When talking with family from older generations, it’s pretty clear that language has shifted over time. Back in their day, accents were super regional, but now they seem to blend together more, probably because we’re all exposed to different accents through media and travel. And having to do with words, there’s a whole new set of slang terms and tech-related speech that didn’t exist back then. Stuff that used to be normal speech sounds outdated now. Technology has played a big factor in that. With texting and social media, grammar rules have seem to have loosened up. For instance, it’s more normal to use informal language and abbreviations even in more formal writing situations. Upon asking my grandma specifically, she has explained how vocabulary has changed over the course of her life, as the words she uses has changed over time and some words are no longer said. Some of these are slang which are no longer used or have evolved. Language has gotten less formal over the course of time as the way we speak to one another is more casual. Conversion used to be more proper and hold a lot more weight, however as time went on, the need for this type of talk has become far less important. Spelling has pretty much remained the same other than some abbreviations if you were to count that. But overall, it’s interesting to see how language keeps evolving, reflecting all the changes in our lives and the world around us.

1. Proposition: There is a black hole at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

Truth value: True.

Truth conditions: This proposition is true if there exists a supermassive black hole located at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Entailment: “There is a black hole at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way” entails “The Milky Way galaxy harbors a supermassive black hole.”

2. Proposition: There are no planets outside our solar system that can support life.

Truth value: False.

Truth conditions: This proposition would be true only if it were impossible for any exoplanets beyond our solar system to support life, which is currently unknown.

Entailment: “There are no planets outside our solar system that can support life” entails “If it’s a planet outside our solar system, then it can’t support life.”

3. Proposition: There exists a rogue planet wandering the depths of interstellar space.

Truth value: Unknown.

Truth conditions: For this proposition to be true, there must be at least one planet not gravitationally bound to any star, roaming through interstellar space.

Entailment: “There exists a rogue planet wandering the depths of interstellar space” would entail “Planets can exist without orbiting a star.”

An example of a word borrowed from French into English is “rendezvous.” In French, it is pronounced [ʁɑ̃.de.vu]. However, in English, it is pronounced [ˈrɑndəvuː]. The adaptation of “rendezvous” from French to English involves several phonetic and phonological adjustments. Firstly, the French nasal vowel [ɑ̃] is replaced by the English non-nasal vowel [æ]. Secondly, the French uvular fricative [ʁ] is replaced by the English alveolar approximant [ɹ]. Additionally, the French vowel [e] is replaced by the English diphthong [eɪ]. Finally, the stress pattern is modified to fit English phonotactics, with primary stress on the second syllable in English compared to the final syllable in French. This adaptation reflects the differences in phonemic inventories and phonotactics between French and English, ensuring the word’s pronunciation aligns with English phonological norms while maintaining its original meaning and usage, thus highlighting the dynamic nature of language borrowing and adaptation across cultures. This word retains its meaning, while being pronounced differently across different ways of speech.

When I was in elementary school I wrote on an essay or assignment that “Me and my friend went to the mall” and was told it is not the “proper” way to say that sentence. The correct way would be “My friend and I”. To this day that still doesn’t sound right to me. Upon it being pointed out I was told that the way I said it isn’t proper English and it would have to be written in the “proper way”. This impacted the way I would write for school, but not the way I would speak. I recently said to my friend that “me and my friends” did something and they responded with “it would be my friends and I”. I told them how I never understood how that is the proper way to say it and in speech as it doesn’t sound right to me, and as long as you understand what I’m saying, it doesn’t matter how I say it. So I will continue to put my words in whatever order I want, and use words that aren’t “real” like “wanna” and “gonna” when I text or speak, but on something for school or something of importance, I will do it the “proper” way simply to avoid being told it is not correct.