of this extinction, which is not only that of an idiom, but of a culture, a specific
way of conceiving the world: a voice has faded out. At least it is not always
the cause (the fate of the Amerindian languages immediately springs to mind).
And I would like readers to note that my lamentation presupposes a broader
conception of language than that habitually entertained by linguists: I am not
treating language as an innate characteristic of the human species (in which
case the oblivion of some parameters – i.e. some terms or grammatical tools –
would be of little consequence), but as the result of a specific history, the
inscription of a culture, an irreplaceable perspective on the world.
In linguistics, however, imperialism is not only exploitation and domination:
there is a stage right. Language of empire, English finds itself in a similar
position to that once occupied by Latin. Accordingly, it will possibly experience
the same fate. The issue is controversial, but it preoccupies all those who are
interested in English as the language of globalisation.^5 For the language of
empire is not only in a position of strength, but also in a position of weakness:
there is a linguistic equivalent of the class struggle and the dominant language
does not dominate absolutely, even if the empire that it serves, inscribes and
diffuses, continues to dominate. A language possesses autonomy – i.e. an
autonomous temporality – vis-à-vis the social structures in which it appears.
Thus, Latin long survived the Roman empire, but its linguistic domination
never went unchallenged (one thinks of the relations between Latin and
Greek); and it slowly dissolved to give rise to the Romance languages.^6
In the case of English, what is called standard English is caught up in a
linguistic struggle with the national dialects, registers, idioms and languages
with which it comes into contact: the result is not a simple domination, a
simple glottophagy of other languages by the dominant English language.
The outcome of this struggle between languages might be described as follows.
English has expanded significantly, to the point where it covers the whole
surface of the globe. What is relevant here is not so much the number of
speakers (there any many fewer native English speakers than Chinese speakers)
as the concentric structure of diffusion of English. At the centre we find native
speakers (English as a first language); in the second circle there are secondary
speakers (English as a second language), for whom English is not their mother
tongue but a compulsory language – the language of culture, administration,
‘Chirac est un ver’ • 7(^5) Cf. McArthur 1998.
(^6) See Waquet 2001.