Here’s an old TV program from the 1980’s about the accents of American English.

American Tongues 1 - Accents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFcNC2WoFbo

American Tongues 2 - Accents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkzAqlJR11Y

 

wow that's amazing how many accents you have over there..I can't say that I have ever noticed where someone comes from by their accent over here....tho others on the forum from Aust may have.

I brang the ass...hahah we would have loved him..

 

Just reposting this from earlier in the thread.

I can also speak a little bit of New Yorkan, too.

 

I don’t believe I have an accent, because of my years in the military. I was around people from all over the States. I was asked by a teacher in high school if I was from the south. I said, “no, I’m a native Michigander. Why?†He said he detected a southern accent. I said it was probably because many of my friends were from South Detroit. I even had some of that Nah Yawk with some words from good old Bah-ston, Pak yah cah. My wife made a comment about a reporter talking about New Orleans (New Or-lee-ans). I said, that’s the way you can tell they ain’t from they-ah. It’s N’or-lans. My Cajun friends always corrected me, ‘til I got r rot. We can always tell when a person isn’t from Nevada, when they pronounce it Nah-vah-da. That’s when we say, “Y’all ain’t frum roun he-yah, r ya!â€

I’ll be honest with ya’, we don’t live in Nevada anymore. We’ve bounced around a few states and settled west of the Sierra’s, in a small community that seems to not want to stay small. It used to be fun knowing all your neighbors. Now it’s impossible. Then, again, I probably don’t want to know them. We’re Californios. That’s a term for someone who has lived here a long, long time. We find it better than most of the other places we’ve lived. We almost moved back to Kentucky a few years back, but thankfully it didn’t work out. The weather here is about the best year around. I had too much cold weather in my younger years. Michigan, Alaska, Northern Nevada, Idaho, etc. Can’t take the cold, or humid weather. So, North Central Cal is good for me. And, I don’t have a California accent! That would identify someone from So Cal. Usually the L.A. Area. I call them LAA’s. And the last A isn’t area.

 

re language as code

I agree in principle with the various dictionary or thesaurus-based quotes you have made. In principle. However.The simplest and most basic concept of language is in a mathematical context.
Add one apple to another apple and we have two. Fact. Now describe that simple fact in a language. The purest language is still a mathematical one. God the great mathematical power.

 

[video=youtube;d5ab8BOu4LE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5ab8BOu4LE[/video]

The slight difference of English words can be quite confusing from each other.

Further and farther sound similar and can be confused in meaning.

Examples

Further:
adverb, compar. of far with furthest as superl.
1. at or to a greater distance; farther :
I'm too tired to go further.

2. at or to a more advanced point; to a greater extent:
Let's not discuss it further.

3. in addition; moreover:
Further, he should be here any minute.

adjective, compar. of far with furthest as superl.
4. more distant or remote; farther:
The map shows it to be further than I thought.

5. more extended:
Does this mean a further delay?

6. additional; more:
Further meetings seem pointless.

verb (used with object)
7. to help forward (a work, undertaking, cause, etc.); promote; advance; forward:
You can always count on him to further his own interests.

Examples

Farther:
adverb, compar. of far with farthest as superl.
1. at or to a greater distance:
He went farther down the road.

2. at or to a more advanced point:
They are going no farther in their studies.

3. at or to a greater degree or extent:
The application of the law was extended farther.

adjective, compar. of far with farthest as superl.
4. more distant or remote than something or some place nearer:
the farther side of the mountain.

5. extending or tending to a greater distance:
He made a still farther trip.

6. Nonstandard. further

 

On a lighter note....

 

I have noticed that many of the “Now” generation, AKA “Millennials” in the USA are lacking in English comprehension. They don’t know how to properly read, speak, or understand the language. It appears that the education system has broken down. There are college/university graduates who can’t spell graduate.

There is a new government education program titled STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The United States has fallen behind in all of those fields. The problem lies much deeper that those four fields of study. We can partly blame the elementary and high schools for some of the failures, but the basis is in the English language. Let us look at a few words that can be confused in their meaning.

Wind. Is it; air in natural motion, as that moving horizontally at any velocity along the earth's surface: or, to follow by the scent, or to change direction; bend; turn; take a frequently bending course; meander? This word is spelled the same, but pronounced differently. If you were to read; wind up or wind down, is it referring to air in motion or does it have a different meaning?

Another word is:
Ever. 1. at all times; always:
an ever-present danger; He is ever ready to find fault.

2. continuously:
ever since then.

3. at any time:
Have you ever seen anything like it?

4. in any possible case; by any chance; at all (often used to intensify or emphasize a phrase or an emotional reaction as surprise or impatience):
How did you ever manage to do it? If the band ever plays again, we will dance.

Ever, leads to forever, which “is a long long time.”

forever
1. without ever ending; eternally:
to last forever.

2. continually; incessantly; always:
He's forever complaining.

3. an endless or seemingly endless period of time:
It took them forever to make up their minds.

4. forever and a day, eternally; always:
They pledged to love each other forever and a day.

These words, and ideas, come from several languages which make up English. One of the main branches is Greek.

Aeonian [ee-oh-nee-uh n] (We should become familiar with this word)
1. eternal; everlasting.
Aeonian can be traced to the Greek word aiṓn meaning "space of time, age.

