Everyone grab an applehead, pike up to my place, and have a horn by the jeffer. I got heelches aplenty of bahl steinber, I'd sure be charlie balled if anything weren't to happen to it all...
I was afflicted by a strange case of gelatinous lethargy the other day and did the only thing I could think to do in such a situation: surrender my glazed eyes to the infinite wisdom of the Internet hive mind via wiki surfing. (For the poor, deprived souls who don't know what I'm talking about: The point is to surf wiki connecting two off beat subjects using only the links on each page provided). Moon landing and chicken wire. It was a tough one. The bizarre trajectory of that surf led me to a delightfully boring list of dialects of the English language.The general thing about dialects is that they are, by nature, distinctly dull when written. As a result, the Western English dialect known as "Boontling" immediately shone as an eccentric incongruity in an otherwise uneventful list of dialects. Sadly, the arrival of the Boontling language into my world meant that my hard work involving chickens and the moon had been derailed. Ordinarily, an incomplete wiki would demoralize even the strongest of men. I, however, was able to overcome the setback with the power of love. The love of Boontling, and its Youtube herald Dinken who mentored me.
Say hello to Dinken.
Boontling is a language that originated in Boonville, California, dating back to the turn of the 20th century. The fact that the language developed in a town numbering fewer than 1000 people in a mere century is linguistically and culturally remarkable. How did this language come to be? Well, while the language itself is fascinating, the story of its origin would appear to be fairly ordinary. Dinken recounts the two prominently accepted and largely similar allegories of Boontling's beginnings, which are in sum: 1) Local women wanted to spread rumors and gossip without the victims understanding what they were saying and 2) The elders didn't want the kids to understand what they were saying, so 1) and 2) created the code language that would become Boontling. Over the years, each Boont generation has evolved the language. This process and the language in general are described here by our friend Dinken and others: (Here are the highlights if you don't feel like watching the whole thing-> :39 Boontling spoken for first time, 1:40 Meet Dinken, 5:12 Dinken gets feisty).
Boontling in Boonville
Pretty neat stuff, right? Everyone who speaks the language is connected to one other in this really uncommon way. When I think of a country, the first token of identity that comes to mind is the dominant language its people speak. Without a common language, identity becomes this clumsy, awkward thing that doesn't quite make sense. Cities provide a firm foundation for a culture's sense of identity-Boonvillie's sense of identity through the Boontling language in this case.
Now if you'll excuse me, it's early in the morning and I've got a hankering for some saddle blankets.
Boontling is a language that originated in Boonville, California, dating back to the turn of the 20th century. The fact that the language developed in a town numbering fewer than 1000 people in a mere century is linguistically and culturally remarkable. How did this language come to be? Well, while the language itself is fascinating, the story of its origin would appear to be fairly ordinary. Dinken recounts the two prominently accepted and largely similar allegories of Boontling's beginnings, which are in sum: 1) Local women wanted to spread rumors and gossip without the victims understanding what they were saying and 2) The elders didn't want the kids to understand what they were saying, so 1) and 2) created the code language that would become Boontling. Over the years, each Boont generation has evolved the language. This process and the language in general are described here by our friend Dinken and others: (Here are the highlights if you don't feel like watching the whole thing-> :39 Boontling spoken for first time, 1:40 Meet Dinken, 5:12 Dinken gets feisty).
Boontling in Boonville
Pretty neat stuff, right? Everyone who speaks the language is connected to one other in this really uncommon way. When I think of a country, the first token of identity that comes to mind is the dominant language its people speak. Without a common language, identity becomes this clumsy, awkward thing that doesn't quite make sense. Cities provide a firm foundation for a culture's sense of identity-Boonvillie's sense of identity through the Boontling language in this case.
Now if you'll excuse me, it's early in the morning and I've got a hankering for some saddle blankets.
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