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thelinguist.uberflip.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER The Linguist 9 FEATURES Their combined linguistic and editorial experience, and their familiarity with the EU corridors of power, would be impossible to replace in the short term – and even if they did physically exit, their linguistic intuitions could readily be accessed, wherever they lived, at the click of a mouse. However, without daily routine interaction with L1 speakers, it is very likely that a new kind of English will emerge in the administrative corridors – a development of what is already being called Euro-English. Emerging Euro-English The Euro-English of the future will significantly differ from what we see today, where the notion usually refers only to the EU-specific jargon of written documents and spoken in-house discussion. If the EU becomes a genuine post-Brexit community, I would expect to see Euro-English evolve in the same way that we have seen in other countries where 'New Englishes' have developed. These are multiglossic situations where, alongside the use of a formal variety in speech and writing (e.g, British Standard English), we find a regional variety reflecting a unified local cultural identity, and expressed through local vocabulary and idiom in an array of styles. Euro-English has every chance of developing into a New English, and Brexit could make this more likely. But this will only happen if the conditions are right, and the chief condition is a shared cultural identity. The central question therefore is: can such an identity be claimed for the EU? What are the shared cultural characteristics that would motivate such a development? This now ceases to be a linguistic argument and becomes a discussion about the relationships between countries, national identities, and the political future of Europe. Is there any real notion of an EU 'social group' – one that displays sufficient solidarity (in the sociological sense) to motivate shared linguistic norms? There is a considerable amount of variation in stylistic practice among the various departments of the EU, as I have described elsewhere. 3 We already have a Europe of infant Euro-Englishes. So if the answer to these questions is 'no', the most likely scenario is that these variations will mature. English will not disappear; it will become a family of Euro-dialects. Englexit? Only in the sense that British English norms may become less of an influence on the way these Euro-Englishes develop. The Englishes of the rest of the world, and especially in countries with which the EU continues to trade, are bound to make a greater impact on the way the language is used in Europe. It will not be that big a deal, as only a small percentage of words, idioms, constructions, pronunciations and orthographic conventions vary from one regional English variety to another. But they will be enough to distinguish, say, a French Euro-English from a Danish one from a German one. The probable outcome will be a new Englentrance, and the EU will, slowly but surely, need to come to terms with it. Notes 1 'Europeans and Their Languages' (2006) Special Eurobarometer 243; bit.ly/2u38WeY 2 Modiano, M (2017) 'English in a Post-Brexit European Union'. In World Englishes, John Wiley & Sons, 36.3 3 Crystal, D (2017). 'The Future of New Euro-Englishes'. In Ibid PLANNING THE FUTURE Clockwise from left: Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, opens a European Parliament plenary session on Brexit; the full session; Michel Barnier speaks in Brussels; and Juncker arrives at the Special European Council (Article 50) in April It is very likely that a new kind of English will emerge… what is already being called Euro-English For writers' biographies for all feature articles, see page 34. TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS David Davis, British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, and Michel Barnier, European Chief Negotiator for Brexit, at the European Commission © EUROPEAN UNION