Timeline for What would be the best way for a language to spread?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
18 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Feb 10, 2016 at 1:31 | comment | added | fi12 | @Kolaru In what way? For the most part, American and British English vocabulary is almost exactly alike. Spelling is somewhat different but is definitely not completely different. | |
| Feb 10, 2016 at 1:23 | comment | added | Kolaru | @fi12 You may be underestimated the complexity of the problem of defininf what a language is. (and even if you do not, the link is still funny). By the way, if I understand you well, according to your definition American and British English are different languages... that seems a bit radical. | |
| Feb 10, 2016 at 1:12 | comment | added | fi12 | @MakorDal Assume pre-medieval times - cerca 1200 AD. At this period in history, there are mostly localized language and religions, no universalizing religions like Christianity or Islam. Assume that this tribe has about 1000 members and basic political influence in the area that they control with a radius of about 15 miles on each side. | |
| Feb 10, 2016 at 1:08 | comment | added | fi12 | @Kolaru I would prefer if A doesn't merge with another language. For my definition, of "same language" I'm going by the standard definition of a dialect vs a language: a language ALWAYS has different spelling, pronunciation and vocab compared to another language, while a dialect or other variant of the same language will only one or two of these factors differing. | |
| Feb 10, 2016 at 1:01 | comment | added | Kolaru | How different is the language from the ones of the neighbours ? "Same language" is a fuzzy concept, on what criterion do you judge if a population actually speaks language A ? What amount of mutation of language A is acceptable during these 600 years (i.e. if language A and B merge in a common language C, is this acceptable) ? | |
| Feb 9, 2016 at 12:23 | comment | added | MakorDal | We are missing a bit of context : what is the state of technology (communication and media) ? Is there an important group (religion country,...) that uses another language ? Has you tribe any kind of military or diplomatic power ? 600 years is either long or short : (pig) Latin was the lingua franca for a millenia and a half, French for a couple century, English is since WW2,... (roughly) | |
| Feb 8, 2016 at 16:42 | answer | added | makingthematrix | timeline score: 7 | |
| Feb 7, 2016 at 15:59 | comment | added | MrDracoSpirit | Something you might want to consider is that changes to language use isn't necessarily a all or nothing thing. Latin is no longer a primary language, but we still use it in science and during the middle ages it was used by the church and European nobility plenty. | |
| Feb 7, 2016 at 6:06 | comment | added | Xandar The Zenon | The best way would be trade. If one nation is very powerful and speaks language A, other traders will need to communicate with the people of this flourishing nation, so they'll be inclined to learn language A. | |
| Feb 7, 2016 at 4:24 | comment | added | fi12 | It is. That's why this tribe is trying to spread its culture and in the process, its language to neighboring lands. | |
| Feb 7, 2016 at 4:23 | comment | added | Monica Cellio | This is implied by your examples but you don't state it explicitly, so I'll ask: the area over which you want to spread the language is currently occupied by people who speak other languages? | |
| Feb 7, 2016 at 3:39 | vote | accept | fi12 | ||
| Feb 7, 2016 at 2:33 | answer | added | Cort Ammon | timeline score: 3 | |
| Feb 7, 2016 at 2:22 | comment | added | zeta | So the goal is not a goal for people in the world, it is only a goal for people in our world who are coming up with answers. | |
| Feb 7, 2016 at 2:15 | comment | added | fi12 | Language is spread as a side effect. I agree with you in that these three together can be very effective. But which one would work best on its own? | |
| Feb 7, 2016 at 2:12 | comment | added | Cort Ammon | Are you trying to spread the language, or is the language spread a side effect of your other behaviors (I know of no cases where the spread of a language was the key goal of an activity)? Also, is there any reason all three would not be used simultaneously? Language tends to not be fussy... it doesn't pick one horse and run with it. It'll go with all 3 if given a chance. | |
| Feb 7, 2016 at 1:50 | history | edited | fi12 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 145 characters in body
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| Feb 7, 2016 at 1:47 | history | asked | fi12 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |