英语有一天会统治世界吗？

 Just 1,500 years ago, English was spoken by a smattering of Germanic tribes as they migrated from mainland Europe to the island of Britain. Today, linguists¹ whisper and wonder: will English eradicate² all other languages?

1500年前，英语还是一小撮日耳曼部落从欧洲内陆往英伦岛迁移时说的语言。如今，语言学家心生疑惑悄声交流，英语会不会消灭所有其它语言?

English's 339 million native speakers are outnumbered by those who speak Spanish (427 million) and Mandarin³ Chinese (897 million). What's more, English's native speaking population has been decreasing steadily⁴. While this situation seems to suggest that English is on the way out, globally, it's actually ascending⁵.

有3.39亿人的母语为英语，而说西班牙语 (4.27亿)和普通话(8.97亿)的人更多。此外，以英语为母语的人数稳步下降。尽管情况看来英语似乎有渐弱之势，但全球范围而言，其实地位正逐步上升。

英语有一天会统治世界吗？

That's because 510 million people from all over the world have elected to learn English as a second language. No other language comes close. In science, business, and the media, English dominates. Learning the language is a cheap price of admission to join an increasingly interconnected world.

那是因为全球5.1亿已经选了英语作为第二外语，没有哪一门语言可以与之匹敌。科学、商务还有媒体领域，英语占主导地位。要进入这个联系日益紧密的世界，学习这门语言是廉价入场券。

Researchers modeled declines in hundreds of languages and found that, on average, a language is going extinct every two weeks. If this trend continues to play out over the next century, 2,600 languages will be gone.

研究人员复制模拟了几百种语言的没落，发觉平均每两礼拜就有一门语言消亡。如果这一趋势持续下去，接下来的两个世纪，会有2600门语言消失。

It is easy for speakers to associate larger languages with opportunity and smaller ones with backwardness, and therefore to stop speaking smaller ones to their children.

人们很容易把大语种和机会相挂钩、把小语种和落后相联系，因而会不再对子女说小语种。

English has cemented itself as the defining cosmopolitan⁶ language of our time. Over time, the language grows more streamlined and simple to learn.

英语已经明确了其在我们这个时代都市语言的地位。随时间流逝，这门语言越来越精简、越来越容易学。

There's no question that English has evolved considerably⁷ over the years. Just compare the flowing prose of John Adams and Abraham Lincoln to the simplified of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump⁸.

毫无疑问多年来英语历经演变。只要拿约翰·亚当斯、亚伯拉罕·林肯行云流水般的散文和希拉里·克林顿还有唐纳德·特朗普简约的风格比较下即可知。

1 linguists   

n.通晓数国语言的人( linguist的名词复数 )；语言学家

参考例句：

• The linguists went to study tribal languages in the field. 语言学家们去实地研究部落语言了。 来自辞典例句
• The linguists' main interest has been to analyze and describe languages. 语言学家的主要兴趣一直在于分析并描述语言。 来自辞典例句

2 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

3 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

4 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

5 ascending   

adj.上升的，向上的

参考例句：

• Now draw or trace ten dinosaurs in ascending order of size.现在按照体型由小到大的顺序画出或是临摹出10只恐龙。

6 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

7 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。