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On the evolution of English as a written or spoken language.

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Author Topic:   On the evolution of English as a written or spoken language.
ringo
Member (Idle past 441 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005

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Message 36 of 88 (596358)
12-14-2010 2:20 PM 		Reply to: Message 31 by Panda
12-14-2010 1:52 PM

Panda writes:
​
Natural selection is a process.
"simply disappear, do not survive, or get new uses" are not processes.
In biological evolution, the least fit individuals are selected out by usage. The fittest words survive because they are selected in by usage.
​
"I'm Rory Bellows, I tell you! And I got a lot of corroborating evidence... over here... by the throttle!"
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 Message 38 by Panda, posted 12-14-2010 2:56 PM ringo has replied
 Message 48 by dwise1, posted 12-15-2010 3:29 PM ringo has seen this message but not replied
  
ringo
Member (Idle past 441 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005

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Message 42 of 88 (596373)
12-14-2010 3:37 PM 		Reply to: Message 38 by Panda
12-14-2010 2:56 PM

Panda writes:
​
Yes, but what causes words to be selected in?
As I said, usage. People use the words that get their message across with minimum confusion, the words that are easiest to pronounce, the words that they like the sound of, etc. just as predators eat the animals that are easy to catch, that taste good, etc. The only difference is that one is positive selection and the other is negative selection.
​
"I'm Rory Bellows, I tell you! And I got a lot of corroborating evidence... over here... by the throttle!"
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 Message 45 by Dr Adequate, posted 12-15-2010 1:21 AM ringo has replied
  
ringo
Member (Idle past 441 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005

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Message 47 of 88 (596493)
12-15-2010 4:01 AM 		Reply to: Message 45 by Dr Adequate
12-15-2010 1:21 AM

Dr Adequate writes:
​
ringo writes:
​
People use the words that get their message across with minimum confusion ...
How long have you been posting on these forums?
Imagine the confusion if we weren't trying. It would be like a convention of Dawn Bertots.
​
"I'm Rory Bellows, I tell you! And I got a lot of corroborating evidence... over here... by the throttle!"
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 Message 45 by Dr Adequate, posted 12-15-2010 1:21 AM Dr Adequate has not replied
  
ringo
Member (Idle past 441 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005

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Message 55 of 88 (596686)
12-16-2010 1:44 PM 		Reply to: Message 54 by New Cat's Eye
12-16-2010 1:31 PM

Re: Aenglisch
Catholic Scientist writes:
​
I think it should be Loff - Burroff, or Low - Burrow, but to change it within one word is ridiculous!
You can't expect loofoles to be systematic.
​
"I'm Rory Bellows, I tell you! And I got a lot of corroborating evidence... over here... by the throttle!"
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 Message 54 by New Cat's Eye, posted 12-16-2010 1:31 PM New Cat's Eye has not replied
  
ringo
Member (Idle past 441 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005

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Message 80 of 88 (760907)
06-26-2015 12:40 PM 		Reply to: Message 78 by MrHambre
06-25-2015 2:42 PM

Re: Uniculturalism
MrHambre writes:
​
... these poor communities have schools where English is taught by instructors with very little proficiency themselves.
When I was in first-year university, English 101 was a required class and there were a dozen or so sections of 20-30 students each. In our section we had a running joke that we were lucky to have the only professor who could actually speak English.
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 Message 81 by Jon, posted 06-26-2015 6:27 PM ringo has replied
 Message 84 by RAZD, posted 06-28-2015 3:59 PM ringo has seen this message but not replied
  
ringo
Member (Idle past 441 days)
Posts: 20940
From: frozen wasteland
Joined: 03-23-2005

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Message 82 of 88 (761037)
06-27-2015 11:37 AM 		Reply to: Message 81 by Jon
06-26-2015 6:27 PM

Re: Uniculturalism
Jon writes:
​
I imagine the rest spoke Canadian?
No, they were mostly from India.
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