The Languages of Medicine

Abstract

Medicine uses one lingua franca but speaks with many tongues. Just as Latin emerged after the Renaissance beside the regional European languages as the unifying language of the healing arts, so has English now assumed a leading role as the international language of medicine. International communication among clinicians and scientists is now almost exclusively in English. Nonetheless, patient contact, communication among colleagues within individual countries, teaching, and some scientific activity are still conducted in the local mother tongues. As late as the beginning of the 20th century, medical science still used three languages to a roughly equal extent: German, English, and French. The turn to English, which took place at different speeds in different areas since the middle of the last century, has put an end to linguistic confusion and is thus to be welcomed, from a worldwide perspective, as a positive instance of globalization. There are, nonetheless, some negative consequences for scientific culture outside the Englishspeaking world. This article will deal with the extent of the secular trend toward English and its consequences for scientific readers, writers, and journals.

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