On Tue, 15 Jun 1999 10:56:37 -0400 John Cowan <cowan@...>
writes:
>> and "went" (originally the past tense of "wend")
>Still the past tense, unless you have started to say "wended".
I say "wended". And my dictionary says that using "went" is 'archaic'.
>> irregularities tend to develop rapidly, in bursts,
>Sound-change does seem to happen in a bursty fashion. There's
>one going on now in the U.S. --- the "Inner Cities Drag-Chain
>Vowel Shift". I suspect that in a century or so it will have
>taken over the whole U.S. and maybe other Englishes as well.
What is that? Is that the same thing as the "Northern Cities Vowel
Shift"? (although i can't remember exactly what that is, either)
>> as with strong verbs
>> in English - at one time predictable, but the language changed, and
>they
>> became unpredictable, therefore irregular, and tend to be lost
>slowly
>> and gradually.
>Sometimes new ones get created: [slEp] and [wEp] are very common,
>though not standard, and we also have "dove", "shat", and (according
>to And) "twug" = "realized, comprehended".
"twug" from....."twig"?
-Stephen (Steg)
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