[PW] Re: Hypothetical cultural divergence

[Dan Clinton]

Megan--

The one thing that can be said is that 300 years is too short a time for any 
substantive changes. Historic examples differ: Chaucer could make himself 
understood in modern London after half a millenium (excepting accent, new 
vocabulary, and semantic change). Modern Greek students claim to have little 
trouble with the classical language after a thousand years. On the other 
hand, modern Romance speakers cannot read Latin without formal study.

A couple of  points:
1) Language is conservative. Fundamental changes come very very slowly.
2) Writing tends to slow linguistic change by creating "official" word forms 
and grammar. Prehistoric languages change more easily.
3) Geographic isolation tends to preserve archaic features (which begs the 
question of 'archaic from whose point of view?')
4) Over time, a language's grammar tends to simplify: inflectional endings 
disappear, for example, their function being taken over by fixed word order 
and circumlocution.

If your author wants two mutually unintelligible languages, I'd have to 
argue for millenia not centuries of separation.

Dan Clinton (Lapsed Linguist)
Technical Services Librarian
U.S. Census Bureau Library
FOB 3, Room 2554
Washington, DC 20233-1980

301-763-6640  (direct line)
301-457-2407  (fax)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Megan Fitzgibbons" <Megan.Fitzgibbons at Dal.Ca>
To: <list at project-wombat.org>
Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2006 7:47 AM
Subject: [PW] Hypothetical cultural divergence


> Hello,
>
> I've had a friend ask me a hypothetical, possibly unanswerable question, 
> and I
> thought this excellent listserv would be the best shot of giving me 
> direction
> toward finding some sort of answer. The question, in my friend's words, 
> is:
>
> If you have a fairly homogeneous group of people that speak a common 
> language
> that are then sundered by a cataclysm, following which the different 
> groups
> remain fairly insular with little to no communication with each other or
> outside cultures, how long would it take the languages to diverge? After, 
> say,
> 300 years, would they be separate languages or dialects? What types of
> differences would one expect? I want fairly pronounced differences of 
> custom
> and ritual, but this would no doubt be accompanied by divergence in 
> language as
> well.
>
> I believe this is for a book he is writing.
>
> I realize that there are probably not any "real life" anthropological 
> examples
> that could provide evidence of this scenario, but it is possible to find
> scholarly speculation about the time needed for cultural and linguistic
> divergence? I am aware of glottochronology theories, but they are not very
> accepted amongst linguists.
>
> Any suggestions will be most appreciated.
> Thanks,
> Megan Fitzgibbons
> MLIS Candidate
> megan.fitzgibbons at dal.ca
> _______________________________________________
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