English Language of the Future

[firespinner]

Languages change as different languages become assimilated. Here in Ireland, experts can identify Irish (Gailge) grammer in the spoken English. Another example is Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange. You must take into account other languages

[robardin]

@Alan Smithee

I forgot to mention–I wouldn’t be surprised if adverbs lose their distinctiveness. At least in the States, we often drop the -ly ending, as a thread pointed out a few weeks ago.

Yep. I seen and heared it happen alot.

(Note my careful avoision of “done seen it happen”, which is clearly wrong.)

[robardin]

@jrfranchi

Every Dad … can tell language should be phonetic. Why not skool or skul instead of school? Nite instead of Knight and night?

Meh. I agree that I like English spelling the way it is, with road signs for those who can see into the history of the language.

Pronunciation changes over time and by region; there cannot be any real “purely phonetic” spelling of a global language, such as English has become.

Ever read Mark Twain’s (mock) proposal for phonetical English spelling?

A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling, by Mark Twain

For example, in Year 1 that useless letter “c” would be dropped, to be replased either by “k” or “s”, and likewise “x” would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which “c” would be retained would be the “ch” formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform “w” spelling, so that “which” and “one” would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish “y” replasing it with “i” and Iear 4 might fiks the “g/j” anomali wonse and for all.

    Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants.  Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c", "y" and "x" -- bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez -- tu riplais "ch", "sh", and "th" rispektivli.

    Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.

[Polerius]

@jrfranchi

Can tell language should be phonetic. Why not skool or skul instead of school? Nite instead of Knight and night?

Ai think English will definetly becum fonetik

[DarrenS]

@jrfranchi

Every Dad that has ever had to answer the question

Can tell language should be phonetic. Why not skool or skul instead of school? Nite instead of Knight and night?

Jim

English used to be a lot more phonetic. “Knight” used to have the “k” and “g” pronounced.

[asterion]

@elmwood

American English will continue to absorb words from the languages spoken by immigrant groups. I’d expect to see some more words of Spanish origin enter mainstream usage; not like Spanglish where speakers drift back and forth between languages while speaking, bur more like how certain Yiddish words got absorbed in the early 20th century. The words paseomight be used by English speakers to describe a leisurely walk in a busy area; a concept that really can’t be described with a single English word. I think some Arabic might also be absorbed, but unfortunately they may be words that are related to war and aggression. I’m already seeing “jihad” is already being used to refer to a struggle, but not in the context of a holy war; "for instance “I’m on a jihad against the crabgrass on my lawn.”

I agree that more absorption will probably take place but I think that the pronounciations will become heavily Anglicized by people who normally use the absorbed vocabulary. For an amusing example, I spent some time in California with people from back East who had learned Spanish in school. I was raised in Albuquerque, so various Spanish nouns are common and sometimes even what I think of first when naming something. For example, it’s not a ditch, it’s an arroyo or it’s not a plateau, it’s a mesa. Anyway, anyone can tell you that the pronounciations have been heavily Anglicized by native English speakers. So this trip to southern California had this one woman sounding like Peggy Hill whenever a Spanish word came up. I never really liked King of the Hill, so I don’t know if they still have the character talk like that, but what sticks out in my mind from that show is “Monterrrrrrey hack.” Amusing while exasperating, because I did a double-take every time she did that and had to verify we were talking about the same thing. Her attempts at pronounciation when we went into a Cal-Mex place cracked me up.

[Wendell_Wagner]

robardin writes:

> Ever read Mark Twain’s (mock) proposal for phonetical English spelling?

This isn’t by Mark Twain:

http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j31/satires.php

[What_Exit]

@DarrenS

English used to be a lot more phonetic. “Knight” used to have the “k” and “g” pronounced.

I often say “K[SIZE=1]a nig it”[/SIZE]. Is that what you mean?

[Wendell_Wagner]

No, it was pronounced more like kniXt, where it’s one syllable, and the X stands for a sound that doesn’t exist in English anymore but which is like the sound represented by ch at the end of German words…