Cross- cultural Communication This page intentionally left blank

Source
Examples
Indian
bungalow, jodhpur, khaki, pariah
Dutch
yacht, deck, splinter, easel
Finnish
sauna
Inuit
kayak, igloo, anorak
Swedish
ombudsman, tungsten
Portuguese
albatross, marmalade, palaver
Russian
cosmonaut, vodka, tundra, tsar
Italian
pizza, volcano, fresco, villa, cameo
Arabic
sofa, algebra, cotton, mattress, arsenal
Malay
amok, bamboo, sarong
Figure 4.1 Examples of English ‘borrowings’ from foreign languages
Thousands of words have entered the English language from Greek, such 
as angel, alphabet, chorus, cycle, example, martyr and myth. There are also 
many from Latin, for example, altar, candle, circus, disciple, divine, essence, 
focus, literature, public, omnibus and referendum. Some are hybrids of both 
Latin and Greek, for example, television.
English is also spoken, albeit with many subtle differences, mainly in 
Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, the Caribbean, the Indian sub-
continent, and in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. Differences manifest 
themselves mainly in terms of accent but also of syntax, style, spelling and 
vocabulary.
It is estimated that a quarter of the world’s population speaks at least some 
English and this proportion is likely to increase in the near future, as English 
is being widely taught in China and in Eastern Europe, at schools and uni-
versities worldwide, and is frequently employed in international trade and 
commerce. Indeed, many performers in the Eurovision Song Contest sing in 
English, as English is recognized as the main language of pop culture.
English is spoken with some minor variations by over 350 million people 
worldwide as their mother tongue or first language. If the number of people 
who have learned English as their second or foreign language is included, 
Crystal considers that the estimated number of all English speakers in the 
world in 2005 could be somewhere between 1.5 and 2 billion. He empha-
sized that any further increase would mainly depend on how many people 
learned English in India and China (Crystal, 2005: 427–8).
In India alone, it is estimated that there are over 3,000 English-language 
newspapers. The Times of India is reputed to achieve sales three times those 
of The Times in the UK.

---

64 Cross-Cultural Communication
English is also the official language in nearly 50 countries and over 
50 per cent of all scientific papers are in English. It is the language of air 
traffic control and Seaspeak (for maritime shipping), while over 50 per cent 
of international email and Internet traffic is conducted in English.
The British Council, which was set up in 1934, has the task of promot-
ing British culture, interests, values and, importantly, the English language 
throughout the world by running language courses in many countries. This 
has become a very valuable and effective form of ‘soft power’. English lan-
guage teaching is one of the UK’s major exports and in 2011 was estimated 
as having a value of £1 billion annually.
The expansion of the use of English in recent years can be attributed to 
the use of English as the major language on the Internet, Facebook and in 
data storage. Previously, the development of colonial possessions overseas 
and the subsequent Commonwealth expanded the use of English as the 
most convenient language for business, diplomacy and social communica-
tion. This expansion had been assisted by the large British Merchant Navy 
in the nineteenth century with its initial dominance of world trade, with 
the result that English was seen as the main language for commerce. As the 
UK’s trading position declined, it was replaced by that of the predominantly 
English- speaking USA.