LL-L "Language varieties" 2011.05.12 (05) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 12 May 2011 - Volume 05
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From: "Steven Hanson" <ammurit at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2011.05.12 (02) [EN]


If I recall, John McWhorter said something similar to Paul’s reply below in
*Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue.*  It’s been a while since I last read it,
so I may be mistaken.  He essentially said that it was a gradual change in
speech that was not readily reflected in writing, and when the writing
standards did change to accommodate changes to speech, it seemed as if
‘overnight’ English had gone from Old to Middle.


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