4 ms·

Yeah, it’s generally the inverse from what they are saying. Isolated groups retain the old form of the language for much longer. e.g. Romansh or even Basque.

tyg13 3y ago
It seems multi-dimensional. Isolation allows for parallel language development, but that development could be conservative relative to the rest of the speakers, or it could be heavily divergent. Basque is an example where there's an obvious motivation for linguistic conservatism: the maintenance of a language that is "untainted" by the constant and unbalanced contact with French and Spanish speakers. There's a need to preserve a language that would otherwise be consumed and die out. English is actually a great example, I think, of how isolation can lead to divergence. Compared to other languages in its family (e.g. Dutch and German) it's wildly unintelligible, largely owing to the fact that English was spoken on an island where contact with speakers of other Germanic languages was much less common.
- LudwigNagasena 3y ago
  English is a great example of a language with huge influence from other Germanic languages and the French language. It wasn’t isolated in any meaningful sense: there were local Celtic tribes that lived there before Anglo-Saxons, then there was Danelaw, then there was the Norman conquest. Icelandic is a better example.
  - tyg13 3y ago
    Sure, maybe not entirely isolated. I just mean that the geographic isolation of being an island means you don't see a dialect continuum between English and other languages the way that you do with say, the various Germanic languages.
    - ffhhttt 3y ago
      Some linguists argued that English is essentially a creole language which would explain this. > isolated I would say the opposite. Frisian etc. were much more isolated and therefore developed more conservatively. > a dialect continuum You do a bit, e.g. Scots which developed somewhat independently/in parallel to English.

tyg13 3y ago

It seems multi-dimensional. Isolation allows for parallel language development, but that development could be conservative relative to the rest of the speakers, or it could be heavily divergent. Basque is an example where there's an obvious motivation for linguistic conservatism: the maintenance of a language that is "untainted" by the constant and unbalanced contact with French and Spanish speakers. There's a need to preserve a language that would otherwise be consumed and die out. English is actually a great example, I think, of how isolation can lead to divergence. Compared to other languages in its family (e.g. Dutch and German) it's wildly unintelligible, largely owing to the fact that English was spoken on an island where contact with speakers of other Germanic languages was much less common.

LudwigNagasena 3y ago
English is a great example of a language with huge influence from other Germanic languages and the French language. It wasn’t isolated in any meaningful sense: there were local Celtic tribes that lived there before Anglo-Saxons, then there was Danelaw, then there was the Norman conquest. Icelandic is a better example.
- tyg13 3y ago
  Sure, maybe not entirely isolated. I just mean that the geographic isolation of being an island means you don't see a dialect continuum between English and other languages the way that you do with say, the various Germanic languages.
  - ffhhttt 3y ago
    Some linguists argued that English is essentially a creole language which would explain this. > isolated I would say the opposite. Frisian etc. were much more isolated and therefore developed more conservatively. > a dialect continuum You do a bit, e.g. Scots which developed somewhat independently/in parallel to English.