so you find yourself in 272 bc....

[bobbin]

actually, taken from a historical perspective, American english is hardly a bastardization; if anything, one could make a better case for american english being "purer" than the british english of today: some southern dialects in the Carolinas** are the closest living dialects to that spoken by shakespeare*; almost all the dialects retain archaic features and terms (rhoticism being the most prominent), to varying degrees, and lastly, they are older than modern british english, which in only ~200 yesr old. most dialects in the US east of the mississipi, as well as canadian english, are anywhere from ~400 to ~250 years old. so no, pver schwa'd a's and missing postvocalic r's are not features of a "pure" dialect-just the features of one of many dialects. besides, I find the idea of "bastardized" and "pure" to be entirely pointless. am I going to go to an egyptian and tell him my dialect is purer because I use wala instead of yala?




*no, I'm not making it up-they often pronounce things in an archaic manner: check this out: http://www.renfaire.com/Language/ . it is confirmed by wikipedia, and any entry of "great vowel shift")

**some, not all varieties.

I was aware of that americans used some more archaic parts of the language but surely those dialects changed as much over time as british english did so the notion of one being older than the other is a bit of a moot point?

ps scots english still contains a lot of the old aspects of english, rhoticism being the most obvious.

[Phalanx300]

Well the Sweboz forests, I would fit in best there, maybe even have a chance to do some raids and get filthy rich.

Though I'm not sure whether I would get accepted seeing I don't really speak ancient Germanic it would be very hard to understand. Though I definately have the physical appearance of a Germanic more then any other.

[Ibrahim]

I was aware of that americans used some more archaic parts of the language but surely those dialects changed as much over time as british english did so the notion of one being older than the other is a bit of a moot point?

ps scots english still contains a lot of the old aspects of english, rhoticism being the most obvious.

they chaneged since then, as do all dialects, but not nearly as much as British english.

and yes, I did make the point of age(and "pureness") being moot. language is never standardized; even in middle english we find one dialect pronuncing knee as "k-ney" while another has it "k-no" (damn I wish I were making this up)

however, the distinction between dialects is begining to die out, replaced by a "general american" accent, which is modelled on northern midlands english (western Pennsylvania, Ohio, northern Indiana), with western influence (on is pronunced "an" as opposed to northern midlands "oon" or "o-an*"). and the area round the great lake is also going through a "norther-cities shift", with changes almost as extreme as the great vowel shift.


*there has to be a better way of representing this

@Dewirix: even socially conservative society, such as the japanese in the 16th century, will adopt it; an awesome weapon is just that. and as I pointed out, the costs are actually advantageous for cetralized government, placing a premium on more efficient (i.e modern) government structures. In fact, when I get around to installing EB-alex.exe, I'll make an experiment with that in mind.

[Aemilius Paulus]

And nevertheless Oxford English is the world standard. Which is what I use, and which is what I learned since I was five, giving my speech the distinct flavour of accent as well.

[A Very Super Market]

The Tidewater accent is limited to a few islands around Chesapeake bay. All other dialects, be they British or American, are bastardisations.

[Azathoth]

But the point is, how are you going to make those guns? The principle alone isn't enough. Then, you can't really mass produce them - the best you can get would be a stockpile of a few thousand primitive firearms after a couple of years.

however, the distinction between dialects is begining to die out, replaced by a "general american" accent, which is modelled on northern midlands english (western Pennsylvania, Ohio, northern Indiana), with western influence (on is pronunced "an" as opposed to northern midlands "oon" or "o-an*"). and the area round the great lake is also going through a "norther-cities shift", with changes almost as extreme as the great vowel shift.

What about the Brooklyn accent, buddy?

And nevertheless Oxford English is the world standard.

Is it? Most seem to use American English.

[bobbin]

however, the distinction between dialects is begining to die out, replaced by a "general american" accent, which is modelled on northern midlands english (western Pennsylvania, Ohio, northern Indiana), with western influence (on is pronunced "an" as opposed to northern midlands "oon" or "o-an*"). and the area round the great lake is also going through a "norther-cities shift", with changes almost as extreme as the great vowel shift.

Interesting, I've always assumed that the american accent came from the dutch. if you've heard dutch people speaking english you'll know what i mean.

