Guidelines for Linguistic Evolution

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I seem to remember some years ago seeing the claim that languages evolved cyclically from analytic to agglutinative to inflectional and back to analytic, taking a couple of thousand years. This is relevant, because an analytic language is one where all the grammaticalized forms have worn down to nothing and new ones are just starting to emerge from lexical words, still heard as independent words; the phonetic wearing down of grammaticalized words is thought to give rise to agglutination and inflection.

Bill Stoddard

Yes: the idea is that Isolating Languages which rely on syntax like Mandarin start to have adjacent words merge together, creating an Agglutinating Language which relies on appending a common set of prefixes and suffixes like Turkish. Then sound changes work on the Agglutinating Language and break the regularity of its morphology, creating a Fusional Language which relies on complicated morphology like Latin. Then sound changes continue to work on the morphology until it does not provide enough information and extra words must be used, creating an Isolating Language like Mandarin.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

Yes: the idea is that Isolating Languages which rely on syntax like Mandarin start to have adjacent words merge together, creating an Agglutinating Language which relies on appending a common set of prefixes and suffixes like Turkish.

I read the same thing at some point and thought it was interesting, though I can't imagine we have enough data points to prove that theory. It did give me rise to steal the Indo-European locative plural ending (-su) to turn a word into a neuter noun of place.

Regardless, you don't need all this for a tongue for a gaming world. (Well, you do need things like stealing the locative plural ending to make place names.) What you need is about 200 words, rules, and loads of patience.

[Sindri]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

I read the same thing at some point and thought it was interesting, though I can't imagine we have enough data points to prove that theory. It did give me rise to steal the Indo-European locative plural ending (-su) to turn a word into a neuter noun of place.

Regardless, you don't need all this for a tongue for a gaming world. (Well, you do need things like stealing the locative plural ending to make place names.) What you need is about 200 words, rules, and loads of patience.

Since when has need had anything to do with gaming worlds : ) .

[RyanW]

All academic research should be required to have an appendix for the research's implication to gaming, and suggestions for rules or effects on settings. Who's with me?

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

I thought that the evidence leaned towards something invented independently by people from the Levant in Egyptian service.

The origin of the Semitic alphabet(s) is ambiguous.
The case for Egyptian derivation has never been incredibly strong, mostly depending on the similarity of shapes of stuff that might possibly be a protoalphabet to heiroglyphs that might possibly have the same meaning and/or initial sounds.
The case for Mesopotamian derivation runs through Ugaritic, a cuneiform script somewhere between syllabic and alphabetic, which looks nothing at all like the Semitic alphabet but for which there exist abcedaries arguably older than any existing Semitic texts in the standard West Semitic letter order (abgd...)

[Sindri]

Originally Posted by RyanW

All academic research should be required to have an appendix for the research's implication to gaming, and suggestions for rules or effects on settings. Who's with me?

Hear, hear!

[dcarson]

Originally Posted by RyanW

All academic research should be required to have an appendix for the research's implication to gaming, and suggestions for rules or effects on settings. Who's with me?

OK another thing added to my "if I ever win the lottery" list. A grant providing fund with that as a requirement.

[tantric]

The Lies, Myths and Half-Truths about Language DVD course was amazing enlightening. I borrowed it from a friend and just now saw the price tag. I'm not sure it's *that* enlightening, but if you have a chance to borrow it or get it used, don't pass it up.

Before this, I'd never encountered the division of languages between esoteric and exoteric. I'm wondering if this cycle of grammar has anything to do with the expansion and contraction of the civilizations that use it?

[Flyndaran]

Well English is common because of conquering Christianity, Arabic because of Islam, and the resurrection of Hebrew because of Judaism.

But English had the great vowel shift that radically altered the sound nearly everywhere simultaneously and for no reason I've heard.

(On the price of the series.... DAAAAAAAMN! That takes me back to buying books for college.)

[Kage2020]

Originally Posted by RyanW

All academic research should be required to have an appendix for the research's implication to gaming, and suggestions for rules or effects on settings. Who's with me?

I am so there with you.

*ponders appendices*