It's funny, I just was reading an article about this very question. It more
has to do with how language will evolve seperately on a multi-generational
spaceship but it's a pretty good article.
Rob
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/spacetravel-02a.html
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-moq_discuss@venus.co.uk
[mailto:owner-moq_discuss@venus.co.uk]On Behalf Of Elizaphanian
Sent: March 4, 2002 4:28 AM
To: moq_discuss@moq.org
Subject: Re: MD Oldest idea
> DMB...
> Yes, Sanskrit is very old, as far as languages go. Usually they just
evolve
> naturally into other languages. Linguists have worked it out in
percentages,
> as in "on average a language changes 8% every one hundred years" and stuff
> like that. But some change very fast, like English, and some change slowly
> because they're intentionally preserved for religious and/or cultural
> reasons. Latin and Sanskrit are two of the most static languages for that
> reason.
Hi,
Something I've been pondering recently: is English going to still be
intelligible in a thousand years time? Linguists like the ones you mention
would suggest no, as the language will inevitably develop and mutate. But if
you consider the nature of the static latches within which the English
language is now embedded (eg Air Traffic Control, the number of scientific
papers published in English, the nature of computer programming/internet etc
etc) it seems to me that as long as we retain a continuity of technology,
there will continue to be a common static core of 'International' English.
Frightening thought - these posts will still be directly understandable in a
thousand years time (or more!)
Sam
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