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Re: Back to the Future (was: I'm back, sort of)

From:Peter Bleackley <peter.bleackley@...>
Date:Wednesday, September 24, 2003, 8:55
Staving Ray Brown:
>On Tuesday, September 23, 2003, at 06:47 , Joe wrote: > >[snip] >>'Future English' is everywhere. I know future English will be at least a >>slightly synthetic language, with forms for at least negatives ( I dunno, >> I >>ain't). > >Future? > >"ain't" had been the mark of upper class aristo English for a few >centuries; >it retreated among "the lower orders" because of the pretensions of the >19th century bourgeoisie, but never disappeared. Indeed, in rural dialects >of england it remained and, in the south at least, was (and probably still >is) >pronounced /Ent/ - a fact Tolkien used in tLotR in Treebeard's pun: >"..there are Ents and things that look like Ents but ain't, as you might >say." > >Sorry, "ain't" ain't future English - 'tis centuries old. > >Dunno how old "dunno" is, but it was certainly already in common currency >this side of the Pond 50 years ago or more. >
Future English will have a nominative case of nouns and pronouns which is marked for tense. Pete

Replies

Tristan McLeay <zsau@...>
Joe <joe@...>
Peter Bleackley <peter.bleackley@...>
Isidora Zamora <isidora@...>