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A UNIVERSAL
~,
LANGUAGE
by
Raymond F. McNair
WHEN and where did mankind become multilingual? WHAT brought about
this diversity of languages? Here is how
the world's multilingual problems will be solved!
T
ODAY~S
world is a
divided
world- in its
poli tics, religion , ideol–
ogies a nd in its social order.
It is also hopelessly divided
by uncounted languages a nd
d ia lects.
Even the Common Market in
Europe is forced to use seven
languages in its de li berations
and publications!
Why? How did it all begin?
Thousands of Languages
Nobody really knows how many
languages and dialects there are in
the world. All are agreed, however,
that at lcast a few thousand lan–
guagcs and dialects are spoken by
earth's inhabitants.
Nations whose peoples speak dif–
ferent languages or dialects are
handicapped-sometimes greatly
weakened- by their multilanguage
culture.
One of the chief reasons for the
past strength of the British Com–
monwealth is found in
one
official
language.
Each year, countless sums of
money are spent in studying for–
eign languages, in t ranslating mil–
lions of books, art icles, periodicals
and other reading material , and in
overcoming innumerable misunder–
standings- a ll brought about
through language barriers!
l nvcntors have t ried to construct
translating machines to overcome
t he language-bar rier difficulties–
January 1982
but with very limited success. One
such machine is reported to have
translated the English proverb,
"Out of sight, out of mind" from
English into the German equivalent
of " Invisible idiot"!
Why So Many To n g ues?
What prevents the nations from
devising a world language that
could be adopted by all people?
Before we answer this question,
we must go back more t han 4,000
years to a unique experience in
human h istory. Modern historians
take no note of it. Yet this unique
event has a vital message for
today's confused, divided world.
The time, according to the
Bible setti ng, is shortly after the
Flood. It was after the close of the
Old Kingdom in Egypt and t he
Akkadian Empire in Mesopota–
mia. The races and fami lies of
men had already begun to multi–
ply. One man became especially
ambitious! This despot Nimrod
began to rise above his fellow men
and organize them into city states
(Gen. 10:8-11).
How many languages were
there at that time?
"And the
whole earth was of
ONE LAN–
GUAG E,
and of
ON E SPEECH"
(Gen. ll: l) is the answer. The
few who survived the F lood,
according to the biblical account,
were now of one language--quite
different from the way matters
were before the Flood.
At that point in the history of
manki nd , the various branches of
the human fam ily rebclled against
the government of God. They
wanted one world of their own.
"And t hey said to one another, Go
to, let us make bríck, and burn
them throughly. And they had
brick for stone, and s lime [bitu-
men] had they for morter.
•
"And they said, Go to, let us
build us a city and a tower, whose
top may reach unto heaven; and
let
us make us a name
[let us become
famous], lest we be scattercd
abroad upon the face of the whole
earth' ' (verses 3, 4).
But the Creator, the Almíghty
God of heaven , saw what man was
about to do. He acted. He con–
founded or divided their speech.
God Confused Man's Speech
But why? The answer is revealed in
verses 6-9: "And tbe Lord said,
Behold,
the people is
ONE
[that is,
they are
united],
and they have all
one
language; and this they
begin
to
do; and
now
NOTHING
wi/1 be
restrained from them, which they
have imagined to do.
"Go to," said God, " let us go
down, and there confound their
languagc, that they may not under–
stand one another's speech. So the
Lord scattered them abroad from
thence upon the face of all the
earth: and they left off to build the
city.
" Therefore is the name of it
called BABEL; because
the Lord did
there
CONFOUND
the /anguage of
al/ the earth:
and from thence did
the Lord
scatter
them abroad upon
the face of all the earth."
M any have read over this
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