In his view "the remoter relationships cannot be demonstrated because the languages in question have diverged too much" (ib.).
Though language in the two Koreas have diverged to some extent, the two standards are still broadly intelligible.
During the time of Nannayya, the literary language diverged from the popular language.
Knowing that, knowing how far the two languages had diverged since the breakdown in communications, he might have been able to date the fall of civilization.
How far had the local languages diverged from the original?
In two thousand years, this people's language has surely diverged from a common root.
Starting from a common root, the languages of two human groups will diverge by a fifth every thousand years.
Their language diverged into western, southern, central and northern Pomo.
It is the first level at which human language diverges in principle from the sign systems of other animals.
However, while this written standard remained essentially static for over two thousand years, the actual spoken language diverged further and further away.