Would you say English is the Latin of it's time?

Question

Rome used to control the "world" and anyone who was anyone spoke Latin.

Is English the Latin of it's time?

Answer 1

If so, we are living out the rise and fall of that linguistic empire.

Answer 2

English was the lingua franca of the 20th century and continues to be such in the 21st century.

A lingua franca is a language used by a wide range of cultures that don't have a common language.

Usually, the educated classes of each control have a desire to learn the lingua franca of the time.

Before English, French was the lingua franca. Your mastery of French was considered the benchmark of your education ability.

And before French, Latin ruled Western Europe for centuries. Even after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church upheld Latin and used it in canon law and in mass.

Before Latin, Greek was the lingua franca.

Answer 3

They are similar in the sense that they are or were widespread linguae francae but English is a far more widespread language than Latin ever was.

Latin was the lingua franca of Europe in the middle ages. It was the language of the Roman empire too. However, Latin was never really a huge in Asia and other places. In Western Asia for example, Greek was a bigger language than Latin ever was as far as European languages go. English presently on the other hand is spoken everywhere.

Answer 4

you know both

Answer 5

yup

Answer 6

I guess you can look at it that way.