Aion [ahee-ohn] = meaning;
1. for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity

2. the worlds, universe

3. period of time, age

Aei [ah-eye’] from an obsolete primary noun (apparently meaning continued duration)
1. perpetually, incessantly

2. invariably, at any and every time: when according to the circumstances something is or ought to be done again

Oh yeah! Check out the “appropriate long hair style”
The Heritage Singers - Forever is a long long time

 

Today, I came across this scripture in James. “But the tongue, not one of mankind can get it tamed. An unruly injurious thing, it is full of death-dealing poison. With it we bless Jehovah, even the Father, and yet with it we curse men who have come into existence ‘in the likeness of God.’ Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing.” (Jam 3:8-10 NWT) This made me wonder; what the difference is between cursing (cussing) and swearing? Or, do they mean the same thing?

In the above scripture, the NWT has a reference to 2 Sa 16:7. “And this is what Shimei said as he called down evil: ‘Get out, get out, you bloodguilty man and good-for-nothing man!’” Other translations use cursing in place of “called down evil”. This implies the true meaning of cursing.

To curse, according to etymology, is “Curse (n.) late Old English curs “a prayer that evil or harm befall one,” of uncertain origin, perhaps from Old French curuz “anger,” or Latin cursus “course.” Connection with cross is unlikely. No similar word exists in Germanic, Romance, or Celtic. Curses as a histrionic exclamation is from 1885. The curse “menstruation” is from 1930. Curse of Scotland, the 9 of diamonds in cards, is attested from 1791, but the origin is obscure.” And as “(v.) Old English cursian, from the source of curse (n.). Meaning “to swear profanely” is from early 13c. Related: Cursed; cursing.” Or, “cuss (v.) to say bad words,” 1815, alteration of curse (v.). Related: Cussed; cussing. To cuss out attested by 1881.” (n.) 1775, American English dialectal, “troublesome person or animal,” an alteration of curse (n.). (Online Etymology Dictionary)

The other word, swear, has the true meaning “to take an oath”. Imagine this scene: In the court room, the clerk asks the witness; “Do you solemnly swear to tell the whole truth . .”, the witness interrupts with; “I’m sorry but I was told to never swear!” The court room erupts in laughter.

Otherwise, here is the meaning of swear. Swear (v.) “Old English swerian “take an oath” (class VI strong verb; past tense swor, past participle sworen), from Proto-Germanic *swarjan-, (cognates: Old Saxon swerian, Old Frisian swera, Old Norse sverja, Danish sverge, Middle Dutch swaren, Old High German swerien, German schwören, Gothic swaren “to swear”), from PIE root *swer- (1) “to speak, talk, say” (cognates: Old Church Slavonic svara “quarrel,” Oscan sverrunei “to the speaker”).

Also related to the second element in answer. The secondary sense of “use bad language” (early 15c.) developed from the notion of “invoke sacred names.” Swear off “desist as with a vow” is from 1898. Swear in “install in office by administration of an oath” is from 1700 in modern use, echoing Old English.”

Swearing (n.) “utterance of profane language,” mid-14c., verbal noun from swear (v.).
(Online Etymology Dictionary)

From these descriptions and explainations it shows how the two words can have confusing meanings for some people.

 

Interesting blog...

http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2016/03/04/its-different-spoken-grammar/

 

Ugh the abbreviations and laziness in language bother me to no end! So hard to relate to the youth who communicate in this dumbed down manner.

So if language is connected to DNA, seems to me that the degeneration of language corresponds to the degeneration of human DNA. Maybe?

 

I'm interested to look this up in more detail! I'm a native English speaker but became near fluent in French through high school and college. I'm afraid I'd be embarrassed to speak it much now, but I was once told by a very surprised shop owner in Paris that I did not sound American. Now, I obviously didn't sound French, either... But still a nice compliment.

 

Hey maybye you sounded Australian....nobody else thinks we speak English either...hahah

 

I happened to be reading “The Wright Brothers” by David McCullough, today. I was curious about a saying he mentioned that their father, Bishop Milton Wright, used to describe his feeling for his son, Wilbur. “The apple of his eye”. An idiom meaning: Someone who is cherished above all others.

This is an ancient saying that comes from the Bible. It was first used by Jehovah, describing his feelings for Israel. “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.” (Deu 32:10 KJV) Tis thought is repeated in Zechariah, “After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.” ( Zec 2:8 NASB ) The actual Hebrew word refers to the “pupil” of the eye. The word used in Deu 32:10 is 'iyshown (ee-shone') and the word used in Zec 2:8 is babah (baw-baw'), but both mean the pupil of the eye. This saying is also found at Ps 17:8; Pr 7:2; Lam 2:18.

The original Hebrew for this idiom, in all but Zechariah 2:8, was ‘iyshown ‘ayin (אישון עין), and can be literally translated as “Little Man of the Eye.” This is a reference to the tiny reflection of yourself that you can see in other people's pupils. Other KJV translations of the word 'iyshown include dark and obscure, as a reference to the darkness of the pupil. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_of_my_eye)

Some people think it comes from the fruit of the tree in the Garden of Eden. They talk about the “apple” being the desired fruit, and why men have an “Adam’s apple”, the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx.

We know that the “fruit” is never described or given a name. The Hebrew word used is periy (per-ee') pronounced like the French say the name of their capitol city.

“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”( Gen 3:6 NASB )

 

Hey Utuna,
I’ve been studying human flight, Wright Brothers, etc, for about 7 years. I have struggled with all the French flyers, and the pronunciation of their names. The hardest is Mouillard. One pronunciation that I have heard sounds like moo-yah. Is that correct? Is that how you would pronounce it? I found a site that provided this pronunciation of the name. http://forvo.com/