'Oldest English words' identified

[JODO 2]

'Oldest English words' identified

Medieval manuscripts give linguists clues about more recent changes

Some of the oldest words in English have been identified, scientists say.

Reading University researchers claim "I", "we", "two" and "three" are among the most ancient, dating back tens of thousands of years.

Their computer model analyses the rate of change of words in English and the languages that share a common heritage.

The team says it can predict which words are likely to become extinct - citing "squeeze", "guts", "stick" and "bad" as probable first casualties.

"We use a computer to fit a range of models that tell us how rapidly these words evolve," said Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading. "We fit a wide range, so there's a lot of computation involved; and that range then brackets what the true answer is and we can estimate the rates at which these things are replaced through time."

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/scie...ure/7911645.stm

Published: 2009/02/26 09:23:42 GMT

[Mononoke28 135]

I remember I took a History of the English Language class back in college thinking it was going to be this exciting class about history and how the language came about and how it changed throughout the years. Boy was I wrong. It was the most boring, most tedious class I had ever taken, I dropped after 4 weeks.

Diana

[milimelo 4,477]

I remember I took a History of the English Language class back in college thinking it was going to be this exciting class about history and how the language came about and how it changed throughout the years. Boy was I wrong. It was the most boring, most tedious class I had ever taken, I dropped after 4 weeks.

Diana

Yes, it can be a bit boring :-) But you should've looked into socio-linguistics - much more interesting

[Mononoke28 135]

See, that sounds like the kind of class I was expecting. I love learning about that stuff. But man, not only was that class boring, the guy teaching it was old and talked with a monotone voice that put everybody to sleep.

Bueller, Bueller... snore.

Diana

[almaty 19]

i always thought ..f##k and sh#t were some of the first words..as they seem to be the most popular today

[Nagishkaw 510]

True that.

[JODO 2]

i always thought ..f##k and sh#t were some of the first words..as they seem to be the most popular today

[Dr. Obvious 49]

I remember I took a History of the English Language class back in college thinking it was going to be this exciting class about history and how the language came about and how it changed throughout the years. Boy was I wrong. It was the most boring, most tedious class I had ever taken, I dropped after 4 weeks.

Diana

That was seriously one of the best classes I took at university when I went. I tried to convince the professor to let me do an Old English independent study. Old English was so awesome.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Very interesting.

[alienlovechild 75]

History of the English Language class

All I remember is something about the Venerable Bede and the Canterbury Tales. I saw the Venerable Bede's tomb in Durham.

[Scott & Lai 12]

I remember I took a History of the English Language class back in college thinking it was going to be this exciting class about history and how the language came about and how it changed throughout the years. Boy was I wrong. It was the most boring, most tedious class I had ever taken, I dropped after 4 weeks.

Diana

Try looking at the Teaching Company. They have a CD set on the History of the English Language

[Jasman0717 9]

Was Ship High In Transit or Forinacation under consent of the King in there?

[Scott & Lai 12]

Was Ship High In Transit or Forinacation under consent of the King in there?

Those are both myths.

[Jasman0717 9]

Was Ship High In Transit or Forinacation under consent of the King in there?

Those are both myths.

I was hoping this would clear that up