English is a rich and colourful language that is constantly in flux. As members of a society grow and develop, so too must the tools they use to communicate with each other. As Coulmas points out, 'languages are often said to reflect the social realities of their speech communities.' Since social realities are constantly shifting, the language that reflects them must adapt as well.

Vocabulary changes because new things are constantly invented, and we need ways to name them and to communicate about them. Innovation of language is important because when new inven-tions, or new concepts become part of our lives, we need to have words for them. For example, with the invention of the Internet, new words had to be coined so that people would have a way of discussing it. Also, since the influence of the Internet continues to grow, new words are continually invented, or borrowed, to categorize the many concepts that have become pertinent to our lives.

Linguists explain that language, by its very definition, must change and develop over time in order to meet the needs of an increasingly complex society. Language is seen by linguistic experts as a fluid and constantly evolving tool, one that must adapt in order to continue to meet the needs of the individuals who use it.

Once a language is no longer capable of growth and change, it dies out. Languages that are no longer used then, are no longer growing. Languages like Ancient Greek and Latin are examples of this. They are alive only in the sense that they are a key to past civilizations, but they are no longer used as a means of verbal communication. One linguist writes, 'change is one of the inevitable facts in the life of any language.’

English, clearly, is alive and thriving, and it continues to change in ways that were never thought possible. As Power notes, 'all languages are works in progress. But English's globalization, unpre-cedented in the history of languages, will revolutionize it in ways we can only begin to imagine.'

Social realities constantly shift, and language clearly reflects that shift, through grammar and syntax as well as through the vocabulary itself. English is unique in its ubiquity and in its ability to adapt and reinvent itself, and will certainly continue to change and thrive in years to come.