If you get really into the subject of Anthropology, and study primitive human societies and the origins and evolution of mankind, you will find that language evolved firstly not for communicating messages or even amusing one another, but as a signalling system that indicated that you were a member of the band you are with or that you encounter on a dark night or in the gloom of the cave. It has retained this function, although we soon added the function of group grooming replacement by entertaining each other with songs and stories (it is widely thought by the experts that primitive human speech evolved from being sung rather than spoken- the most developed and advanced languages today are spoken with little if any music to the sounds, the older and less developed ones still have this element). Detailed exact instructions or scientific precision descriptions for example had to be developed from it using languages like Latin and Greek and many others for roots, once these functions became needed because we had reached that phase.

Now, when we come to English consider these points - A native British English speaker can hear two sentences from someone and already he can deduce a great deal about the person speaking - Is it a foreigner, or one from the "colonies", or a native speaker ? But also, from what gender, from what class in society, from which part of the country (dialects are give-aways) and how educated are they? All this because our language is complex enough and varied enough, to give all this information that fast! The language is deliberately spelled differently from how it is written, to signal who is not a native english speaker! It is made difficult with rules and exceptions to them simply so that one can detect how educated the speech partner or author when written stuff is examined, really is !

English is pretty wonderful because, more than ANY OTHER LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD, it has more words for the same thing, act or quality, than any other, and more words that are the same, even if spelled differently, that have more than one meaning. This allows for enormous nuances and flavours of meaning. It has become important for International Affairs and Business because, six people from six different countries, can all meet and discuss and agree something, and when they return home to report back they have all understood something different from the other five! That is why it is so succesful. We who were born here are lucky as it gives us an automatic advantage!

Briar

Arrg!

Hate these slimeballs.

Squash-um with my blessing.

John in Wauwatosa