Re: CHAT: Parallelism
| From: | John Cowan <cowan@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, June 15, 1999, 14:40 |
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Nik Taylor wrote:
> Then why do languages tend to lose those suppletions? We've replaced
> the old irregular form "kyne" for the regular "cows", for instance.
The standard explanation is that regularity takes over when the
form is infrequent, so irregularities are preserved in the commonest
forms.
--
John Cowan http://www.ccil.org/~cowan cowan@ccil.org
You tollerday donsk? N. You tolkatiff scowegian? Nn.
You spigotty anglease? Nnn. You phonio saxo? Nnnn.
Clear all so! 'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)