++ [ originally posted by Martin ] ++
"Considering the EU is expanding, that it's growing more tightly integrated (ie. designs for a EU constitution), for the purpose of smoother communication and lesser cultural barriers within the union, would you support a common European language to be adopted?"
Hi, I am glad to have the chance to address this topic with you. I think this is a good question. I do not hide I have posed myself this question in the past and answered it already.
I think a common language is needed. I would like to call it a koine' like ancient Greeks were divided into several city state and spoke several different "dialects", they also had a common language, understood by everybody, a koine'. I do not mind which language will be, however I sincerely hope Europe will soon have a koine'.
In the European Union bureaucracy a koine' already exists even if it has come from usage and not from political decision. It is English. Before you get upset I will add I am native Italian, my second languages are in chronological order French, Arabic, English, and Spanish. While I probably speak and write English better than any other second language. Possibly because it has revealed the most useful and the easiest to master.
E.G. in the European Parliament representative currently are present from some 25 countries and 20 languages, namely: Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish plus two more that are struggling for recognition (namely Irish and Catalan). By statute, all the most relevant European acts are translated in all the EU member state languages, and many acts are translated in the most important languages (English, French, German). In particular, debates on the floor take place in some 20 languages, therefore interpreters are needed for each of those languages. Usually interpreters are bilingual, which means they translate from their best known second language to their native language, in order to achieve speed and quality.
PROBLEM: how many interpreters are needed in order to satisfy the needs of all the representatives on the floor?
ANSWER: 20 at the power of 2, or 400 different language combination of interpreters
Obviously here I am pushing the envelope in order to make the problem stand out. However you cannot really improve the efficiency of the system unless you utilize a common language acting as a buffer.
QUESTION: If you introduce a koine' how many language combination of interpreters are needed?
ANSWER: 20 times 2, or 40. Each interpreter masters her/his native language plus English and translates from it to English, than a second interpreter translates from English to her/his native language.
And this is just one example. Do you imagine how much is costing us not to have a recognized koine'? I think the EU should have a koine', and I do not mind which one will be chosen, could be a language I do not speak. At a later stage I think it should be mandatory that all bureaucratic business within the EU be carried out in the koine'.
xziz
:dazed: