The Inquiry23 Dec 2025

Will there ever be a single global language?

Christmas is a time of year when many families and friends come together for a period of joy, peace and goodwill.

The story of the birth of Jesus Christ has been translated into thousands of languages over thousands of years.

And while you may hear it differently, the message is the same.

From carols to conversations, Christmas reminds us how united we can be. But there’s still one thing that sets us apart and prevents us from truly understanding one another - language.

Esperanto, created in the late 1800s, was the most ambitious direct attempt at creating a singular way of speaking.

Its struggle to spread beyond a committed community shows us how deeply languages are tied to identity, power and history.

This week on The Inquiry we’re asking: Will there ever be a single global language?

Contributors: Esther Schor, author Bridge of Words: Esperanto and the Dream of Universal Language, professor of English at Princeton University, United States Patrick Foote, author Immigrant Tongues: Exploring How Languages Moved, Evolved, and Defined Us, YouTuber, United Kingdom Salikoko Mufwene, professor of linguistics at the University of Chicago, United States Celeste Rodriguez-Louro, associate professor, chair of linguistics, director of language lab at the University of Western Australia

Presenter and Producer: Daniel Rosney Researcher: Evie Yabsley Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey Technical Producer: James Bradshaw Editor: Tom Bigwood

(Photo: Earth. Credit: Planet Observer/Getty Images)

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