The Betans are American in origin and Cordelia and Aral share a language, so English seems a good assumption for Beta Colony.
Interesting thought on the Scandinavian languages. Barrayaran English and Betan English are probably further diverged than English accents are today. Makes Miles's accent switch more credible as a disguise, I guess.
Drift does happen, though - I know that when 19th century Norwegian families in the United States who've preserved their native language go back to Norway they sound painfully rural by modern standards. Partly because they immigrated from rural areas, but still. I'm about 1/4 Norwegian myself - my ancestors were crazy enough to farm near Tromsø.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-05-16 11:50 pm (UTC)Interesting thought on the Scandinavian languages. Barrayaran English and Betan English are probably further diverged than English accents are today. Makes Miles's accent switch more credible as a disguise, I guess.
Drift does happen, though - I know that when 19th century Norwegian families in the United States who've preserved their native language go back to Norway they sound painfully rural by modern standards. Partly because they immigrated from rural areas, but still. I'm about 1/4 Norwegian myself - my ancestors were crazy enough to farm near Tromsø.