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Are all languages equally dialectically malleable? (hexbear.net)

submitted 4 months ago by glimmer_twin@hexbear.net to c/askchapo@hexbear.net

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I remember reading once about a movement trying to keep French from evolving (lol). And I’ve been thinking about how we have old English and Middle English and modern English, and how to someone living in the grey area they wouldn’t have known they were living in a time of their language being revolutionised (?). Or maybe people did? I’m not a linguist lol.

But yeh it got me thinking, is English a language that is particularly in flux compared to say, Korean? If it is, what makes a language more or less fast in its development over time? More or less insular/isolated societies of speakers must enter into it I guess?

I dunno I guess I’m just shooting the shit because I find language interesting. Let’s talk about interesting linguistic things. I swear I am not high.

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[–] Vampire@hexbear.net 12 points 4 months ago

Conservative is the word you're looking for.

Icelandic is very conservative. Standard Arabic is kept conservative partly by the Quran.

One way to measure the speed of change is with a Swadesh list.