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| 'Oldest English words' identified | 'Oldest English words' identified |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Some of the oldest words in English have been identified, scientists say. | |
| Reading University researchers claim "I", "we", "two" and "three" are among the most ancient, dating back tens of thousands of years. | |
| Their computer model analyses the rate of change of words in English and the languages that share a common heritage. | |
| The team says it can predict which words are likely to become extinct - citing "squeeze", "guts", "stick" and "bad" as probable first casualties. | |
| Across the Indo-European languages - which includes most of the languages spoken from Europe to the Indian subcontinent - the vocal sound made to express a given concept can be similar. | Across the Indo-European languages - which includes most of the languages spoken from Europe to the Indian subcontinent - the vocal sound made to express a given concept can be similar. |
| New words for a concept can arise in a given language, utilising different sounds, in turn giving a clue to a word's relative age in the language. | New words for a concept can arise in a given language, utilising different sounds, in turn giving a clue to a word's relative age in the language. |
| At the root of the Reading University effort is a lexicon of 200 words that is not specific to culture or technology, and is thereby likely to represent concepts that have not changed across nations or millennia. | At the root of the Reading University effort is a lexicon of 200 words that is not specific to culture or technology, and is thereby likely to represent concepts that have not changed across nations or millennia. |
| "We have lists of words that linguists have produced for us that tell us if two words in related languages actually derive from a common ancestral word," said Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading. | "We have lists of words that linguists have produced for us that tell us if two words in related languages actually derive from a common ancestral word," said Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading. |
| "We have descriptions of the ways we think words change and their ability to change into other words, and those descriptions can be turned into a mathematical language," he added. When we speak to each other we're playing this massive game of Chinese whispers Mark Pagel, University of Reading | "We have descriptions of the ways we think words change and their ability to change into other words, and those descriptions can be turned into a mathematical language," he added. When we speak to each other we're playing this massive game of Chinese whispers Mark Pagel, University of Reading |
| The researchers used the university's IBM supercomputer to track the known relations between words, in order to develop estimates of how long ago a given ancestral word diverged in two different languages. | The researchers used the university's IBM supercomputer to track the known relations between words, in order to develop estimates of how long ago a given ancestral word diverged in two different languages. |
| They have integrated that into an algorithm that will produce a list of words relevant to a given date. | They have integrated that into an algorithm that will produce a list of words relevant to a given date. |
| "You type in a date in the past or in the future and it will give you a list of words that would have changed going back in time or will change going into the future," Professor Pagel told BBC News. | "You type in a date in the past or in the future and it will give you a list of words that would have changed going back in time or will change going into the future," Professor Pagel told BBC News. |
| "From that list you can derive a phrasebook of words you could use if you tried to show up and talk to, for example, William the Conqueror. | "From that list you can derive a phrasebook of words you could use if you tried to show up and talk to, for example, William the Conqueror. |
| "The words he would've used would've derived from a different common ancestral word to the English words that we're using today." | "The words he would've used would've derived from a different common ancestral word to the English words that we're using today." |
| However, the model cannot offer a guess as to what the ancestral words were, only that they are not shared across languages. | However, the model cannot offer a guess as to what the ancestral words were, only that they are not shared across languages. |
| Dirty business | Dirty business |
| What the researchers found was that the frequency with which a word is used relates to how slowly it changes through time, so that the most common words tend to be the oldest ones. | What the researchers found was that the frequency with which a word is used relates to how slowly it changes through time, so that the most common words tend to be the oldest ones. |
| For example, the words "I" and "who" are among the oldest, along with the words "two", "three", and "five". The word "one" is only slightly younger.English time-travellers would need to figure out William's word for 'bird' | For example, the words "I" and "who" are among the oldest, along with the words "two", "three", and "five". The word "one" is only slightly younger.English time-travellers would need to figure out William's word for 'bird' |
| The word "four" experienced a linguistic evolutionary leap that makes it significantly younger in English and different from other Indo-European languages. | The word "four" experienced a linguistic evolutionary leap that makes it significantly younger in English and different from other Indo-European languages. |
| Meanwhile, the fastest-changing words are projected to die out and be replaced by other words much sooner. | Meanwhile, the fastest-changing words are projected to die out and be replaced by other words much sooner. |
| For example, "dirty" is a rapidly changing word; currently there are 46 different ways of saying it in the Indo-European languages, all words that are unrelated to each other. As a result, it is likely to die out soon in English, along with "stick" and "guts". | For example, "dirty" is a rapidly changing word; currently there are 46 different ways of saying it in the Indo-European languages, all words that are unrelated to each other. As a result, it is likely to die out soon in English, along with "stick" and "guts". |
| Verbs also tend to change quite quickly, so "push", "turn", "wipe" and "stab" appear to be heading for the lexicographer's chopping block. | Verbs also tend to change quite quickly, so "push", "turn", "wipe" and "stab" appear to be heading for the lexicographer's chopping block. |
| Again, the model cannot predict what words may change to; those linguistic changes are according to Professor Pagel "anybody's guess". | Again, the model cannot predict what words may change to; those linguistic changes are according to Professor Pagel "anybody's guess". |
| High fidelity | High fidelity |
| "We think some of these words are as ancient as 40,000 years old. The sound used to make those words would have been used by all speakers of the Indo-European languages throughout history," Professor Pagel said. | "We think some of these words are as ancient as 40,000 years old. The sound used to make those words would have been used by all speakers of the Indo-European languages throughout history," Professor Pagel said. |
| "Here's a sound that has been connected to a meaning - and it's a mostly arbitrary connection - yet that sound has persisted for those tens of thousands of years." | "Here's a sound that has been connected to a meaning - and it's a mostly arbitrary connection - yet that sound has persisted for those tens of thousands of years." |
| The work casts an interesting light on the connection between concepts and language in the human brain, and provides an interesting insight into the evolution of a dynamic set of words. | The work casts an interesting light on the connection between concepts and language in the human brain, and provides an interesting insight into the evolution of a dynamic set of words. |
| "If you've ever played 'Chinese whispers', what comes out the end is usually gibberish, and more or less when we speak to each other we're playing this massive game of Chinese whispers. Yet our language can somehow retain its fidelity." | "If you've ever played 'Chinese whispers', what comes out the end is usually gibberish, and more or less when we speak to each other we're playing this massive game of Chinese whispers. Yet our language can somehow retain its fidelity." |