40 years. He contributes to the above cause through lectures, articles, video messages, conferences, social interactions, views at TV channels, and the like.

 

He could be viewed, listened to and contacted at the following portals – websites ‘www.mdthomas.in’ (p), ‘https://mdthomas.academia.edu’ (p), ‘https://drmdthomas.blogspot.com’(p) and ‘www.ihpsindia.org’ (o); social media ‘https://www.youtube.com/InstituteofHarmonyandPeaceStudies’ (o), ‘https://twitter.com/mdthomas53’ (p), ‘https://www.facebook.com/mdthomas53’ (p); email ‘mdthomas53@gmail.com’ (p) and telephone 9810535378 (p).