Re: English Changes or what into Conlangs

At 1:31 am -0800 3/12/99, abrigon wrote:
> Why did
>we get stuck with -es and -s, I think it may have alot to do with those
>who wrote dictionaries back in the 16th Century,
Hardly - the majority of the population couldn't read any dictionaries in
the 16th century.  No matter what lexicographers said - it'd hardly affect
the language.

Why all those -(e)s plurals?  Might have something to do with an invasion
of England in 1066 - and even more with the imposition of Norman French as
the official language of England (and bits of Wales & Scotland the Normans
managed to capture) over the next three hundred years.

It also played havoc with the gender systems of Old English.

Ray.

=========================================
A mind which thinks at its own expense
will always interfere with language.
                   [J.G. Hamann 1760]
=========================================