Into the future — perhaps

[Little Jack Horner]

This isn’t just an amusing SF speculation. 
www.sciencealert.com/here-s-how-the-way-we-speak-could-pose-challenges-in-future-space-travel

[Little Jack Horner]

Is this a record? No replies at all in just over a month. Well, I thought it was interesting. ☹️ 

[Dave Miller]

I read the article, but in a strange way found it annoying and contradictory. The sci-fi aspects are fascinating, but the article itself makes the point that languages fifty miles apart used to be unintelligible (though we survived) and that voyagers across oceans used to encounter much greater lingual variation (though we survived). Travellers to a colony set up many generations ago won’t really be in a position any different from the one survived by Marco Polo, or the Vikings, or Columbus, or those who travelled on the rafts mimicked by Kon Tiki, will they?

[Verbivore]

Jul 9, 2020 11:18:12 GMT Little Jack Horner said:

This isn’t just an amusing SF speculation. 
www.sciencealert.com/here-s-how-the-way-we-speak-could-pose-challenges-in-future-space-travel

Godnose how I missed that post, LJH, but I've now read the article.

It may or may not be speculation, but don't worry: should the proposed events occur, there'll be an app for that. ;-) Everyone will have a Babel fish or similar.