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, linguists whisper and wonder: will English eradicate all other languages?

1500年前，英語還是一小撮日耳曼部落從歐洲內陸往英倫島遷移時說的語言。如今，語言學家心生疑惑悄聲交流，英語會不會消滅所有其它語言?

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

有3.39億人的母語為英語，而說西班牙語 (4.27億)和普通話(8.97億)的人更多。此外，以英語為母語的人數穩步下降。盡管情況看來英語似乎有漸弱之勢，但全球范圍而言，其實地位正逐步上升。

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.

那是因為全球5.1億已經選了英語作為第二外語，沒有哪一門語言可以與之匹敵。科學、商務還有媒體領域，英語占主導地位。要進入這個聯系日益緊密的世界，學習這門語言是廉價入場券。

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.

研究人員復制模擬了幾百種語言的沒落，發覺平均每兩禮拜就有一門語言消亡。如果這一趨勢持續下去，接下來的兩個世紀，會有2600門語言消失。

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

人們很容易把大語種和機會相掛鉤、把小語種和落后相聯系，因而會不再對子女說小語種。

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

英語已經明確了其在我們這個時代都市語言的地位。隨時間流逝，這門語言越來越精簡、越來越容易學。

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

毫無疑問多年來英語歷經演變。只要拿約翰·亞當斯、亞伯拉罕·林肯行云流水般的散文和希拉里·克林頓還有唐納德·特朗普簡約的風格比較下即可知。

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, linguists whisper and wonder: will English eradicate all other languages?

1500年前，英語還是一小撮日耳曼部落從歐洲內陸往英倫島遷移時說的語言。如今，語言學家心生疑惑悄聲交流，英語會不會消滅所有其它語言?

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

有3.39億人的母語為英語，而說西班牙語 (4.27億)和普通話(8.97億)的人更多。此外，以英語為母語的人數穩步下降。盡管情況看來英語似乎有漸弱之勢，但全球范圍而言，其實地位正逐步上升。

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.

那是因為全球5.1億已經選了英語作為第二外語，沒有哪一門語言可以與之匹敵。科學、商務還有媒體領域，英語占主導地位。要進入這個聯系日益緊密的世界，學習這門語言是廉價入場券。

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.

研究人員復制模擬了幾百種語言的沒落，發覺平均每兩禮拜就有一門語言消亡。如果這一趨勢持續下去，接下來的兩個世紀，會有2600門語言消失。

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

人們很容易把大語種和機會相掛鉤、把小語種和落后相聯系，因而會不再對子女說小語種。

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

英語已經明確了其在我們這個時代都市語言的地位。隨時間流逝，這門語言越來越精簡、越來越容易學。

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

毫無疑問多年來英語歷經演變。只要拿約翰·亞當斯、亞伯拉罕·林肯行云流水般的散文和希拉里·克林頓還有唐納德·特朗普簡約的風格比較下即可知。