Evolution of languages
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: Scholarly Pursuits
Forum Name: Linguistics
Forum Discription: Discuss linguistics: the study of languages
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=789
Printed Date: 06-Jun-2024 at 07:59
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.56a - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Evolution of languages
Posted By: Guests
Subject: Evolution of languages
Date Posted: 05-Oct-2004 at 08:45
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G'day all,
I'm new to this interesting forum and would like to pose a question.
One trend in the evolution of the English language has been towards greater simplicity. The Old English of Bede was heavily inflected with multiple genders; the language that emerged in the renaissance period was a far simpler one grammatically. Does anyone know of a similar process occurring in any other language? Indeed, are there any general trends apparent in the evolution of languages over time?
Cheers.
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Replies:
Posted By: ihsan
Date Posted: 07-Oct-2004 at 14:43
Hi Jols, welcome to AE!  ------------- [IMG]http://img50.exs.cx/img50/6148/ger3.jpg"> Qaghan of the Vast Steppes http://steppes.proboards23.com - Steppes History Forum |
Posted By: Degredado
Date Posted: 24-Oct-2004 at 18:01
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Well, Portuguese does seem to be getting more simplified, though very, very, slowly. As a matter of fact, Portuguese is more simple, gramatically speaking, then the Latin it originated from. ------------- Vou votar nas putas. Estou farto de votar nos filhos delas |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 10-Nov-2004 at 23:28
Try every language family known to man. It's a known FACT of linguistic change. See also: Sturtevant's paradox (sound change is regular and causes irregularity; analogy is irregular and causes regularity). |
Posted By: Infidel
Date Posted: 19-Dec-2004 at 09:17
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That's right Cevlakohn! ------------- An nescite quantilla sapientia mundus regatur? |