Re: Performative verbs (was: Re: here is some stuff i want all of ya'll to look at)

Andreas Johansson scripsit:

> My experience as a language learner is that the irregularity of common
> verbs isn't a problem; their frequency of use makes sure they etch
> themselves into one's mind. _Uncommon_ irregular verbs is where I tend
> to make mistakes. I'd therefore expect irregularity in the less common
> conjugation to be more troublesome.
ObTrivia:  The rarest English irregular verb is believed to be "smite",
preterite and past participle "smote", one in a million words.

English also has many fewer irregular forms (counting all the strong
verbs as irregular, as one must in modern Germanic languages) than
any of its relatives, not surprisingly.  Not counting the Latin and
Greek borrowings with their attached plurals, English has only about
30 irregular nouns.

--
"How they ever reached any conclusion at all    jcowan@reutershealth.com>
is starkly unknowable to the human mind."       http://www.reutershealth.com
        --"Backstage Lensman", Randall Garrett  http://www.ccil.org/~cowan

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