How Language is Changing in the Digital Age
Languages are always in flux, but could they be changing even faster in the internet era. What about a universal language? Is that possible?
One of the most important technologies human’s invented is language. Without our ability to communicate we’d probably still be swinging about in trees and on the lunch and dinner menu for lots of animals with bigger teeth and claws. And you wouldn’t be reading this. I’m glad you are, you probably are too.
Other technologies such as transportation, writing, the printing press, telegraph, telephone and now of course, the internet, have long influenced the evolution of language. Could we today be on the cusp of finally creating a universal language? Could our future mean one human language and the loss of all other languages? or the preservation of them?
Or, with AI getting better at translation, might an opposite effect occur and language becomes more fractured? Local dialects and urban adaptations such as Sheng in Kenya and Haitian Creole become deeply entrenched? Both of which have thrived in the Digital Age.
Did we Homo Sapiens invent language like we prefer to think? Or did we get it from Neanderthals or another hominid species? There is evidence Neanderthals spoke some form of language and some speculation that us Homo Sapiens may have taken the idea of fire and tool making from Neanderthals. Interesting theories.
It is an interesting though experiment since language today is changing. As it always has. The idea of a universal human language is an old one. Usually the bane of science-fiction, but grounded in the real world. The most common language in Sc-Fi is Esperanto, considered an auxiliary language created in the late 19th century.
Languages are core to every culture around the world. Today, it is estimated that there are around 8,324 languages in the world and about 7,000 are actively in current use. The exact origins of human language is much debated, but it is generally believed we did once have a common language where we came out of Africa around 200,000 to 160,000 years ago. So there, we did have a universal language once! It’s just that there were a lot less of us than today.
There is some speculation that there was proto-language spoken before we Homo Sapiens evolved our own language. Language is far more fragile and mutable than we like to think. Digital technologies may have a much faster (not immediate though) impact on the evolution of languages.
The Impact of Information Communications Technology on Languages
It is predicted that the world may lose around 1,500 languages by the end of this century. That would indeed be very sad, since languages are part of the wonderful diversity of human cultures that make our world so interesting.
Languages die out for many reasons; conflict and empire building over thousands of years. The rise of a dominant culture, expansion of trade routes, sudden population collapses through famine and disease as some examples.
WIth Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) this represents a whole new challenge for the preservation of languages. And changes to language. Transportation technologies from Viking longboats to roads and vehicles have long influenced language changes.
Today, we have the ability to communicate, to varying degrees, with anyone anywhere almost instantly in just about any language. While Google Translate and Microsoft Translate are quite good, they often miss regional dialects, urban slang and cultural nuances. Whether tools like Large Language Models (a form of AI) may help, their tendency to make things up could lead to some rather uncomfortable or amusing exchanges between people speaking different languages.
Yet ICTs and other digital technologies could also play a vital role in language preservation, at the very least in storing them for later reference should they die out for reasons beyond control. Preserving them would be important for later historical analysis since we can now safely store audio. This can give us deeper insights such as accents, regional dialects and cultural nuance. Thus helping to preserve historical accuracy.
The Future Of Human Language
So might we create a universal language that everyone is taught in schools? Where our language of origin is one we also always speak that we learn from our parents and community? The definitive answer is, well, maybe.
Software coding has a suite of languages as well. Those who code for a living often speak in terms most people don’t understand. Yet code can cross many cultural language barriers and in a way, could be considered a sub-language much like Esperanto.
While we don’t know yet with empirical research, since it’s too early to say for sure, it is likely that our languages around the world are changing in the Digital Age we are entering. Emojis are used around the world to convey concepts and enable easier cross-cultural communication. Although not always. Some emoji’s take on different meanings in various cultures.
Digital translation tools will have to get a lot better than they are today. They probably will. Then they’ll have to monitor regional and localized changes on a constant basis to remain relevant and useful.
All countries and cultures, or at least a significant majority, would have to agree on what a universal language would be. It would require cultural sensitivity and respect for minority cultures, acceptance of the reality of multiple genders as a human construct (and biological), creation of a universal alphabet. We know that could work since numbers are Arabic and universally accepted, and math itself is common global language.
It’s a complicated path to a universal language. One might just naturally evolve over time, emerging into society and just being informally adopted to a point where cultures and nations just accept it and it becomes formalized.
No doubt communications technologies and related ones like LLMs and Generative AI will have an impact, are having an impact. These are very early days and such a significant sociocultural change will take many decades.