McCabe's World: Same Same But Different

Die Welt spricht Dunglish, Spanglish, Franglais oder Denglish - aber selten Englisch. Warum es so knifflig ist, mit Nicht-Muttersprachlern zu sprechen.

English language authorities pride themselves on the fact that there is no central governing entity for their tongue equivalent to the Académie Française or the Real Academia Española. This speaks at once to the American instinct for liberty and the English affection for individualism. But as propaganda ministries such as The British Council trumpet the imminent domination of Global English, the real threat may not lie in other world heavyweights like Chinese or Spanish but in the very mouths of its new converts. Test: Sind Sie gehetzt oder ruhen Sie in sich? The glocalization of the English language is resulting in swarms of hybrid dialects graced with playful portmanteau titles. You may have heard of Denglish, but what about Dunglish (Dutch English)? Spanglish and Franglais you are probably familiar with, but have you heard of Swenglish or Runglish? This last, also known as Russlish, is the chosen medium for speech communities as far apart as Brighton Beach, Brooklyn and the International Space Station. The subcontinent of India is home to a host of genetically modified Englishes, some of which boast as many speakers as the so-called English language itself. So welcome to Hinglish (with over 350 million users), Punglish (Punjabi English), Bonglish (Bengali English) and Tamlish (Tamil English). Welcome also to the plethora of Asian Englishes, including Manglish (Malaysian English), Singlish (Singapore English), Chinglish (Chinese English), Konglish (Korean English) or Janglish (Japanese English).