Thread: Language

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  1. 1st February 2004, 21:52 #1
    Umoja
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    Snow Crash the best book ever, brings up a good point about language. Why do they always seperate? Shouldn't we be all speaking the same language after centuries of prolonged contact? Instead, our languages have a tendency to fragment, diverge from each other. It kind of speaks to the Sumerian Tower of Babel, although I'm not talking about it in a biblical sense. I just find it weird that this is one of the few stories that actually gives an accurate few of how our languages work.

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  2. 1st February 2004, 22:37 #2
    Pete
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    Langauge seems to have sprung up quite independantly in a few isolated regions of the world. Obvious backing for this is the difference between tonal oriental languages and the sharp, crisp indo-european ones. These langauges splinter, because as they spread they are adapted to new situations, to new environments, and are moulded by and mould the culture they are found in. Each region has its own splinter, and develops it more and more, because regardless what is happening on the other side of the world, the way someone is speaking in their home and work is influenced by that culture and environment, and may be different than that of someone elsewhere.
  3. 11th February 2004, 08:41 #3
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    Do you know, that if you write in English, youre writing using an hybrid of German (old english was a dialect of German for some strange reason), Danish, Norse, French, Latin, Greek and words from across the globe?

    This is one reason why English is so popular. Another is that the UK spread it through imperialist colonising.
  4. 11th February 2004, 09:49 #4
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    ÑóẊîöʼn
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    I expect the English Language to become even more &#39;polluted&#39; in the future- thanks mainly to the internet.

    I wonder what will happen to English once it leaves the Earth?
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  5. 11th February 2004, 10:37 #5
    mia wallace
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    languages are different cause it is a symbol of independance, and all countries are trieing to be independant...

    but, if there&#39;d be only one language in the futur, i suppose it&#39;d be english or some version of english...
    <span style=\'color:black\'>Che Guevara je bio crna ovca koja se izdvojila iz stada, a mi, ostale ovèice, nastavljamo pasti travu na pašnjacima &#39;amerièkog sna&#39;.<span style=\'color:green\'> Nije njegovo politièko uvjerenje ostalo zapisano kao legenda, socijalistièkih ideja bilo je i prije, nego njegova volja i snaga da ne bude pasivan, da utjeèe na ljude.
    <span style=\'color:red\'>Zapravo æe uvijek ostati primjer nade da postoji odgovor na pitanje:<span style=\'colorrange\'> &#39;A što možemo uèiniti&#39;?</span></span></span></span>

    <span style=\'color:black\'>&#39;In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.&#39; / Martin Luther King Jr. </span>

    <span style=\'color:red\'>&#39;Silence is argument carried out by other means.&#39; / Che </span>
    <span style=\'colorurple\'>In his last letter to his children, Che wrote: &#39;.... always remain capable to feeling deeply whatever injustice is committed.&#39;    </span>
  6. 12th February 2004, 04:08 #6
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    Q. Why are there so many types Finches in the Galapagos Islands?
    A. &#39;Cause they were seperated and evolved separately.

    Q. Why are there so many versions of Eucalyptus in Australia.
    A. Because the nature of the Australian environment makes specialization a good idea.

    The answer to why are there so many languages is similar to the answer to the first question. (This explains the various &#39;types&#39; of English.)
    Why there are so jargons? This is answered by the second answer.

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