Language Evolution

Language Evolution

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Language
• Evolution

[Theozzie11]

@secretdekoi wow, I wrote that 11 months ago.....awesome

[secretdekoi]

@Theozzie11 they call it the evolution of the english language... but it's more of an impairment

[naseer810]

@websnarf OK...I am an evolutionist. I also have no trouble with language evolution. My problem is that the evolutionary mechanism is purely biological and physical and has nothing to do with the mechanism of language evolution which is determined by cultural nondeterministic factors. I am uncomfortable with the analogy as much as I uncomfortable with equating the evolution of planes with the evolution of birds

[Theozzie11]

as we speak a new language is being formed right now in the African-American society. I cant understand a word their saying....... I think language evolves because of accents within regions

[kemaxiu]

@websnarf I have no problem with the evolution of English as a global language enjoying multiple forms and, indeed, innovations by way of second language acquisition. hope Chinese can snap out their current martialism, reminiscent of American English in the early half of the 20th century.

[kemaxiu]

@websnarf sorry i wasn't clear - if you pay attention to the efforts of Confucius institute, and other Chinese media, there seems to be a codification of proper Chinese going on in Chines these days and many Chinese speakers speaking their language with greater mainstreaming. government institutions in china teaching Chinese to foreigners seem intent on teaching as stilted a version of the language as is possible.

[websnarf]

@variablast : If you are serious about this, you have to look very seriously at the words: "lol", "word", "D'oh" and "truthiness". Those words have (at least temporarily) made it into recent modern usage and not because some lone fanatic decided to push it on us (Colbert has tried and failed with other words). Its because each solves a problem in communication that a large audience was very receptive to. What you think *should* happen, or what you want to happen is irrelevant.

[websnarf]

@variablast : No, see -- I don't understand what you are saying and I don't care to know (i.e., don't bother telling me). Its not because I intrinsically disagree with what you are trying to do, or your sentiments, its because I think there is absolutely no value in trying to understand why you are saying. I'm not going to learn your new use of language just to speak to *you*. This fact alone demonstrates why your approach cannot work.

[websnarf]

@naseer810 : There is no absence of evidence. The Selection/Survival analogy is perfect. The Mutation analogy is perfect. It spread (through human hosts) is an adequate analogy to sexual reproduction. Culture is a perfect analogy to ecology. Beyond this if you track languages, they have a concept of ancestry and extinction. Given all that, I would say that the onus is on the naysayers to explain why language is not evolutionary.

[websnarf]

@kemaxiu : Chinese, Russians and Indians *ALL* learn English as a second language. Its somewhat less common for native English speakers to pick up a second language, and there is certainly no consensus as to what second language an English speaker might pick up (German, French and Spanish are very common). English is the language of commerce and science. Forbes, the Economist, Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine are exclusively English.