What factors determine shifts in how we communicate verbally?
There are many ways in which language can morph over time, from changes in sound and pronunciation to the introduction of new vocabulary and consequently new ideas. As a certain language is spread throughout the world, be it through the rise of empires of simple mercantilism, it is changed by those who adopt it. The farther a language travels from its hearth, the more pronounced the change will be. When two isolated areas speak the same language, sound shifts and differences in vocabulary will result in two separate dialects. Is process is known as language divergence. Changes in vocabulary occur not only over distance, but over time as well. This change is reflected in the vernacular introduced to American English by soldiers during periods of war. Languages are also changed by frequent interactions with other languages. As our world globalizes, so to do our languages. As English is the dominant lingua franca in business, certain English words have become commonplace in other tongues.
Professor Pamela Munro wanted to revive the dead Native American tongue of Tongva, so she researched existing material to compile a Tongva dictionary.
Map of Natvive American languages in California:
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