[GTASAddict]

In comparison to many other countries, the United States of America is without a sanctioned language and should remain without one. Here is my justification:

The United States has prevailed as a melting pot (of diverse races, religions, cultures, etc) for more than 2 centuries. Declaration of an official language would be as infringing as declaring an official religion. So far, the nation has fared well with English as the de facto language, thus an official language is a waste of legislation.

Language is immersed by nature at a budding age, but immensely complex to acquire once the brain reaches a midlife threshold. This creates a burden for older immigrants; this would essentially amount to the concept of yelling at a deaf person to listen. Making English the official language could obstruct foreign language learning; embracing diversity and foreign languages will aid us in international trade & diplomacy.

This post has been edited by GTASAddict on Wednesday, May 15 2013, 20:59

[The Pizza Delivery Guy]

I DO NOT think the U.S. should announce an official language. That conflicts with the American nature. The country is pretty much a mixture of all nationalities and religions and should stay that way. It keeps America the way it is: The Nation of Every Nation.

We should seriously focus on fixing other things rather than trying to fix something that is already in good condition.

[KaRzY6]

They might as way make English the Official Language. It won't change anything really. As far as I know, they use English in the Government anyway.

[El_Diablo]

the answer is definitely no.

the OP provides most of the best reasons as to why this is.
but namely it's about the fact that language is also a living and breathing entity with English being THE most evolved language of them all. it's constantly changing. even if you were to declare English as the official language, it would still be an English that is littered with Latin/Spanish, German, French, Italian, Polynesian, and all manner of other speech influences. we adopt so many variants of foreign words and create so many slang words of our own that trying to pin down the English language as "official" is absurd in any regard.

especially for the United States.

[Irviding]

Wanting to make English our official language has no real practical purpose. Those who support it are really just spreading xenophobia since they don't like the fact that Spanish is becoming a prevalent language in the US. The idea that we need to "declare" an official language is just ridiculous.

[Opiniongiver]

I agree with GTASAddict that the US is, or should be a melting pot. The phrase melting pot is used frequently when describing the US. However, people tend to forget the "melting" part. Melting, should mean to blend together, not remain with areas cultured to other countries.

I think if the US did declare an official language, it could help unite the people, save money on publications, hiring of bilingual employees, and it may even get some people off their butts and learn another language.

A language barrier only promotes division. If someone wants to come to the US, they should also want to experience the "USA" culture.

[GunWrath]

QUOTE (The Pizza Delivery Guy @ Thursday, May 16 2013, 00:14)

I DO NOT think the U.S. should announce an official language. That conflicts with the American nature. The country is pretty much a mixture of all nationalities and religions and should stay that way. It keeps America the way it is: The Nation of Every Nation. We should seriously focus on fixing other things rather than trying to fix something that is already in good condition.

Beautifully typed and beautifully executed.

I kind of like a mix of several languages.. keeps me intrigued enough to try and learn some as I go throughout my experiences. I've managed to learn Spanish (not perfectly but enough to get by) over time. The Marine Corps has a lot of Hispanics, so it became useful at times, especially during engagements or simple arguments on barracks. I learned a bit of Arabic during service as well. My focus in on Portuguese at the moment, I have a couple friends on here who speak it and it's confusing to say the least.

[Melchior]

QUOTE (El_Diablo @ Sunday, May 19 2013, 19:22)

the answer is definitely no. the OP provides most of the best reasons as to why this is. but namely it's about the fact that language is also a living and breathing entity with English being THE most evolved language of them all. it's constantly changing. even if you were to declare English as the official language, it would still be an English that is littered with Latin/Spanish, German, French, Italian, Polynesian, and all manner of other speech influences. we adopt so many variants of foreign words and create so many slang words of our own that trying to pin down the English language as "official" is absurd in any regard. especially for the United States.

I'm not really sure what you're getting at, but it sounds like you're saying English is too much of a mash up to be a real language.

[El_Diablo]

QUOTE (Melchior @ Saturday, Jun 1 2013, 19:15)

it sounds like you're saying English is too much of a mash up to be a real language.

uh no.
what I'm saying is that English (more so than any other language) is constantly evolving and adopting and adapting. it's more fluid and expressive than any other human language today.

and in that sense, it's not fair to declare English as the official language of ANY country; let alone the United States.

[Melchior]

QUOTE (El_Diablo @ Sunday, Jun 2 2013, 11:50)

QUOTE (Melchior @ Saturday, Jun 1 2013, 19:15) it sounds like you're saying English is too much of a mash up to be a real language. uh no. what I'm saying is that English (more so than any other language) is constantly evolving and adopting and adapting. it's more fluid and expressive than any other human language today. and in that sense, it's not fair to declare English as the official language of ANY country; let alone the United States.

