Richard M. Hogg
British linguist
WORDS ABOUT WORDS
A quasi-Darwinian approach to English might attempt to account for its widespread use by claiming that somehow English is more suited, better adapted, to use as an international language than others. But that is nonsense. English is no more fit than, say, Spanish or Chinese. The reasons for the spread of English are political, cultural, and economic rather than linguistic.
—Richard M. Hogg, British linguist, The Cambridge History of the English Language, Volume VI, 2001
Posted on September 30, 1998 at 7:53 AM
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