“Language evolves” is a truism of linguistics and a phrase that has often appeared on this site as part of an effort to convince people that their beloved shibboleths are useless; it is also the name of a website:
Language Evolves is a free service that helps authors in the science fiction industry research and develop stories based on language evolution research. This includes an online crash-course, interactive workshops, and one-to-one sessions.
Are you a Science Fiction author? Do you need some inspiration for your next big story? We can help you write stories about some of the hardest questions in science:
How did humans evolve to be able to speak?
What was the first language like?
How does society shape the language we speak?
How does our language shape our thoughts?
What will language be like in the future?You can start learning right now by visiting our Online Resources page.
The Resources page consists of “video primers on key questions in language evolution,” and I confess I haven’t investigated them (I don’t really do videos); I can only hope they present sensible ideas. At any rate, it’s a worthwhile project, and they sponsor a competition for sf stories in both English and Welsh!
The only Welsh sf novel I’ve come across lately is Ebargofiant (“Oblivion”) by Jerry Hunter. It’s supposed to be very good (won prizes), but I never got any farther than the sample snippet on Amazon. It’s written in a non-standard orthography of the author’s invention and begins (transposed) “Dwi’n byw mewn twll” (“I live in a hole.”) Okay …
I suppose the Eisteddfod-winning Llyfr Glas Nebo by the indefatigable Manon Steffan Ros is sf, come to think of it. “Bleak” is the word … do we have to act out the stereotypes? I mean, I know it rains a lot round here, but …
Eh, you got Ralph Steadman and Terry Jones. Pretty happy guys, from the looks of it.
And speaking of Welsh, my wife and I just watched this episode of The Crown, focusing on Prince Charles being sent to Aberystwyth to learn Welsh, and I am pleased to report that there was a great deal of Welsh in the episode (which was very well done and actually made me feel some sympathy for the wretched royal); over the end credits they played this delightful Welsh song of the period (I very much like “ym Muckingham”). Tywysog ‘prince’ is, of course, a cognate of Irish taoiseach.
Tywysog ‘prince’ is, of course, a cognate of Irish taoiseach
I actually remember the first time I realised this. The words were just in completely different semantic fields for me, as I only knew taoiseach in its modern sense of “Irish Prime Minister.” Obvious in hindsight (like so many things …)
That was a very delightful Welsh song; thanks for sharing it! Poking around the site, it looks like he has some other good ones too; I liked “Cân yr Aborijini”.