Linguists, who study languages, also examine pidgins, which are language mash-ups that arise when two or more languages collide due to circumstances like trade or enslavement. These pidgins are not fully developed languages, lacking extensive vocabulary and grammar. Some pidgins, like Jamaican patois and Saramaccan of Suriname, evolve into complex languages with rich grammar and vocabulary.
While linguists often focus on how pidgins develop into languages, they also study how language can unravel into simpler forms. This phenomenon can be seen in President Biden’s recent speeches, where his syntax has appeared jumbled and less complex than usual. Despite concerns about his communication style, this unraveling is not necessarily alarming but rather a result of casualness and lack of elocution, which is common in informal speech.
During his interview with George Stephanopoulos, Biden used verbless chunks instead of full sentences, a linguistic feature that reflects earlier stages of human language development. These inert word sequences, described as “living fossils” by linguist Ljiljana Progovac, represent a simpler form of language before the evolution of complex sentences.
In conclusion, the linguistic analysis of Biden’s speech reveals interesting insights into the evolution and unraveling of language. While his communication style may raise concerns, it also sheds light on the complexities of language development and the ways in which language can shift from elaborate structures to simpler forms.