How did everything get named...

[king 11,984]

11 minutes ago, chartpolski said:

I'd say most accents/dialects are a result of foreign influence, invasion, immigration, etc.

The "Geordie" language/accent is heavily influenced by the Scandinavian languages.

"Gannin oot", "gannin yem", "divint", etc are almost the same as in Scandinavian languages

All as a result of the Viking invasions.

Cheers. 

That sounds about right mate..

[thefensarefarbutistillgo 2,609]

I’ve always thought it’s mad how accents change over a short distance, how does the accent know where the cut off point is 

[thefensarefarbutistillgo 2,609]

11 hours ago, Astanley said:

Most of English derives from Greek Latin ,French ,norse ,some Gaelic a few other bits and pieces ,surprisingly little German considering the Angles were Germanic .

Maybe but where did they get there words from to start with 

[TOMO 27,412]

5 minutes ago, thefensarefarbutistillgo said:

I’ve always thought it’s mad how accents change over a short distance, how does the accent know where the cut off point is 

agreed.....village near where i grew up....the next village over all used the terms " thee and thou"....which are used in south yorkshire we didnt use those words at all

[mushroom 13,511]

13 hours ago, king said:

How did it happen...

Someone must of named a "fly" for instance and then everyone else called it a fly..

What about everything else ??

Land,tree,water oxygen, etc..etc.. 

I’ve never been able to wrap my head around the word “jug”

[chartpolski 25,670]

1 hour ago, thefensarefarbutistillgo said:

Maybe but where did they get there words from to start with 

It's simple, isn't it ?

God gave man a single language, but when they decided to build a tower to reach heaven, he wasn't having that and made them all speak different languages and scattered them around the world !

Well, that's the explanation if you believe that storybook, the bible !

Cheers.

[Ken's Deputy 4,460]

35 minutes ago, chartpolski said:

Well, that's the explanation if you believe that storybook, the bible !

Yes. But; Has Francie ever been .....

[Neal 1,888]

15 hours ago, king said:

How did it happen...

Someone must of named a "fly" for instance and then everyone else called it a fly..

What about everything else ??

Land,tree,water oxygen, etc..etc.. 

Fascinating subject! I'm currently reading a book by Stephen Moss called Mrs Moreau's Warbler which is all about how birds got their names. It really is one of those books where nearly every page I'm saying, "Wow! I never knew that."

He looks at how the English language evolved and how we can use this knowledge i.e. timing of different influences, to work out when different species were named.

A couple of my favourites are that wheatear has nothing to do with wheat or ears and actually is simply a bastardized version of what, at the time, sounded like white arse. And also, probably two of the oldest birds to be named are goose and gull. Gull is in fact Cornish.

I have another book called the Accidental Dictionary which looks at how meanings of words have changed over time. E.g. people think presently means "in a while" but it actually means "straight away" but, because people are lazy and don't do things straight away, the meaning has shifted. Or at least our perception of it has. Another one from that book (and I may have got this a tiny bit wrong as I'm writing this from memory) is that penguin is a Welsh word. Something to do with guillemots (or another black and white sea bird) being described as pen gwyn (is that white face?) by a Welsh seaman and then the name being used when people then saw penguins south of the equator.

Fascinating stuff.

[king 11,984]

1 hour ago, Neal said:

Fascinating subject! I'm currently reading a book by Stephen Moss called Mrs Moreau's Warbler which is all about how birds got their names. It really is one of those books where nearly every page I'm saying, "Wow! I never knew that."

He looks at how the English language evolved and how we can use this knowledge i.e. timing of different influences, to work out when different species were named.

A couple of my favourites are that wheatear has nothing to do with wheat or ears and actually is simply a bastardized version of what, at the time, sounded like white arse. And also, probably two of the oldest birds to be named are goose and gull. Gull is in fact Cornish.

I have another book called the Accidental Dictionary which looks at how meanings of words have changed over time. E.g. people think presently means "in a while" but it actually means "straight away" but, because people are lazy and don't do things straight away, the meaning has shifted. Or at least our perception of it has. Another one from that book (and I may have got this a tiny bit wrong as I'm writing this from memory) is that penguin is a Welsh word. Something to do with guillemots (or another black and white sea bird) being described as pen gwyn (is that white face?) by a Welsh seaman and then the name being used when people then saw penguins south of the equator.

Fascinating stuff.

That sounds an interesting book neal..it is a fascinating subject..obviously every single word has a story to tell of how it came to be

[THE STIFFMEISTER 16,480]

4 hours ago, thefensarefarbutistillgo said:

I’ve always thought it’s mad how accents change over a short distance, how does the accent know where the cut off point is 

I know a road of houses kinda , more like a small spaced out village , where the accent changes from English to Scottish by the end of the street . 

within half a mile walking distance .  

[jukel123 9,046]

I thought  accents come about  because groups of people were cut off  by mountains, valleys etc and different pronunciations developed as a result?

But as some have said, accents can  change within a few hundred yards????

If I am exposed to a particular  accent I pick it up quickly like a parrot. Can't help it. I worked in brummie for a month. When I got home the Mrs said you can pack that talk in or else I'm outa here sharpish.

 

[Astanley 11,588]

3 hours ago, Neal said:

Fascinating subject! I'm currently reading a book by Stephen Moss called Mrs Moreau's Warbler which is all about how birds got their names. It really is one of those books where nearly every page I'm saying, "Wow! I never knew that."

He looks at how the English language evolved and how we can use this knowledge i.e. timing of different influences, to work out when different species were named.

A couple of my favourites are that wheatear has nothing to do with wheat or ears and actually is simply a bastardized version of what, at the time, sounded like white arse. And also, probably two of the oldest birds to be named are goose and gull. Gull is in fact Cornish.

I have another book called the Accidental Dictionary which looks at how meanings of words have changed over time. E.g. people think presently means "in a while" but it actually means "straight away" but, because people are lazy and don't do things straight away, the meaning has shifted. Or at least our perception of it has. Another one from that book (and I may have got this a tiny bit wrong as I'm writing this from memory) is that penguin is a Welsh word. Something to do with guillemots (or another black and white sea bird) being described as pen gwyn (is that white face?) by a Welsh seaman and then the name being used when people then saw penguins south of the equator.

Fascinating stuff.

Bill Bryson ,The mother tongue ...is a good book if your interested in etymology all Susie Dent (her of countdown)has a book out called Word perfect ...ell worth a few reads

[jukel123 9,046]

3 minutes ago, Astanley said:

Bill Bryson ,The mother tongue ...is a good book if your interested in etymology all Susie Dent (her of countdown)has a book out called Word perfect ...ell worth a few reads

Mmmmm Susie Dent.  Lovely Posh Totty. 

. 

[shaaark 10,998]

7 hours ago, Neal said:

pen gwyn (is that white face?)

Pen = head, gwyn = whyte.

[Neal 1,888]

12 hours ago, shaaark said:

Pen = head, gwyn = whyte.

Thanks shaaark. As soon as I'd posted it I thought to myself 'or is it head?'