Changes

English has one of the smallest alphabet of major languages using the Roman alphabet, including its lack of accented (letters bearing a diacritic mark such as the "e" in "noël"), hybrid (such as the digraph ligature æ), and pictograph characters. Hebrew has 22 characters, so is an example of a smaller alphabet. [[Futhark]] runic writing has an alphabet of 24.

English has one of the smallest alphabet of major languages using the Roman alphabet, including its lack of accented (letters bearing a diacritic mark such as the "e" in "noël"), hybrid (such as the digraph ligature æ), and pictograph characters. Hebrew has 22 characters, so is an example of a smaller alphabet. [[Futhark]] runic writing has an alphabet of 24.

It helps that English is somewhat phonetic, as ancient Greek and Latin were (though English developed from German, not from Greek or Latin).

It helps that English uses a writing system that has some relation between sounds and symbols as opposed to a purely ideographic system. This also applies to all other languages using alphabets, abjads, syllabaries, and so on - such as ancient Greek and Latin (though English developed from German, not from Greek or Latin).

English features easy interchangeability of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, without much variance in form for pronouns and verbs. That promotes easy communication through brief, cryptic messages, the style preferred by electronic media.  English enjoys a powerful pipe-like quality, such that one phrase can be cut and pasted to another phrase with ease.  Computer-based cutting and pasting text works more efficiently in English than in many other languages, such as those using pictorial characters. This gives English an advantage in the internet medium, and about 80% of the internet uses English. English is now the second most widely spoken language in the world, with only Chinese dialects spoken by more people. English is overwhelmingly the second language of choice for non-English-speaking people.<ref>See Barbara Wallraff, “What Global Language?” 286 Atlantic Monthly No. 5, at 52 (Nov. 2000) (noting, inter alia, that “English is the working language of the Asian trade group ASEAN” and is also “the official language of the European Central Bank”).</ref>

English features easy interchangeability of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, without much variance in form for pronouns and verbs. That promotes easy communication through brief, cryptic messages, the style preferred by electronic media.  English enjoys a powerful pipe-like quality, such that one phrase can be cut and pasted to another phrase with ease.  Computer-based cutting and pasting text works more efficiently in English than in many other languages, such as those using pictorial characters. This gives English an advantage in the internet medium, and about 80% of the internet uses English. English is now the second most widely spoken language in the world, with only Chinese dialects spoken by more people. English is overwhelmingly the second language of choice for non-English-speaking people.<ref>See Barbara Wallraff, “What Global Language?” 286 Atlantic Monthly No. 5, at 52 (Nov. 2000) (noting, inter alia, that “English is the working language of the Asian trade group ASEAN” and is also “the official language of the European Central Bank”).</ref>