*there has to be a better way of representing this

Don't worry i understand what you mean

[Ibrahim]

Interesting, I've always assumed that the american accent came from the dutch. if you've heard dutch people speaking english you'll know what i mean.

nope-its basically english from the english

its, as I said, more archaic than modern british english, with modifications. general American is considered the "ideal" compramise between the dialects. the only reason its based on Northern midlands is because its the dialect with the most features seen as "compramise". the first dictionaries that show "general american" pronunciation was, not surprisingly, from Ohio, where northern midlands is anchored. the closest accent however to GA is in Nebraska/Iowa, since its the area where eastern dialects meet western ones.

What about the Brooklyn accent, buddy?

well, the brooklyn accent isn't from the great lakes now, is it?

and even it has been mellowing-though at a slower rate.

[moonburn]

i would be going to some tartessian beach and try to nail some nice casse or sweboz lady

or is that what i have planed for tomorrow ?

as for a living i would make a living out of being a priest of those nice fertility cults that people had around this area of iberia before those dude with dresses came

[Ca Putt]

i would be going to some tartessian beach and try to nail some nice casse or sweboz lady

:D definitely tomorrow :D

You know what I find interesting? that many people would really like to do the same thing as characters in fiction novels, just more violent and less Idealistic: Introduce advanced Weapons to "primitive" (for all nitpicks: there is a reason I added the "" ) societies(for fun and Profit). In literature the protagonists often just want to support their "good" king/Nobleman/Dictator/whatever at defeating the evil tyrant/dragon/wizard. Here It's far less idealistic. I mean isn't there anything really worth bringing back in time from our age? Is it all just weapons and war? why not smuggle a nuke back in time? and after all, is there a need for "modern" technology in the ancient world? sure a water pump for the fields is always useful so is sanitation and other things that make life longer and less of a fight for survival. If you're keen on technology go to a Greek poleis and build fascinating little things for fun and profit that's probably what I'd do. but to turn 272bc into 2009ad (ok more like 1500 but you get my point) and to conquer the world with Sci-fi Technology no, just as a funny yet feverish dream, not as a real plan. oh and before I forget I'd like to totally out myself as :
I think I'd really like to live in a world just scratched by human civilization, thinking of being able to drink from almost every river, eating food without the fear of pesticides and hormone extras(I'll spare out the Gene stuff as this is to controversial) and all the other things a tree hugger likes to do, of course at the expense of probably being eaten by a wild Predator or stabbed by an equally wild group of bandits
now don't get me wrong, It's not like I greatly regret being born in this period of time. every period has it's pros and it's cons If I was to travel to the EB time I would enjoy It's pros and would not try to turn it into the time I came from. I just don't reckon it a good idea to import modern technology into the past.

man considering It's not Possible to work time travels(Impossible as in a probability with far to many 0s) and Timeline stuff being nothing but theories about a problem that Is not even possible to have, that's a damn long article I just wrote :D I should go to bed.

Ps afteral It's all just a barbarisation of Ape Talk ;)

[Azathoth]

drink from almost every river,

Ew, animals poop in those.

There's a game called Darkest of Days coming out soon that includes a section where you can massacre Roman legionnaries with assault rifles and machine guns.

[Andronikos]

now don't get me wrong, It's not like I greatly regret being born in this period of time. every period has it's pros and it's cons If I was to travel to the EB time I would enjoy It's pros and would not try to turn it into the time I came from. I just don't reckon it a good idea to import modern technology into the past.

One of the best features of our age is that if you live in some developed country, neirther authorities, nor social situation force you to live in some way. I you like nature, you can live in some distant place in a quiet cottage, if you wish to make career and money, you can, if you enjoy crowds, you can go to a large city.

I like your idea of seeking some untouched place in that period. But if had chance to travel to past, I would seek people. The eastern part of Hellenic world would be nice as was mentioned before, that interesting clash of cultures. But I would also like to unravel some mysteries (just of curiosity), to see for example building of Stonehenge, destruction of Minoan civilasation, why was Teotihuacan abndoned...


For Hellenic / Roman lovers: in every glass of water that that silly Roman / Hellenic lover drinks is at least 1 molecule that Alexandros / Caesar peed. (no offence; no flamewar please)