19 ms·
Yeah the only way to force a language on anyone would be to subjugate them somehow. The native americans are a good example because they were completely surroun
by INTPenis 10y ago
Yeah the only way to force a language on anyone would be to subjugate them somehow. The native americans are a good example because they were completely surrounded, decimated by disease and war. The sami in Sweden are another example, isolated up north, forced to learn Swedish and made to forget their native heritage, but they can still remember their language.
Even when the nobility spoke French and latin in britain, the people still developed their own english.
It's impossible to impose a language on a free population.
- restalis 10y agoYou're giving anecdotes with nobility in France and Britain in the period of english (major) development, but in the medieval times which languages the proles (that the noblemen had little or no contact with) spoke was of little concern to those in power. And there's more, actually! The difference in the spoken language was serving as a distinctive trait of nobility which in itself was something sought to be preserved not obliterated!