[lg policy] The great language change hoax

[Paul Johnston]

Glad it's a hoax, though I've heard people say as much--but then I've heard one person at a Scottish conference say that Scots is a direct descendant of Ancient Egyptian, too.

Reminds me of what some Greeks say, when they say Ancient Greek was pronounced exactly the same as the modern language.  Granted, the "classical" pronunciation is a reconstruction, but there were Greek grammarians who at least give clues.  I got into an argument with one guy because, in my paper, I used the term "koineization" and pronounced "koine" as in the usual Ancient pronunciation system, and was told, no, it's "kyae-NYEE", and that's what Pericles would have said.  I said, "OK, now explain the spelling."  He said, "You explain YOUR spelling, you're an English speaker, and your spelling is crazy."  And so it goes.

On Apr 1, 2013, at 5:22 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: FW: [lg policy] The great language change hoax
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> It's not just Lamarck and Lysenko but the fact that they are both
> faculty at "Hudson University". Even if the linked Facebook page does
> not make it completely obvious, "Hudson University" is the fictitious
> NYC college where crimes occur on Law&Order. Best satire, on the other
> hand, is done with a large dose of reality in it. Sadly, it's not so far
> off, in this case.
>
>     VS-)
>
> On 4/1/2013 9:28 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> Lamarck and Lysenko. April 1.
>>
>> Nice try.
>>
>> JL
>
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