According to a new study the US is going to change quite a bit over the next 50 years: it predicts that one in three persons will be an immigrant or a child of immigrants, it’s now one in four. The population will also be 8% more Asian and 5% more Hispanic.
An Amherst College English professor predicts that some Spanish speaking people in the US will cross over into “mainstream American English” and within a few decades many common words derived from what is called Spanglish will become more common.
“Spanglish” isn’t a language, but an English-Spanish hybrid that reflects what many called the 20th Century, “the century that defined the color line” and that the 21st Century will be defined by the “immigration line”.
It’s hard to predict how people will be speaking English 50 years from now, the future is difficult to predict. But because “Spanglish” is widespread today, by 2056 some predict that the English language at least in the USA will absorbed terms and phrases from African, Asian, Spanish and Portuguese languages, due to immigration and assimilation.
That may be disturbing to many people, but the USA has always adapted, and assimilated the immigrants over time, regardless of the opposition of many “native” Americans (whose ancestors were also immigrants). If history is any example, the assimilation of new cultures has been more of a benefit than a drawback. It can be argued that the continual mingling and assimilation of peoples and cultures, races and languages ensures in that the American culture remains relevant and current.
Cultures and languages become “dead” when they no longer grow and adapt to current realities. American culture, and its language, remains relevant and important because it changes, adapts, and keep growing!