But we’re also living in a world where the need to have languages interact is as an all time minimum.
Cross-cultural interaction, once the bedrock of the fusion of different languages, no longer works as it once did. Yes, we’re in a state of unprecedented globalization, more likely than ever before to meet people across the world. But we’re also living in a world where the need to have languages interact is as an all time minimum. Every foreign website I visit or document I read can be instantly translated. Spoken word can now be converted by AI from languages I don’t know (and will never learn) to my native English. The impact of other languages on English (and vice versa) is mitigated by the ease with which translation can now be done, rendering the need for common ground less relevant than it’s ever been.