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56 [fifty-six]

Feelings

56 [cinquante-six]	Les sentiments

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The language of our ancestors

Modern languages can be analyzed by linguists. Various methods are used to do so. But how did people speak thousands of years ago? It is much more difficult to answer this question. Despite this, scientists have been busy researching for years. They would like to explore how people spoke earlier. In order to do this, they attempt to reconstruct ancient speech forms. American scientists have now made an exciting discovery. They analyzed more than 2,000 languages. In particular they analyzed the sentence structure of the languages. The results of their study were very interesting. About half of the languages had the S-O-V sentence structure. That is to say, the sentences are ordered by subject, object and verb. More than 700 languages follow the pattern S-V-O. And about 160 languages operate according to the V-S-O system. Only about 40 languages use the V-O-S pattern. 120 languages display a hybrid. On the other hand, O-V-S and O-S-V are distinctly rarer systems. The majority of the analyzed languages use the S-O-V principle. Persian, Japanese and Turkish are some examples. Most living languages follow the S-V-O pattern, however. This sentence structure dominates the Indo-European language family today. Researchers believe that the S-O-V model was used earlier. All languages are based on this system. But then the languages diverged. We don't yet know how that happened. However, the variation of sentence structures must have had a reason. Because in evolution, only that which has an advantage prevails…

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to feel like / want to	a_o_r e_v_e avoir envie a____ e____ avoir envie _____ _____ avoir envie
We feel like. / We want to.	N_u_ a_o_s e_v_e_ Nous avons envie. N___ a____ e_____ Nous avons envie. ____ _____ ______ Nous avons envie.
We don’t feel like. / We do’t want to.	N_u_ n_a_o_s p_s e_v_e_ Nous n’avons pas envie. N___ n______ p__ e_____ Nous n’avons pas envie. ____ _______ ___ ______ Nous n’avons pas envie.

to be afraid	a_o_r p_u_ avoir peur a____ p___ avoir peur _____ ____ avoir peur
I’m afraid.	J_a_ p_u_. J’ai peur. J___ p____ J’ai peur. ____ _____ J’ai peur.
I am not afraid.	J_ n_a_ p_s p_u_. Je n’ai pas peur. J_ n___ p__ p____ Je n’ai pas peur. __ ____ ___ _____ Je n’ai pas peur.

to have time	a_o_r l_ t_m_s avoir le temps a____ l_ t____ avoir le temps _____ __ _____ avoir le temps
He has time.	I_ a l_ t_m_s_ Il a le temps. I_ a l_ t_____ Il a le temps. __ _ __ ______ Il a le temps.
He has no time.	I_ n_a p_s l_ t_m_s_ Il n’a pas le temps. I_ n__ p__ l_ t_____ Il n’a pas le temps. __ ___ ___ __ ______ Il n’a pas le temps.

to be bored	s_e_n_y_r s’ennuyer s________ s’ennuyer _________ s’ennuyer
She is bored.	E_l_ s_e_n_i_. Elle s’ennuie. E___ s________ Elle s’ennuie. ____ _________ Elle s’ennuie.
She is not bored.	E_l_ n_ s_e_n_i_ p_s_ Elle ne s’ennuie pas. E___ n_ s_______ p___ Elle ne s’ennuie pas. ____ __ ________ ____ Elle ne s’ennuie pas.

to be hungry	a_o_r f_i_ avoir faim a____ f___ avoir faim _____ ____ avoir faim
Are you hungry?	A_e_-_o_s f_i_ ? Avez-vous faim ? A________ f___ ? Avez-vous faim ? _________ ____ _ Avez-vous faim ?
Aren’t you hungry?	N_a_e_-_o_s p_s f_i_ ? N’avez-vous pas faim ? N__________ p__ f___ ? N’avez-vous pas faim ? ___________ ___ ____ _ N’avez-vous pas faim ?

to be thirsty	a_o_r s_i_ avoir soif a____ s___ avoir soif _____ ____ avoir soif
They are thirsty.	I_s o_t s_i_. Ils ont soif. I__ o__ s____ Ils ont soif. ___ ___ _____ Ils ont soif.
They are not thirsty.	I_s n_o_t p_s s_i_. Ils n’ont pas soif. I__ n____ p__ s____ Ils n’ont pas soif. ___ _____ ___ _____ Ils n’ont pas soif.

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The language of our ancestors

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