Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-08-2017, 05:35 PM   #1
Tom Mazanec
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Default English in 15th Cen PoD worlds

In worlds like Shikaku-mon or Ming-3, which diverged over half a millennium ago, how different would English be? I know no penalties are listed in the sourcebooks, but I've heard renditions of how different English was in the 1400s, and figuring independent development from there, it might be quite different, I would expect. Could I talk to someone from one of those timelines?
Tom Mazanec is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-08-2017, 05:53 PM   #2
Bruno
 
Bruno's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
Default Re: English in 15th Cen PoD worlds

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Mazanec View Post
In worlds like Shikaku-mon or Ming-3, which diverged over half a millennium ago, how different would English be? I know no penalties are listed in the sourcebooks, but I've heard renditions of how different English was in the 1400s, and figuring independent development from there, it might be quite different, I would expect. Could I talk to someone from one of those timelines?
It would be easier than trying to speak to someone speaking modern Dutch, but harder than someone from the Yorkshire Dales trying to speak to someone speaking Singlish.
Possibly.
Depending on how much outside language gets absorbed - English could be replaced with a creole language in 500 years of development from the 15th cen, hypothetically.
__________________
All about Size Modifier; Unified Hit Location Table
A Wiki for my F2F Group
A neglected GURPS blog
Bruno is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-08-2017, 07:56 PM   #3
robkelk
Untitled
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: between keyboard and chair
Default Re: English in 15th Cen PoD worlds

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Mazanec View Post
In worlds like Shikaku-mon or Ming-3, which diverged over half a millennium ago, how different would English be? I know no penalties are listed in the sourcebooks, but I've heard renditions of how different English was in the 1400s, and figuring independent development from there, it might be quite different, I would expect. Could I talk to someone from one of those timelines?
How much linguistic inertia does the worldline have?

I seem to recall a passage somewhere in Infinite Worlds about worlds being on or near Quantum 5 because they had some similarities to Homeline - if I'm remembering that correctly, then one of the similarities could be similarity of language, and the English of some random worldline would be similar to the English of Homeline despite it not making sense for a divergent worldline to have developed its languages the same way Homeline did.

On the other hand, if the players enjoy roleplaying out difficulties in communication, go for the probably-realistic idea of different social stresses from the Point of Divergence onward producing different languages.

(Slight digression: It took me a few minutes to realize "PoD" didn't stand for "Print on Demand".)
__________________
Rob Kelk
“Every man has a right to his own opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.”
– Bernard Baruch,
Deming (New Mexico) Headlight, 6 January 1950
No longer reading these forums regularly.
robkelk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-08-2017, 08:01 PM   #4
malloyd
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Default Re: English in 15th Cen PoD worlds

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Mazanec View Post
Could I talk to someone from one of those timelines?
For points of divergence after about 1480, usually yes, provided you avoid technical discussions. For divergence points back to about 1250, sometimes, if the London dialect (the so called Chancery Standard) formed the basis of whatever the locals are now calling English. For divergence points before 1100 very likely not, and certainly not if the Norman Conquest didn't happen.
__________________
--
MA Lloyd
malloyd is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
infinite worlds

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:16 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.