Did English "decline" or evolve?, or did it really merely "mutate?" Given enough time and enough seperation (that is the inability to easily communicate or travel to another place) English would soon "mutate" into literally hundreds of thousands of accented and changed English that would within a few hundred years, become basically un-inteligable to other speakers! This is seen literally before our eyes today in the language of "children" and "racial accents and grammar!"

I was raised in the Southern US and I still have problems understanding large numbers of African Americans! The "patois" of Jamaica is an excellent example!

For cruise ships, one "embarks" (I would assume that it could actually be "embarques!") on the cruise, and then one "dis-embarks!" A "barque" is a rather old word that mostly today would equal a "barge!", but it also can mean an "Ark!" or possible an "arque?" Thus Moses was found in an "Ark" or "Barque!", instead of a basket of reeds. But, of course the most ancient of Egypts "vessels" were made of reeds! And if you have ever seen a depiction of one, its shape is that of an "Arc" or "Arch!"
The news reports of a fighter jet crash in Europe recently, used to word "countless" to describe the people who were not killed by the aircraft due to the pilot's efforts. Obviously the number was not "countless" since only a few thousand people were present. I think any of us might be able to have counted the imagined dead?

Thanks for your comments John!

Dear all, thanks for your comments. And, Porsche you must recognize when some things are said "tounge in cheek!"
John, I do not know where you live but here in the USA, one never hears or sees the common past tense in the form you mentioned, all we get from the Media here is "pleaded", that is the reason I was being somewhat facetious in my wording!
But, please pay attention to you media outlets where ever you live and see if you notice what I have noticed?

Regards,

Ron