Examine the etymology of space language

Overview: Why do linguists predict that the English we speak today will mutate as a result of space exploration? How does language change to reflect the changes in society? Have students learn about the etymology of language and apply their knowledge to an imaginary scenario on a space colony two centuries from now. Challenge them to script a dialogue between present-day speakers of English and future speakers of the new English.

Curriculum Connections: Science, Language Arts

Have students read the story, "Space colonists' language could mutate over decades," and answer the following question:

1.Who is Sarah Thomason? Why is she interested in language evolution? What is linguistics? What question does Thomason pose about the relationship between language and space exploration? Why does she say that space travelers should speak the same language? How and why would the space voyagers common language evolve? Which words would be retained in the evolving language and which words would no longer be useful to the space travelers? What is a dialect? Why might the space travelers seek to speak a dialect of English rather than retain the English of their Earth-bound brethren? When might the new dialect take effect? Why would Earth-bound and Space-bound populations find it difficult to speak English the way it was spoken when the space travelers first left Earth? Of what precedents for language mutation are linguists aware?

2.Do you agree or disagree with Thomason's statement that when selecting a crew for a space mission, potential candidates should be "on the same page linguistically speaking"? Explain. What advantages or disadvantages would there be if the space voyagers spoke the same language or different languages on the voyage? Discuss. How would the development of a new language or dialect be affected by whether or not the voyagers spoke the same or different languages when the space mission first began?

3.What factors would contribute to the evolution of English into a different dialect or language as a result of space exploration? Why do you think humans on a deep space expedition would choose to speak a dialect or a language different from that of their terrestrial cousins? Have students identify how and why we use language in our everyday lives and consider how language changes to accommodate the changes in our world. Discuss.

4.Provide students with this definition of etymology from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, 2001: the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language. Have students identify reasons for language change such as the influence of trade, technology, science, politics, medicine, literature, media and sports. Direct students in small groups to select one of the areas they would like to explore. Have them research Internet sites and other resources to report on how words and phrases in these areas have evolved. Ask students to respond to the following questions:

After the groups' presentations, lead a class discussion on the following question: Is it important for a language to evolve? Why or why not?

5.Why is the development of a space language important for the survival of future space colonists? Have students do the following:

Group students according to letters of the alphabet from a – z and do the following:

Assign students in pairs to write the script for a narrative entitled, "Life on Earth 200 Years Ago." Direct students to present their stories as an imaginary conversation between an original space explorer of 2002 and a space colonist of 2202. After students have presented their dialogues, have the class comment on the differences and similarities of each speakers dialect of English.

Materials on this site are reproducible for classroom use.