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Globish (Nerrière)

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For other uses, see Globish.
Globish
Created byJean-Paul Nerriere
Setting and usageinternational auxiliary language
Purpose
Sourcesvocabulary from a list of 1500 English words, and grammar based on a subset of standard English grammar
Language codes
ISO 639-1en-globish
ISO 639-2eng-globish, art-globish
ISO 639-3eng

Globish is a subset of the English language formalized by Jean-Paul Nerriere.[1] It uses a subset of standard English grammar, and a list of 1500 English words. According to Nerriere it is "not a language" in and of itself,[2] but rather it is the common ground that non-native English speakers adopt in the context of international business.

Origin and development of Globish

The author of Globish presents it as a natural language as opposed to an artificial or constructed language, claiming that it is a codification of a reduced set of English patterns as used by non-native speakers of the language. Intending to demonstrate that "Good Globish is correct English", the authors of the 2009 book Globish The World Over claimed to have written it in Globish. Robert McCrum, literary editor of the London Observer, is quoted as supporting the efficacy of the language in regards to that book.[2]

While serving as vice president of international marketing at IBM, Jean-Paul Nerriere first observed patterns of English that non-native English speakers used to communicate with each other in international conferences.[2][3] He later developed rules and training in the form of two books to help non-native English speakers better communicate with each other by using Globish as a lingua franca.[4]

Use of the word Globish

The term Globish is a portmanteau of "global" and "English". The first attested reference to the term to refer to a set of dialects of English spoken outside of traditional English speaking areas was in an issue of the Christian Science Monitor in 1997:[5]

Indeed, the "globish" of world youth culture is more and more interactive. Non-Western forms of English now are as creative and lively as Chaucerian or Shakespearean or Dickensian English once were.[6]

The term was then used in another context by Madhukar Gogate to describe his proposed artificial dialect based on English that he presented in 1998 to improve English spelling.

Nerrière's use of the term is related to his claim that the language described in his books is naturally occurring. He has marked his codification of that language by taking out trademark protection on the term, as did I.A. Richards who trademarked Basic English in order to prevent dilution and misrepresentation of his work.[7][8] Instances of attested prior usage, it can be seen, were incidental or not intended for the same purpose.

Nerrière's 2004 codification work began to legitimize the language purpose to the extent it drew some press attention. Clearly, and with much subsequent reference, the term Globish has grown increasingly as a generic term since the date of his first publications.

Criticism

Critics of Globish either feel that its codifications are not perfectly rendered, or that an artificial language is preferable to any natural one.

  • Although Nerrière claims that the Globish described in his book is a natural language, he has never published any statistical evidence of his observations. Joachim Grzega, a German linguist, has even gone as far as to state "Obviously, it is not based on any empirical observations, neither on native-nonnative nor on nonnative-nonnative discourse."[9]
  • Globish is suspected[who?] of cultural imperialism[citation needed], because it spreads only one language from which the subset of words is taken: this criticism is often by the speakers of other "neutral" languages, meant as languages not spoken in any nation. Clearly, derivative forms which have "English" in their titles are doubly suspect. According to CIA's "World Factbook", native English speakers represent only 4.68% of the world population[10] but numerous other sources estimate the true proportion of all English speakers to be 20-25%.[3][4]
  • Globish is criticized for having an ulterior economic motive. It is a registered trademark and some marketing is done with it, since its owner did not renounce his rights to it (as for example L.L. Zamenhof did; on the other hand, I.A. Richards discussed why he trademarked Basic English, in order to prevent dilution and misrepresentation[7]).
  • Often it is said to be easier than it really is. For example, it is said that to speak Globish one needs to learn a well-defined set of words and rules, but it is also said that anyone who has a basic level of English unconsciously speaks Globish (so that even Yasser Arafat has been claimed to be an "excellent exponent" of this language), without caring about the level or the number of words and rules that one knows.[2][4]
  • The system of phonetic transcription is internally inconsistent, particularly in terms of marking vowel length, and many of the given pronunciations are incorrect, including words such as father.[9]
  • Grzega highlights a number of instances in the book where something presented as natural English is not standard English[dubious – discuss] (e.g. *I had waited fifteen minutes when the bus arrived in place of the correct I had been waiting for fifteen minutes when the bus arrived).[9]
  • One reviewer noted that the text of the 2009 book Globish the World Over, the first work which attempts to demonstrate Globish in book-length, has an occasional slip from its general codification principles.[11] Another review, on the other hand, calls this "a pioneering text of great importance."[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Globish now the lingua franca of world travellers" The Australian, December 12, 2006.
  2. ^ a b c "Parlez vous Globish? Probably, even if you don't know it", Toronto Star, March 7, 2009.
  3. ^ McCrum, Robert: "So, what's this Globish revolution?" The Observer, December 3, 2006.
  4. ^ a b "New lingua franca upsets French" BBC News, January 23, 2009.
  5. ^ Among the New Words, 2007, American Speech 82.1 Georgia College & State University.
  6. ^ Cultural Imperialism Aside, English Spans Linguistic Gulfs, Nigel Young, professor of sociology, Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., Christian Science Monitor, 29th December 1997 [1]
  7. ^ a b Basic English and Its Uses, W.W. Norton, 1943
  8. ^ http://www.stm.unipi.it/programmasocrates/cliohnet/books/language2/11_Munat.pdf
  9. ^ a b c Globish and Basic Global English (BGE): Two Alternatives for a Rapid Acquisition of Communicative Competence in a Globalized World? by Dr Joaquin Grzega, a German linguist.
  10. ^ english version reported by the International Liaison Committee of Atheists and Freethinkers and the original french version of the same article, with sources
  11. ^ http://www.techscribe.co.uk/ta/globish-the-world-over.htm#table1
  12. ^ http://www.bizeng.net/GWO%20Redir.htm
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