{"id":2222,"date":"2020-05-11T10:52:58","date_gmt":"2020-05-11T17:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/callmebog\/?p=2222"},"modified":"2020-05-11T11:06:40","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T18:06:40","slug":"the-oldest-word-in-the-english-language-or-maybe-the-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca\/callmebog\/2020\/05\/11\/the-oldest-word-in-the-english-language-or-maybe-the-first\/","title":{"rendered":"The Oldest Word in the English Language . . . or Maybe the First?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oldest Word . . .<\/span>
\nin the English Language . . .
\n<\/i><\/span><\/span>. . . or Maybe the First?<\/i><\/span><\/i><\/h1>\n

What is, or perhaps might be, the oldest word in the English language? Could it be the FIRST word too?<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, according to a 2009 study, the oldest words are, according to “Today I Discovered The Oldest Words In The English Language<\/a><\/strong><\/span>“:<\/p>\n

According to a 2009 study by researchers at Reading University<\/a><\/strong>, the oldest words in the English language include “I<\/strong><\/span>“, “we<\/strong><\/span>“, “who<\/strong><\/span>“, “two<\/strong><\/span>” and “three<\/strong><\/span>“, all of which date back tens of thousands of years. The discovery was made by tracking the divergence of ancestral words into different languages (including English) with an IBM supercomputer.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"And that makes SO much sense! Self awareness, consciousness, self-identity and the famous phrase from Ren\u00e9 Descartes<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, “Cogito, ergo sum<\/a><\/strong><\/span>” or as we know it better, “I think, therefore I am<\/strong>“<\/span>. And how wonderfully ironic that an IBM supercomputer was used too!<\/p>\n

And numbers too! I previously posted about “The Original and Universal Language of Math<\/a><\/strong><\/span>” so that ties in quite well too!<\/p>\n

And from another favourite website, Dictionary.com – The Oldest Words In The English Language<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, comes their roster of oldest words and it appeals to the poet in all of us!<\/p>\n

In an unrelated study, the linguistic boffins at Dictionary.com<\/a><\/strong><\/span> revealed the oldest words in their online dictionary, although these only go back to 900AD or so. They include “love<\/strong><\/span>“, “black<\/strong><\/span>” (which predates “white” by a significant margin), “mother<\/strong><\/span>“, “give<\/strong><\/span>“, “man\/woman<\/strong><\/span>“, “fire<\/strong><\/span>“, “hand<\/strong><\/span>“, “hear<\/strong><\/span>“, “pull<\/strong><\/span>“, “spit<\/strong><\/span>” and “worm<\/strong><\/span>“. Interestingly, “old<\/strong><\/span>” itself is one of the oldest words in the English language. As Dictionary.com explains:<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Other authorities post similar results and go one step further, “Scientists discover oldest words in the English language and predict which ones are likely to disappear in the future<\/a><\/strong><\/span>” by predicting which words will become obsolete!<\/p>\n

Babbel is another great resource for language and word information, and they list their ‘Oldest Words in The English Language<\/a><\/strong><\/span>‘ as well. All very similar and all fascinating in their reasons.<\/p>\n

And what happens AFTER the first word is used? LANGUAGES! A future post will discuss the ‘Oldest Languages in the World<\/a><\/strong><\/span>‘!<\/p>\n

So, just think about it … every time you say a sentence such as, “I am going on a coffee break!”, “We should order pizza tonight!”, “Who wants to go to Tofino for two or three nights?” . . .  you are using the oldest words in the English language<\/strong><\/span>! Even the pizza … check my list below for The First Ever Pizza Delivery! <\/p>\n

Words come and words go. There was even a 40 New Words That Were Added to the Dictionary in 2019<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. And that too will be a future OAC Bog Blog topic – how do new words come into existence?<\/p>\n

And of course, a bit of frivolity here, with some other dubious and historical ‘Firsts’ or ‘Oldest’ using words, of course!<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The First Ever Morse Code Sent<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The First Speech Transmitted by Telephone<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The First Message on ‘The Internet’<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The First Text Message Ever Sent Was 25 Years Ago<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  5. The Oldest Known Riddle<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  6. The World’s Oldest Joke (1900 BC)<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  7. 14 Old-Fashioned Words for Writers<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  8. The First Ever …. Pizza Delivery! (especially nowadays!)<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As long as there are words out there, there will be interesting topics! <\/p>\n

    E<\/span>N<\/span>J<\/span>O<\/span>Y!        <\/span><\/strong><\/span>\"\"      <\/span><\/strong>  <\/strong><\/span>T<\/span>T<\/span>F<\/span>N<\/span>!<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/h2>\n

    What are the Oldest Words
    \n<\/span>in the World?<\/span><\/h2>\n