You're still saying it isn't comparable to other languages and I'm not really seeing why. All languages borrow heavily from others, all languages adapt over time.

[El_Diablo]

QUOTE (Melchior @ Saturday, Jun 1 2013, 21:26)

All languages borrow heavily from others, all languages adapt over time.

but not anywhere near to the extent of English.

there are - by far - more words in a modern English dictionary than any other language.

[Melchior]

I'm sceptical that English has been influenced more by European languages than say, Japanese has been influenced by Chinese languages, or African and East Asian languages by English itself. Even if it was more of a mash-up than any other world language (it isn't), how would that preclude it from being the official language of a country? Especially in countries that have been speaking that language since their inception.

In terms of changing over time, there's nothing too remarkable about English.

[El_Diablo]

ugh...

QUOTE (Melchior @ Sunday, Jun 2 2013, 18:57)

Even if it was more of a mash-up than any other world language (it isn't)

actually it is.

no other modern dictionary includes as many distinctive words and slang terminologies as the current English language.
you're free to try and prove me wrong, but you'll have a really hard time doing so.

QUOTE

how would that preclude it from being the official language of a country?

it doesn't technically preclude English from being an official language.
this is just part of my reasoning.

it's one of several reasons why English should not be the official language of the United States.

QUOTE

In terms of changing over time, there's nothing too remarkable about English.

agree to disagree, I guess.

in my humble opinion English is the most beautiful and descriptive language on Earth because we have more overlapping words and connotations than any other language.
generally speaking, most languages have 1 word to describe 1 thing. English usually has multiple words to describe the same things which means there's so much distinctive flavor to choose from.

[Melchior]

QUOTE (El_Diablo @ Monday, Jun 3 2013, 11:42)

generally speaking, most languages have 1 word to describe 1 thing.

Yeah, apart from, you know, all the Romance languages. English doesn't have more redundant synonyms than say, Spanish or French.

QUOTE

you're free to try and prove me wrong, but you'll have a really hard time doing so.

Well, the burden of proof isn't on me. You made the claim that English is exceptional, and it's your role to substantiate it.

QUOTE

it doesn't technically preclude English from being an official language. this is just part of my reasoning.

I was responding to your claim that, because English is such a mash up, it's inappropriate for a country to decree it an official language.

The fact is, English is only considered a hybrid language historically (a mix of Old French, Latin and Germanic language), and the borrowing of words to explain new phenomenon is not exceptional in the slightest.

[El_Diablo]

QUOTE (Melchior @ Sunday, Jun 2 2013, 22:58)

English doesn't have more redundant synonyms than say, Spanish or French.

I'm pretty sure that it does.

[Melchior]

Ask a native speaker of any Romance language to list the synonyms for "big." Better yet, ask an Inuit speaker to tell you how many words they have for "snow."

[Stefche]

Yeah, I speak a Slavic language near-fluently and the idea that there is one meaning for one word in most languages other than English is a bit short-sighted. The Romance languages (along with a lot of other Germanic languages, hell, most Indo-European languages) would be no different.

I agree that it'd be pointless to make it the official language of the US, but furthermore isn't precluding it from other countries, simply because it's a very fluid and dynamic language, a bit redundant? It's not like when a language is "set-in-stone" as being official that the language is prevented from borrowing words or developing further.

I think it's important for a society to have a common lingua fraca which can facilitate universal communication between all members of that society (I don't think anyone will disagree here), but I think that the idea of legislating it for the purposes of making it "official" is both pointless, but a non-issue at the same time. Isn't the whole process of making a language official simply for symbolism? I mean, English isn't the official language of the US, but it's still the language used for 99% of both government and commercial communication. Personal communication is a bit different given the multicultural demographic of the US, but even then, most migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds inevitably learn English once they assimilate and settle. Am I a bit simplistic in thinking that absolutely nothing will change practically if they make English the official language of the US?

[Irviding]

QUOTE

Am I a bit simplistic in thinking that absolutely nothing will change practically if they make English the official language of the US?

No, not at all. And that's why it goes to prove that the only people who want to make it our official language are those who want to do it for xenophobic reasons.

[El_Diablo]

QUOTE (Melchior @ Monday, Jun 3 2013, 03:33)

list the synonyms for "big." Better yet, ask an Inuit speaker to tell you how many words they have for "snow."

we're not talking about individual words or specific languages.
in general, the modern English language includes more different words than virtually any other language, in spite of individual exceptions to the rule.

- http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/words/is-...of-any-language
- http://www.vistawide.com/languages/language_statistics.htm
- http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_language_co..._the_most_words
- http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index...13120502AAT63vT

it's beside the point. it wasn't the basis for my argument, just a piece of it.
and it appears we agree in principle; the US does not need an official language.

added some sauce material.

This post has been edited by El_Diablo on Tuesday, Jun 4 2013, 12:15