What you were saying about how someday there might be a global language but it will be a mix of languages reminds me of The Matrix movies. Ever notice how all the people in The Matrix are mixed race? I wonder if the film makers are making a statement about evolution.

Didn't we have this same question when the Oakland County school board debated whether or not to offer classes in Ebonics? I don't know if English is asborbing Spanish, or if Spanish is breaking English in two.

The thing with English is that it's never pure. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Didn't the British ruling class speak French for a long time, changing the Germanic roots of the language we speak. North America is made up of all kinds of different ethnic groups, and all of them bring some kind of linguistic influence with them. Is anyone really surprised when the Hispanic demographic is now the largest ethnic minority in the USA that more and more Spanish words are popping up in the lexicon?

Yiddish gave us the words "klutz" and "mensch." Hindi gave us "shampoo" and "pyjamas." Arabic gave us "mattress" and "algebra." Words borrowed from other languages are hardly anything new. The question is whether or not a new Hispanic dialect is forming. Or, given the size of the population behind this trend, is the English language undergoing yet another tectonic collision that will change the language itself...again.

Maybe all the different ethnic influences in North America is about to bring the same forces that helped to develop the various European languages from ancient Indo-European.

Maybe English in North America is preparing to split-up into the languages: Ebonics, Franglais, Spanglish, Cantonenglish, Japonenglish, etc. etc.

Could it be the same cultural imperialism that brought English to the world will be the same thing that finally breaks it down?

I'm not trying to sound alarmist or anything. I'm not saying someone needs to come to the rescue to save English as we know it. I know the French have an academy to keep French pure, and that's why they say 'ordinateur' instead of "computer' like almost every other language in Europe.

Does anyone think, aside from my grade three teacher, that English is this sacred cow that must be preserved? We don't speak the same English as Chaucer... maybe in 400 years, the English we speak will sound just as strange.