Why do languages diverge?

Pagel says languages may diverge suddenly when a subgroup separates from a larger population, to create a unique social identity. Pagel’s colleague Quentin Atkinson adds that, when a small group is isolated from a larger population, any idiosyncrasies in the way they speak may become amplified.

Do you believe that language is dynamic and ever changing?

Yes, and so is every other human language! Language is always changing, evolving, and adapting to the needs of its users. This isn’t a bad thing; if English hadn’t changed since, say, 1950, we wouldn’t have words to refer to modems, fax machines, or cable TV.

Do you think it is possible to stop or at least slow down language change?

No, it isn’t possible, at least not in the way you might imagine, and for a very simple reason: People don’t pick which variety (language or dialect) they acquire. As children, from infancy our brains are exposed to all sorts of linguistic input.

How quickly do languages diverge?

If two groups of speakers from the original language were isolated for these lengths of time, the resulting dialects would probably be considered new languages. So the lower limit is probably 500 years and a reasonable limit would be 1000 years for a language to have diverged enough to be mutually incomprehensible.

Is it true that change happen to all languages?

Every language has a history, and, as in the rest of human culture, changes are constantly taking place in the course of the learned transmission of a language from one generation to another. Languages change in all their aspects, in their pronunciation, word forms, syntax, and word meanings (semantic change).

Why is language variation important?

The language variation is considered important in language teaching because its contribution of cultural values regards to the different ways of using the language functions or other aspects of language like vocabulary, pronunciation and so far so forth.