Language, Power and Social standing

I was already aware of the influence that Rome was able to possess for centuries. I was not aware of how much it influenced the langauges of the former territories that Rome controlled. The former Roman Empire has influenced the French, Spanish, Portugese and Romanian languages. It is amazing that political power influences so much in terms of language.

This monopoly on language to say was continued with the Spanish as they conquered and explored many territories in South America and Carribean. With the Spanish influence they were able to leave a part of their culture i.e. language. At the time of this exploring during the middle ages Spain had a huge influence over the world with it's navy and shipping. One interesting note that i found while reading was that the Castilian dialect that was chosen for that became the standard was from Isabelle of Castille and not her husbands. I found this intriguing. I can relate both of these former world powers to todays world.

Today the U.S. has unwaranted reign of marketing U.S. values and cultures. The English langauge is the most influential language of the world. It is the language of business. All of this influence stems from the military power that the U.S. maintains which is exactly like the two former examples.