Re: Tempus
| From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, March 8, 2001, 20:14 |
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David Peterson wrote:
> You can't even say
> that Icelandic is more anything than Norwegian, because they both don't
> exist; they're simply variants of your "Proto-World".
I never said "variants". Both are descendants, but both have been
spoken, in one form or another since the beginning of speech. Not
recognizable as Icelandic or Norwegian, of course.
> So, if you are going
> to put labels on these "descendants", then, yes, some are definitely older
> and younger than others, and there's no way around that.
I suppose you could say that Icelandic is "older" in the sense that one
could trace back a form that is understandable by speakers of Modern
Icelandic further back than you could do the same with Modern Norwegian.
--
Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon
A nation without a language is a nation without a heart - Welsh proverb
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