The Global Proliferation of English

Everyone knows that there are more speakers of Mandarin than any other language in the world. Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue. Compared to the nearly four hundred million native speakers of English, there would appear to be "no contest." Yet, it is just as well-known that English, not Mandarin, is the international language. Given these statistics, how can this be? Looking more closely at these and other facts reveals how English has become the world's most widespread language.
　　The history of written Chinese goes back at least 4,000 years, that of English little more than 1,000 years. The language called English is actually a hybrid of Scandinavian and German tongues created by immigrants to England in the 5th century A.D. Over the next 500 years, English developed into several major dialects spoken principally on most of the island of England. With continuous invasions by more Scandinavians and the French over the next few centuries, the English language received a fresh stimulus of foreign words, including Latin and Greek, the preferred classical languages in educational and political circles at that time in Europe. English as a principal language of literature did not evolve until the 14th century (Chaucer). By the 16th century, English was in full bloom, both in literature as well as in science.
　　England, referred to as Great Britain by this time, was amassing political, economic, and military power at breath-taking speed. The Industrial Revolution of the next century required foreign resources; imperialism gave the go-ahead for Britain and other European powers to not only take what they wanted from foreign lands but to lay conquest to those lands as well. Additionally, the rapid social changes engendered by the change from agriculture to manufacturing meant a surplus of farm workers, resulting in a waiting army of the dispossessed to emigrate to Britain's newfound colonies. In the 17th and 18th centuries, millions of Englishmen left their mother country for North America. In the 18th century, hundreds of thousands more set sail for Australia and New Zealand, as well as South Asia (the British Raj) and Africa (primarily South Africa). At the height of the British Empire, one-fourth of the world's people and lands were living under the Union Jack. Thus, by the close of the 19th century English rule had extended to the six principal continents (including British Guyana in South America).
　　This first-ever domination of the globe by one language is the primary reason for the international use of English today. A second reason lies in the rise of the United States of America as a leading world power just as Britain's power began to fade. At the close of the 19th century, the U.S. fought with Spain (in1898). After the U.S. victory, Spain ceded the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico, resulting in the further introduction of English into Asia and the Caribbean. After U.S. involvement in both World Wars, despite Britain's continued decline, English became more commonly used around the world, especially in continental Europe and Japan. Since 1950, the rapidly growing U.S. economy as well as its academic and scientific excellence has insured that English remains the language of commerce and intellectual intercourse. The world of entertainment, most notably Hollywood, has also contributed to the popularization of English.
　　It is estimated that at least 300 million people around the world are now studying or using English as a second language, for purposes of education, employment, or personal interest.Some 75% of all international communications are in English, and with the rise of the Internet, it is doubtful that this figure will decrease any time soon. At the dawn of the new millennium, the world has one international language, English.

　　每个人都知道，全世界说华语的人口比说任何其它语言的人口要来得多。大约有10亿以上的人口以华语为母语。相较之下，以英语为母语的人口只近4亿，显然是“没得比”。然而，众所周知，英语才是国际性的语言而非华语。看着这些统计数据，不禁要问怎么会这样？仔细看看这些统计数字和其它事实，便透露出英语是如何变成世界上最被广泛使用的语言。
　　中国书写文字的历史至少可回溯到4000年前，而英语的文字历史只有1000多年。英语其实是北欧语和德语的混合，由公元第5世纪迁移至英国的移民所创。之后的500年间，英语发展成英格兰岛上绝大地区所说的数种主要方言。接下来的几个世纪，由于更多的北欧人及法国人不断入侵，英语接受了更多新奇外来语的刺激，其中包括当时在欧洲的教育及政治圈人士所偏爱的古典语言——拉丁语和希腊语。英语一直到14世纪（英国大诗人乔叟）时才发展成文学上的主要语言。到了16世纪时，英语在文学与科学上的使用均达到了颠峰。
　　当时被称为大不列颠的英格兰正以惊人的速度积聚政治、经济与军事力量。由于下一个世纪发生的工业革命需要外国的资源，再加上帝国主义兴盛，使得英国与其它欧洲国家的势力不断对外扩张，不仅竭尽所能地搜刮外国资源，更进一步征服了这些地方。除此之外，由于农业社会快速变迁至工业社会所造成的剩余农业劳动力，导致一群被迫失去一切的农民往外移民，在不列颠王国新建立的各个殖民地上生根。在17～18世纪时，有好几百万的英国人离开祖国移民至北美洲。18世纪时，成千上万的英国人扬帆至澳洲和新西兰，甚至远达南亚（英属拉吉）和非洲（主要在南非）。在不列颠王国全盛时期，全球有近四分之一的人口与土地是在英国的控制之下。大约在19世纪末时，英国的势力遍及全球主要的6大洲（包括位于南美洲的英属圭亚那）。
　　这种空前第一次由单一语言统治全球的情况便是今日英语为何会成为国际语言的主因。第二个原因在于英国势力渐微而美国崛起成为最重要的世界强国。19世纪末叶，美西交战（公元1898年）。美国胜利之后，西班牙放弃菲律宾、关岛以及波多黎各地，促使英语势力延伸至亚洲及加勒比海一带。美国加入两次世界大战之后，尽管不列颠王国持续没落，英语在全世界却被更广泛地使用，特别是在欧洲与日本。自1950年以来，美国的经济快速成长，而且在学术以及科学方面也表现优异，因此更确保英语继续成为商业与知识上意见交换的主要语言。而像世界知名的娱乐王国好莱坞等娱乐圈对于英语的普及也功不可没。
　　据估计，全球至少有3亿人口为了教育、工作或个人兴趣等目的正在学习或使用英语为其第二语言。大约有75%左右的国际性交流以英语进行，而且随着互联网的兴起，这个数据恐怕短时间内是不会降低的。在新的千禧年开始之初，这个世界通用一种国际语言是英语。