# Driving linguistic factors and language "loss"(?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** factual\ **Created:** [February 6, 2026, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415 "2026-02-06T03:20:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/41 "2026-02-09T14:39:22Z")
> [@Xocomil](#): > > I’ve noticed that, as well. Specifically, the _irregular_ past participle is disappearing. Even more specifically, irregular verbs are becoming like regular verbs by having the past tense and past participle merge. You can say that a person disappeared as well as that they have disappeared. Now you can say a person ate and has ate. The past tense and past participle merge. The i-a-u progression (eg, ring-rang-rung) seems to be altered this way frequently. _The ship sunk_ instead of "The ship sank\*. I’ve heard a couple of verbs gone the opposite direction, though: _He has drank it_ instead of _He has drunk it_. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/42 "2026-02-09T15:55:31Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > The i-a-u progression (eg, ring-rang-rung) seems to be altered this way frequently. _The ship sunk_ instead of "The ship sank\*. AFAIK, the producers of _Honey, I Shrunk the Kids_ went with “shrunk” over “shrank” purely for consonance’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![APackof19menthols](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apackof19menthols/32/20451_2.png) [@APackof19menthols](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APackof19menthols)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/43 "2026-02-09T16:38:42Z")
very possible in the case of times i’ve heard it spoken, but I have seen it typed too and someone suggested that it was potentially speech-to-text or some similar phone thing that had changed how they spelt something, which I also wouldn’t be surprised by. It’s cool to see all the responses in this thread, but it’s really great to have reassurance that this doesn’t seem to be something everyone is hearing and I don’t have reason to be scared that native speakers are losing the little details of language. ---
**Author:** ![APackof19menthols](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apackof19menthols/32/20451_2.png) [@APackof19menthols](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APackof19menthols)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/44 "2026-02-09T16:41:28Z")
mostly saw it on Tiktok when I had that terrible app, also occasionally on Instagram, I can definitely get behind the ideas of non-native speakers and me misunderstanding dialect and autocorrect because it’s a lot more sensible than my immediate concern that English was just losing words. It’s cool to see all the talk about how languages get tiny changes, but it’s also great to have people who are very sure they haven’t seen this. ---
**Author:** ![APackof19menthols](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apackof19menthols/32/20451_2.png) [@APackof19menthols](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APackof19menthols)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/45 "2026-02-09T16:46:52Z")
I can definitely see the speech-to-text typing. I personally am a native English speaker, speaking different American dialects throughout my childhood due to moving definitely affected how I learned English (my early childhood was spent with communities that did not all speak much or any great English, and I learned bita of Spanish very young as a required class simply to help students communicate better with each other.) The people I see making this mistake seem to be American individuals, or at least to me sound very American. I really wouldn’t be surprised, knowing now that a lot of people haven’t really seen this, if it was just me. I tend to have words confused easily if someone doesn’t speak a certain way towards me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these people just had small changes in dialect that I am not used to and therefore struggled to process. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/46 "2026-02-09T17:06:37Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > However, language “loss” will only occur if it is no longer possible to express fine shades of meaning (singular vs plural!?) via alternative constructions or phrasing. That is a key and perceptive point. I don’t think we are at risk of that. As language evolves by usage, it may be that _more_ gradations and nuances become available as ideoms arise in response to changed circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/47 "2026-02-09T18:22:57Z")
Interesting. This: > [@APackof19menthols](#): > > I personally am a native English speaker, speaking different American dialects throughout my childhood due to moving definitely affected how I learned English Does not go with this: > [@APackof19menthols](#): > > it was potentially speech-to-text or some similar phone thing that had changed how they spelt something, IME, no USA-raised native English speaker would use “spelt” in that spot. No matter where or how many places in the USA they had or have lived. UK, Canadian, or other former British Empire place? Sure. The USA? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/48 "2026-02-09T18:34:05Z")
I have never heard women used in the singular. I’m curious as to where the op heard this. I’m not questioning whether they heard it, but I’d like to know where heard it. Is it really a matter of the speaker or the listener? And I think language is shifting all the time and has since the beginning of language. The first great vowel shift started apx. in the 1400’s and the second is ongoing and nicely dovetails into commentary on the loss of regional accents. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2026, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/49 "2026-02-11T10:58:46Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > That’s because English “to be” is the result of a merger of three different roots that existed as three different verbs in Proto-Into-European into one. Hence the large variety of different verb forms which look nothing like one another. Some modern languages still retain different verbs for what would be “to be” in English, notably Spanish _ser_ and _estar._ Yes, I know. You even can see the remnant of Old English in “been,” which was probably two syllables. My point was that they now have to be memorized, and I don’t think teachers today drill kids on them like they used to. And _ser_ & _estar_ are not regular either. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2026, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/50 "2026-02-11T11:35:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > None of the people here on this messageboard would ever have read the writings or heard the speaking of any others of us in a WWW-less world. There is this: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ywg03b574oQ/maxresdefault.jpg "How the Edwardians Spoke [signed]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywg03b574oQ) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2026, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/51 "2026-02-11T14:48:03Z")
> [@APackof19menthols](#): > > mostly saw it on Tiktok when I had that terrible app, also occasionally on Instagram, Isn’t all that just AI captions of what people are saying? That _always_ has so many typos. ---
**Author:** ![APackof19menthols](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apackof19menthols/32/20451_2.png) [@APackof19menthols](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APackof19menthols)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/52 "2026-02-11T23:18:34Z")
I saw it typed in comments but also heard it verbally, as a few others pointed out I very well could have been mishearing people who have an English dialect that i’m not personally acquainted with which affects their vowel pronunciation. Also yeah I just disregard the captions on most things as AI slop. I rely heavily on captions at times and I definitely know that on pretty much _any_ platform captions and subtitles aren’t all that reliable. YouTube is a complete mess with captions and doesn’t know a single word I swear, TikTok and Instagram are both bad, streaming platforms are decent but tend to just have words replaced. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2026, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/53 "2026-02-11T23:50:43Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > > [@steronz](#): > > > > My personal pet peeve is people not knowing that bias is not past tense. “My teacher was bias against me.” > > In that example the past participle is wanted, not the past tense. With all the “have ran” and “have went” constructions, I predict that in 100 years the past participle will have disappear’ from English. All things consider’. See also “whip cream” instead of “whipped.” This used to drive me somewhat insane, until I realized the startling parallel “ice cream.” Only C. Montgomery Burns carefully says “iced cream,” but 100 years ago, pedants must have been annoyed by the same participle-less usage that’s universally unquestioned today. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/54 "2026-02-12T04:02:51Z")
Those are good examples. It seems the process has already begin. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/55 "2026-02-12T04:31:01Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > already begin _began_, silly. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/56 "2026-02-12T05:13:07Z")
Beginded? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2026, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415/57 "2026-02-12T06:25:49Z")
> [@APackof19menthols](#): > > on pretty much _any_ platform captions and subtitles aren’t all that reliable. FB Reels gave me a clip from _The Crown_ in which QE2 gets into a car and tells the driver “Buckingham Palace”: the caption read “F\*ck you, pal”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/driving-linguistic-factors-and-language-loss/1027415.md?page=2)