Who Owns the English Language

When we ask a question like “Who owns the x language ?” we are supposed to get an
answer like “It belongs to the x country” but unfortunately this answer is a bit immposible in
English Language which is now known as the lingua franca by many people and country.
Then who owns the English Language? Where does it come originally ? If we look its past we
will see that it dates back to the fifth century A.D., and it is a language which is shaped by the
invasions of different tribes to the windblown island in the west, Great Britain.
Researches show that English is originally a West Germanic Language which has its
origin in the Anglo-Frisian dialects but does that mean the old Germanics own it or Anglo-
Frisians ? Actually, no. If you shape an already existing material it is not mean that you
created it. This is, in fact, same in what happens English by the different communities and
tribes. Ans we can say that the Old English was then developed and influenced by two waves
of invasion which are the northwest Germany and northern Netherlands.
But then can we now say that it belongs to the people which lived in Britain Islands
before the tribal invasions? Again, no… In this part we have to think that what is language
and how a language bacomes ones language? For instance a person who born in Australia will
speak English as his mother tongue and official language with a different dialect and word
usages like “ Barbie for barbecue” so does it mean that Australia owns the English language?
When we look at the definition of the word “language” in the dictionary we see a
definition like “a system of communication used by a particular country or community.” Also
we see this definition too “the principal method of human communication, consisting of
words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing, or
gesture.” According to the first definition English language belongs to the public who uses it
but in the other side according to the second definition it belongs to everyone who uses it and
restructs it again.
In this aspect we can say that everyone owns the English language. Because of some
political and social issues people may have a language as their mother tounge even though
they don’t live in the region which is linked with that language and this means that the
language belongs to the one who speaks it.

Hayrunnisa Kadri
18706899828
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