A handy little guide to small talk in the Stone Age

Times online ^ | February 26, 2009 | Mark Henderson

[billorites]

A “time traveller’s phrasebook” that could allow basic communication between modern English speakers and Stone Age cavemen is being compiled by scientists studying the evolution of language.

Research has identified a handful of modern words that have changed so little in tens of thousands of years that ancient hunter-gatherers would probably have been able to understand them.

Anybody who was catapulted back in time to Ice Age Europe would stand a good chance of being intelligible to the locals by using words such as “I”, “who” and “thou” and the numbers “two”, “three” and “five”, the work suggests.

More nuanced conversation would be more of a challenge. The analysis of language evolution suggests that none of the adjectives, verbs and nouns used in modern languages would have much in common with those used then.

Mark Pagel, of the University of Reading, who leads the research, said that it was nonetheless becoming possible to create a rudimentary Stone Age phrasebook made up of the oldest known words.

“If a time traveller wanted to go back in time to a specific date, we could probably draw up a little phrasebook of the modern words that are likely to have sounded similar back then,” he told The Times. “You wouldn’t be able to discuss anything very complicated, but it might be enough to get you out of a tight spot.”

Dr Pagel’s research also predicts which parts of modern vocabulary are likely to survive into English as it will be spoken 1,000 years in the future, and which will die out.

By the year 3000, words such as “throw”, “stick”, “dirty”, “guts” and “squeeze” could easily be gone. These already differ greatly between related languages, such as English and German, and are good candidates to evolve into new forms.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Word. ;)

[Inyo-Mono]

My word.

[njslim]

7 words you cant say on radio or TV.....?

[LiberConservative]

Reminds me of a line from Dr. Who years ago ... he was trying to teach a primitive tribe how to play Scrabble. “The only word they know is ‘uh’ and they don't even know how to spell it.”

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

But what about words like furshlugginer, poiuyt, potrzebie, veeblefeltzer and axolotol?

Bill Gaines, call your office. . .

[OCC]

Wasn’t that Arthur Dent in Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy?

[Cyber Liberty]

I think that was Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy.....

[swain_forkbeard]

So that pretty much rules out any discussion of Goedel’s Incompleteness Theorems.

[Argus]

At the rate we’re going we oughta be back in the Stone Age any day now, so it’s good to know the lingo.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

I had read a similar article before.

These words listed here will only work with the people of the Indo-European (Europe, Persia, India) family / ancestry, and not those relating to Semitic/ Afro-Asian/ Sino-Tibetan, etc., families.

[LiberConservative]

"I think that was Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy....."

:o It was many years ago. Thanks for the correction.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

7 words you cant say on radio or TV.....?

All instantly recognizable to the most primitive barbarian, even if he asks
'What's radio?' 'What's TV?'

[Cyber Liberty]

You can always count on FReepers to embarrass you. Trust me on this.

:^)

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Native African to Richard Pryor: "What language you speak?"

"English."

"Everybody speak English. What language you speak at home?"

"Uh, Jive?"

[muawiyah]

Yup, same story the other day, but with less speculation on what might happen, or did happen,

Still, if you knew North American Indian sign language, or the Shang Dynasty hieroglyphics, you might do much better than with the approach proposed here.

For example, you are sitting there haggling over a buffalo robe. You raise your right arm straight up over your head, hand open, and cross your chest with your left arm.

So, what does that mean? Well, in the sign language, or Shang characters, or ancient Sumerian, or Aztec pictoglyphs, or Mongolian Deer Stones, or Finish/Russian pictoglyphs that's going to mean "ME", the most important word in any language on Earth.

You can start from there!

[Drew68]

“If a time traveller wanted to go back in time to a specific date, we could probably draw up a little phrasebook of the modern words that are likely to have sounded similar back then,” he told The Times. “You wouldn’t be able to discuss anything very complicated, but it might be enough to get you out of a tight spot.”

When I travel back in time, I'm bringing one of these. It'll get me out of a tight spot if the phrasebook doesn't work.

[SunkenCiv]

Stone Age phrasebook developed by scientists studying oldest words
Telegraph | 25 Feb 2009 | Alastair Jamieson
Posted on 02/26/2009 8:52:45 AM PST by BGHater
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2194604/posts

‘Oldest English Words’ Identified
BBC | Thursday, 26 February 2009
Posted on 02/26/2009 4:51:56 PM PST by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2195013/posts

[SunkenCiv]

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[Grizzled Bear]

Anyone who watched Ringo Star’s “Cave Man” already has the stone age lexicon!