: Re: Really Stuck: Writing Dialogue I am currently working on my first novel so forgive me for making what is probably considered the mistake of a 'novice'. My novel is set in the present, however

@YK4692630

Vote Up Vote Down

That's actually a very good question.

I study Languages (Linguistics included) and, in general, people will adapt their speech faster than we tend to think. Of course, some people tend to keep their accents their whole lives (which can already be interesting for your character), but somethings will change and they will incorporate new vocabulary.

I can give you my own example: I'm Brazilian, and I'm from Rio de Janeiro state. However, I moved to São Paulo state 13 years ago. My accent hasn't changed much, I'm still identified by my accent, but it's much softer now. However, my vocabulary choice is an odd mix of words (including slang) from Rio and São Paulo - something else which identifies me as being from Rio.

However, you're talking about 1000 years and learning a different language, right? Actually, no, because languages change slowly - structurally, especially. You can still read Shakespeare, though we are about 500 years apart, but listening to the original would probably sound very strange to us. In the same way, I can read Camões, which is about 500 years old, as well, in Portuguese, with relative ease, but the Portuguese people have a harder time - because Portuguese in Portugal changed in different ways than Portuguese in Brazil did.

Take, for example, this new verb "to google". Some people won't know what it means, but most do, and depending on how the world goes on, it will be incorporated into the vocabulary canon or abandoned (check out "to defenestrate" as something that still exists but has been abandoned).

The process of learning and adapting to language changes is essentially the same: as the language changes, your character would be learning the "new language" as it changed, so, despite maybe some idiosyncrasies in speech, like outdated vocabulary or maybe a few odd words in, your character should speak English as well as the next guy.

(0)

Login to post a comment!