[ExI] Linguistic shifts

[Darren Greer]

>People across the world get concerned about linguistic shifts - whether
it's non-English speakers getting upset about English infiltrating their
language, or British people getting upset about the Americanisation of
everything, or the creoles and pidgins and patois that evolve in areas
muddying the waters. This talk shows how Urdu has shifted and been referred
to by many names over the years, and how the language has changed to reflect
its speakers sense of identity. It's amazing how much a language can tell
you about its speakers.<

I dated a linguist once. His big claim-to-fame was speaking and writing
Tolkien's elvish. He introduced me to the concept of post-scriptivisim vs.
descriptivism. Those who would have new words officially monitored and
approved for usage by academics, and those who would have a more organic
growth based on popular usage alone. I've been a descriptivist ever since.
 I can't imagine a transhumanist who wasn't.

d.

On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 6:04 PM, Tom Nowell <nebathenemi at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> So, I was looking through TEDx videos, trying to find a topic to inspire
> me, when I came across this:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl4xppek2gY
>
> People across the world get concerned about linguistic shifts - whether
> it's non-English speakers getting upset about English infiltrating their
> language, or British people getting upset about the Americanisation of
> everything, or the creoles and pidgins and patois that evolve in areas
> muddying the waters. This talk shows how Urdu has shifted and been referred
> to by many names over the years, and how the language has changed to reflect
> its speakers sense of identity. It's amazing how much a language can tell
> you about its speakers.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
>
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> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
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>



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