There are English - the people of England.
There is English - their language. There is English English or British English and then there are other English languages - used in the USA, Australia, NZ, India and so many countries, each with its own distinct local flavour.
There is literary English of novels and poetry - often with variations in spellings and in syntax with changing locations.
There is spoken English with its accents, jargons and local phrases.
There is technical and legal English with its impenetrable maze to hide important meanings that could have easily been expressed in far simpler terms.
English is the predominant language of trade and commerce agreements and contracts, travel universal signage for tourists, shops and airports, .
What I see is another kind of English in use - English as a weapon!
Just like the use of US Dollars as a globally accepted means of exchange gives one country an inordinate advantage and it is used as weapon against unfriendly states, the English language is also a weapon. It is used, by those who claim to own it, as a very effective tool to gain advantage or even as a weapon to attack those who are deemed unfriendly. Looking around, I see it in use as such, all over, all the time.
An unfriendly government is always called a 'regime', a 'junta' --- 'Assad's regime', 'Putin's regime', the 'North Korean junta'. While friendly dictatorships or authoritarians become 'authorities'and 'Administrations' e.g.-- the Saudi 'authorities', the 'Bush Administration'.
One can well imagine the shock ordinary people will feel if they saw such in the newspapers - 'The Obama regime today announced a policy..', the 'Iranian administration released the budget...'
Another feature of such weaponised English is the use of a new scattering of exotic sounding foreign words, names periodically - ' mujahideen', 'jihadist', 'karma', 'Allah', 'jirga', 'Shiites', 'Sunnis', 'Dalits', 'perestroika', 'glasnost' and giving them a special meaning with a positive or negative spin... Makes everything sound more knowledgeable and researched.
We are all so conditioned to seeing things slanted a certain way that we stop paying attention to it. But it seeps inside us and we too start to talk the same way.
English is an effective weapon because it is a stealth weapon. It can sneak across as a communication medium, but carries a 'payload' or 'bomb' that can effectively destroy the enemy.
English is used to introduce subtle bias, innuendo, to water-down some important issues, to hype up certain others. One can 'render' someone (you would assume a service', but it is actually torturing them with subcontrators!) A 'rebel' here, a 'terrorist' there, a 'dissident' here and a 'traitor' there.. Many words totally lose their original meaning. We demand 'democracy' in some places and 'stability' in other places. We demand 'human rights' for some but not others (probably dont consider them human enough). All word plays need to be done in English in this world to communicate effectively around the world today.
One can periodically introduce various colors of the rainbow to describe various disturbances or conflicts happening the world over to give them a more acceptable, colourful image.
Weaponised English can tie up those not proficient in it, in tangles or destroy them without a chance when it comes to legal or commercial issues. One can prohibit others from using common words such a 'apple' or 'book' or 'air' by copyrighting it in certain contexts. It is a constant, ongoing battle with use of English for gain and with ulterior motives in world media. Such use of English pervades the media, which as they say is the fourth estate, and has its own widespread battleground.
English, the language, is unstoppable. As the world grows more interconnected, it will be one of the indispensable mediums of communication that is so vital.
My contention is that every country or society needs to learn to use English. They need to learn to recognise when it is used as a weapon. They need to learn to counter it using their own English.
Every country needs to become proficient in building up its own strength in English - all kinds of English - both as a social communication language and as an effective weapon to protect its own interests. Every country should also make its English distinct, while retaining overwhelming commonality with the global common subset of English. Every people need to own their own English! They need to manufacture new ammunition in English.
I see a future where there are many versions of English - Indglish from India, Chinglish from China, Singlish from Singapore, Anglaise from the French, Afringlish from Africa, NZinglish from NZ...
Battle On!!!
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2014
All rights reserved
There is English - their language. There is English English or British English and then there are other English languages - used in the USA, Australia, NZ, India and so many countries, each with its own distinct local flavour.
There is literary English of novels and poetry - often with variations in spellings and in syntax with changing locations.
There is spoken English with its accents, jargons and local phrases.
There is technical and legal English with its impenetrable maze to hide important meanings that could have easily been expressed in far simpler terms.
English is the predominant language of trade and commerce agreements and contracts, travel universal signage for tourists, shops and airports, .
What I see is another kind of English in use - English as a weapon!
Just like the use of US Dollars as a globally accepted means of exchange gives one country an inordinate advantage and it is used as weapon against unfriendly states, the English language is also a weapon. It is used, by those who claim to own it, as a very effective tool to gain advantage or even as a weapon to attack those who are deemed unfriendly. Looking around, I see it in use as such, all over, all the time.
An unfriendly government is always called a 'regime', a 'junta' --- 'Assad's regime', 'Putin's regime', the 'North Korean junta'. While friendly dictatorships or authoritarians become 'authorities'and 'Administrations' e.g.-- the Saudi 'authorities', the 'Bush Administration'.
One can well imagine the shock ordinary people will feel if they saw such in the newspapers - 'The Obama regime today announced a policy..', the 'Iranian administration released the budget...'
Another feature of such weaponised English is the use of a new scattering of exotic sounding foreign words, names periodically - ' mujahideen', 'jihadist', 'karma', 'Allah', 'jirga', 'Shiites', 'Sunnis', 'Dalits', 'perestroika', 'glasnost' and giving them a special meaning with a positive or negative spin... Makes everything sound more knowledgeable and researched.
We are all so conditioned to seeing things slanted a certain way that we stop paying attention to it. But it seeps inside us and we too start to talk the same way.
English is an effective weapon because it is a stealth weapon. It can sneak across as a communication medium, but carries a 'payload' or 'bomb' that can effectively destroy the enemy.
English is used to introduce subtle bias, innuendo, to water-down some important issues, to hype up certain others. One can 'render' someone (you would assume a service', but it is actually torturing them with subcontrators!) A 'rebel' here, a 'terrorist' there, a 'dissident' here and a 'traitor' there.. Many words totally lose their original meaning. We demand 'democracy' in some places and 'stability' in other places. We demand 'human rights' for some but not others (probably dont consider them human enough). All word plays need to be done in English in this world to communicate effectively around the world today.
One can periodically introduce various colors of the rainbow to describe various disturbances or conflicts happening the world over to give them a more acceptable, colourful image.
Weaponised English can tie up those not proficient in it, in tangles or destroy them without a chance when it comes to legal or commercial issues. One can prohibit others from using common words such a 'apple' or 'book' or 'air' by copyrighting it in certain contexts. It is a constant, ongoing battle with use of English for gain and with ulterior motives in world media. Such use of English pervades the media, which as they say is the fourth estate, and has its own widespread battleground.
English, the language, is unstoppable. As the world grows more interconnected, it will be one of the indispensable mediums of communication that is so vital.
My contention is that every country or society needs to learn to use English. They need to learn to recognise when it is used as a weapon. They need to learn to counter it using their own English.
Every country needs to become proficient in building up its own strength in English - all kinds of English - both as a social communication language and as an effective weapon to protect its own interests. Every country should also make its English distinct, while retaining overwhelming commonality with the global common subset of English. Every people need to own their own English! They need to manufacture new ammunition in English.
I see a future where there are many versions of English - Indglish from India, Chinglish from China, Singlish from Singapore, Anglaise from the French, Afringlish from Africa, NZinglish from NZ...
Battle On!!!
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2014
All rights reserved
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