What is the language coming too?

I agree that language changes, but I think that these are the most significate changes from outside of the language since probably the Norman invasion.

[b]Heck, Pye, we don't speak the same language spoken when I was a kid! When I read books printed from the late 40s, they sound so dated, now! So many new words (not to mention inventions that need new names, etc.) have come into being since then, & words fall into & out of fashion, just as much as clothing or music. Keep your ears open (& your eyes peeled (owitch! Wotta painful expression!) as you move through life. You'll hear & see those changes as you do, & if you're wise, you'll learn to keep up. I just wish I could get used to the way "Valley Girl Speak" has garbled our tongue. How many times have you been tempted to type "no" as "NO-wuh!" That "wuh" sound has been a tag for many words ending in vowels since VGS wormed its way into the populace (via TV, mostly). I wish it would die out, but I'm afraid I now hear 30-year-olds using it. I wonder if they realize they sound like 14 year old spoiled brats when they talk? Wugg.... Oh, almost forgot: when I was in my 40s, one night I called up a local DJ & asked him to play a certain record. He was in a chatty mood, & I felt in a prankish mood, so all the time we talked I used VGS. Finally he asked me how old I was, & I told him the truth. I swear I could hear his jaw drop..."Oh, my God..." he said. After I hung up, I laughed my butt off. That's a pretty good example of my warped sense of humor. Still makes me smile. Maggiepie[/b]

I think that English is going to change as quickly as it evolved in the first place. Chances are that English came to the form it is today within 2 generations, and I suspect that it will make these changes in much the same amount of time.

Yeah, in Shakespear's time they were still saying that "w" in "answer." Closer to our Germantic origins.

I think they might be shaking their heads, but the educated ones are probably saying "Yep, I knew it would happen."

there's a difference between dialect, and an accent. and then there's the change to another language... Latin did become French, Spanish, Portugese, Italian, but each evolved not just geographically, but time wise from "street Latin" rather than "Classical Latin." Probably Italian is the direct decendent of street Latin, with Spanish being the oldest decendent of the street Latin (actually Italian is the youngest since it continued evolving "on the streets" so to speak!

[b]Tamara, when I was in England (mumbledy-mumble years ago), I watched the Queen give her annual Christmas address on telly. Imagine my surprise when I heard her use the (Miss Grammar Grundy says so!) incorrect term, "woken!" Since that time, I have given up on fighting that term's usage, as when the Queen uses it, it must be "the King's, or Queen's English," right/ Or maybe even the Queen doesn't speak TKE any longer? ... Nah...I'll go with my former theory. "Woken" is now a proper word. The other prospect is just too depressing. Maggiepie[/b]

read the artical, it explains why it is happening.

& people wonder why I bang my head against the wall!

I feel for ya.

English is very hard, and I have no idea what they are doing either.

not as long as a few of us are resisting it to the end!!

Maybe you should start your own secret society that is dedicated to language preservation! lol. I'll join.

[b]Count me in! Maggiepie[/b]

It is crazy. Then again, we have the language changing even as we speak - and if you look above, there's a link to creole languages, there is creole English being spoken on islands previously in British posession.

[b]Dawn, I have difficulty understanding even some British native speakers! Think of "Nanny Jo," of Supernanny, a TV show I like. She has a certain accent (not sure from which part of England it comes), & the "th" sound is replaced readily by a "v." Thus "Father & Mother" become "Favvah 'nd Muvvah." There are some folks whose accent is obviously from that same area, apparently, but which are far less easy to comprehend. I'll never forget when I first met a real Cockney lad; I understood only about one word in seven of his! He was very nice, though. Still, even my East London pal (who'd escorted me from the train station where we'd met him) had to admit she couldn't really make out much of what he'd said! Maggiepie[/b]

Okay. Geezer moment. It was so long ago, I'd forgotten I'd answered! And I just now realized the reason I got a notice was because this was about a BR mark! Anyway, I guess you can at least get a deeper look into this phenomenon in my new post! LOL! Oy, veh...I've been "stuck on stupid" all day, I swear! Sorry! And THANK YOU! Maggiepie SAY "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

jb78000 said: "well actually most countries prefer some effort to speak their language rather than none at all." I agree! But what I object to is settling for pigeon-speak, & saying it is the language, when really it's merely a bad version of the language. Pigeon does not have the right to be called by the proper tongue's name! It should only be a temporary state, a practical bridge to survive until one learns better how to speak the language of the country. Most countries wouldn't accept that pigeon is their language, or think it was fine to remain in error. Plus it really doesn't help in communication--the prime task of any language!--except in the most basic ways. If someone says to me, "I no speak good, I learning English, sorry not good," I'm pleased, not angry. However, if I know they're not making any effort to improve, after a while, I lose my patience. and speaking from personal experience i have often learnt a new language or drastically improved it AFTER going to live in a country. nobody every said it was pidgin greek, spanish or polish to be honest. Doesn't matter if they don't call it that; it is what it is. And of course being there should help you improve. Now, however, the PC mob is inclined to scream "racism" if you insist someone who plans to live here learn the primary language of the nation. Anyway, I just dislike the entire idea of preferring to segregate oneself by refusing to become as correct a speaker as possible of a country's language. Maggiepie [i]"We have got to eliminate the gringo. And what I mean is, if worse comes to worse, we have got to kill him." ~ Jose Angel Gutierrez, Founder of The National Council of[/i] La Raza.

well actually most countries prefer some effort to speak their language rather than none at all. and speaking from personal experience i have often learnt a new language or drastically improved it AFTER going to live in a country. nobody every said it was pidgin greek, spanish or polish to be honest. one of the best ways to learn a language is to live in a country.

very true, as English is a living language, it is evolving and "creole-izing." I think like Creole http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole_language will probably evolve from these dialectic differences, but actually replace the language of the area like most creole is doubtful... unless something pretty radical happens

Yeah. Lets take one little word as an example. "Moot" as in "moot point." People seem to think that means that there is no point in discussing it any more. ACTUALLY, it means just the opposite.

[b]Elic! Bless you! And smek-smeks on all your hairy ittle hobbit toes---you were listening! I heard someone today on the radio use the word "moot" when what they should've said was "academic." I am content. I can die happy now. My wisdom has been passed on. Maggiepie[/b]

That got me thinking and I looked moot up in the dictionary. It has 9 definitions, yours being the first. Considering how many definitions any given word can have, is it any wonder that other nationalities have a hard time speaking English?

Well, American and English English are changing at different rates and going different directions. Many parts of the U.S. still speak a form of English that is more closely related to the language as it was spoken in the 17th and 18th centuries. BUT - with new words added in from other places. And then there's slang... whole other language almost... but I have met some of these people that arrive from, say, China, who have learned to read the language, but never had a chance to learn to speak it or even much chance to listen to it spoken. Makes it very difficult to communicate.

Hi elic.

well yes i did see this - and i have just been looking at the box above to see what on earth all this was about. i can assure you that neither me nor thea were getting antsy, a couple of silly comments about the queen were not a suggestion that maggie is a monarchist. nor would i care if she was. there was a bit of a debate about terminology - and i spent some time explaining to thea how the term RP is used but that was goodnatured. i'll pop into the other box and repeat some of this.

I doubt I will, not only because I'm older, but also I'm not planning to travel into those parts of the world where it is already happening. By the time it really impacts us a lot in the States, I think I will be gone.