zompist bboard

Will spoken English and written English split into separate languages in the future? It seems like they are continuing to diverge more and more from each other.

No

Yes and no. There already is a continuum of formality in written language. The most formal and least formal are arguably already evolving separately, with the language of most social media evolving along informal spoken language. Formal language, depending on area, is either simply resistant or assimilating into L2 English (as in the EU).

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ìtsanso, God In The Mountain, may our names inspire the deepest feelings of fear in urkos and all his ilk, for we have saved another man from his lies! I welcome back to the feast hall kal, who will never gamble again! May the eleven gods bless him!

I am with mèþru - formal written English is likely to stay more static and become more distant from everyday spoken English over time, while more informal written English is likely to change along with everyday spoken English (considering how it already commonly uses forms that are not found in formal written English but which are common in everyday spoken English).

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Dibotahamdn duthma jallni agaynni ra hgitn lakrhmi.
Amuhawr jalla vowa vta hlakrhi hdm duthmi xaja.
Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro.

i don't think informal english is gonna diverge into a separate language entirely, but maybe into a distant dialect

"Separate language" probably is not the best way to put it, as it implies that speakers of one variety by default cannot understand or speak the other variety, and rather a better way to put it would be diglossia, and I feel that English already has an amount of that already, but at the same time any literate native English-speaker can understand, speak, read, and write both informal and formal registers. (Contrast this with non-native English-speakers, who may only be able to understand, speak, read, and write formal registers.)

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Dibotahamdn duthma jallni agaynni ra hgitn lakrhmi.
Amuhawr jalla vowa vta hlakrhi hdm duthmi xaja.
Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro.

I find it unlikely that formal registers will diverge that far from the informal ones. Whenever the difference gets particularly pronounced, once register will more likely adjust to match the other.

One complicating factor is that L2 learners of English tend to learn more formal registers, and are likely to retard change in it or even inject non-native influence as they use it amongst themselves (the aforementioned "EU English", for instance), whereas more informal registers are more likely to be used predominantly by native speakers, and formal registers when used by native speakers are more likely to be influenced by their native speech. So one may get a split that is not of informal versus formal English as used by native speakers, but of L1 versus L2 English.

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Dibotahamdn duthma jallni agaynni ra hgitn lakrhmi.
Amuhawr jalla vowa vta hlakrhi hdm duthmi xaja.
Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro.

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Dibotahamdn duthma jallni agaynni ra hgitn lakrhmi.
Amuhawr jalla vowa vta hlakrhi hdm duthmi xaja.
Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro.

Indians definitely learn very formal English in school and tend towards British English usage. Of course this is changing due to American media becoming more and more pervasive, but I doubt the school curriculum has kept pace with this trend. Some Indians try to sound more American after moving here, but they're the exception rather than the norm, and it's probably near impossible for them to shake off everything they learned in school.

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Dibotahamdn duthma jallni agaynni ra hgitn lakrhmi.
Amuhawr jalla vowa vta hlakrhi hdm duthmi xaja.
Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro.

_________________
Dibotahamdn duthma jallni agaynni ra hgitn lakrhmi.
Amuhawr jalla vowa vta hlakrhi hdm duthmi xaja.
Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro.

_________________
Dibotahamdn duthma jallni agaynni ra hgitn lakrhmi.
Amuhawr jalla vowa vta hlakrhi hdm duthmi xaja.
Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro. Irdro.