Alternative international languages of diplomacy.

Aozhouhuaren

Aozhouhuaren

Banned
Romantic languages such as French, Portuguese and Spanish and of course, English are the current accepted international languages of diplomacy. Could it have ever been possible for different languages to replace these instead? What kinds of alterations would be required?

Languages that come to my mind immediately are:

  • Russian- i think some people do already consider this an international language.
  • Mandarin-however accepted as lingua franca outside of China would be especially difficult.
  • Persian/ Urdu- considering the once vast Persian empire
  • Arabic- considering the vast empires of Arabic speaking people and skills of Arab seafarers
  • Mongolian-I doubt it, but it is a remote possibility, if the Mongols occupied more land and held on to their lands for a longer period of time.
What ideas do you have?
 

Calgacus

i think they're referred to as 'Romance' languages... although i guess French could be said to be a 'romantic' language!

and i reckon Arabic, which already is an international language due to its muslim connection. in a similar way, Latin was international for a long time through the church. all that would be required to make Arabic a much bigger international language would be the conquest of Europe. most people put that pod at the battle of tours, though the muslim army there was not much more than a raiding party, so a better pod would be needed.
 

EvolvedSaurian

Greek, if the Eastern Roman Empire had stayed at its peak.

Welsh/British if the Saxons had never been invited to the island, or if they had been repulsed.

German, if they could stay united, or, later, if they won WW2.
 

Leo Caesius

Banned
I could see Turkish becoming more important in the future.

The history of international languages, at least in the Mediterranean area, goes something like this: Akkadian, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and then the rest. Arabic was an extremely successful international language that managed to replace every other language that fell in its path. Persian was an international language, once; it was used extensively not only in Iran but officially within the Ottoman and Moghul empires on either side, and all along the Silk Road.
 

The Mists Of Time

My first thought is Latin. It is universally known, The Roman Catholic Church used it universally or as a universal language until the mid-1960's.

It is only a "dead" language in that no country or culture uses it a a daily spoken language. But it can grow, have new words added to it, just like any of the "living" languages.

So my answer is that Latin would be an excellent and practical choice as an alternative international language of diplomacy.
 

Tyr

It could be anything considering this is pre 1900 forum.
For more or less any language we know of and several long extinct ones you could probally come up with a feasible TL where they are the dominant given the scope of the entirity of human history.
 
Aozhouhuaren

Aozhouhuaren

Banned
Leej said:
It could be anything considering this is pre 1900 forum.
For more or less any language we know of and several long extinct ones you could probally come up with a feasible TL where they are the dominant given the scope of the entirity of human history.
Click to expand...

Okay smartass, what about having a maximum 300-400 years before OTL for the period of alteration.
 

Abdul Hadi Pasha

Banned
Leo Caesius said:
I could see Turkish becoming more important in the future.

The history of international languages, at least in the Mediterranean area, goes something like this: Akkadian, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and then the rest. Arabic was an extremely successful international language that managed to replace every other language that fell in its path. Persian was an international language, once; it was used extensively not only in Iran but officially within the Ottoman and Moghul empires on either side, and all along the Silk Road.
Click to expand...

Maybe a more successful Ottoman Empire could lead to greater use of Turkish, but probably not without some reform of the language - and greater Ottoman success would cascade into greater Islamic success in general, which I would think would actually promote Arabic as an international language.
 

Leo Caesius

Banned
The Mists Of Time said:
It is only a "dead" language in that no country or culture uses it a a daily spoken language. But it can grow, have new words added to it, just like any of the "living" languages.
Click to expand...
Technically speaking, a language is considered "dead" when it is spoken by nobody as a first language. However, languages such as Latin (and Hebrew for a long time as well) have a kind of linguistic afterlife in which they are no longer the predominant idiom of daily life but continue to be used within a restricted sphere or spheres, in this case religion and scholarship.
 

Wendell

Melayu is certainly a significant regional language. Perhaps it could be a language of diplomacy in an alternate timeline.


How about Dutch?
 

Ofaloaf

A TL with a more powerful Swedish Empire or Kalmar Union could have Swedish as a language of diplomacy. but for OTL? Latin and Arabic immeadiately come to mind, then Ancient Greek and Esperanto eventually come into my head, as well.
 

Leo Caesius

Banned
Actually, I've been hired to translate the Latin preface of a manuscript into English precisely because Latin is no longer a language of scholarship in the same way that English, German, and French are. In a generation or two, if not already, knowledge of Latin should be about as widespread as knowledge of (Classical) Greek is today, and by the same people.
 
MrP

MrP

Banned
Flocculencio said:
Yes, if your universe is restricted to Europe and the Americas.
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My experience of the capability of the British to recognise Latin pretty much sees them capable of realising that their school motto's in Latin. Sometimes when it's actually Gaelic. :D

Leo Caesius said:
Actually, I've been hired to translate the Latin preface of a manuscript into English precisely because Latin is no longer a language of scholarship in the same way that English, German, and French are. In a generation or two, if not already, knowledge of Latin should be about as widespread as knowledge of (Classical) Greek is today, and by the same people.
Click to expand...

I hope it won't get that bad! :eek:

I always think those Latin prefaces are absolutely adorable! Like the critical apparatus to a Sophoclean tragedy is written in Latin so that Classicists across the world can understand its nuances! So cute! :)
 
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