Re: CHAT: Parallelism
| From: | Boudewijn Rempt <bsarempt@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, June 15, 1999, 6:12 |
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On Mon, 14 Jun 1999, Nik Taylor wrote:
> Ed Heil wrote:
> > anything
> > that involves access to stored, pre-made patterns rather than repeated
> > computation is preferable as far as the brain is concerned.
>
> Then why do languages tend to lose those suppletions? We've replaced
> the old irregular form "kyne" for the regular "cows", for instance.
>
That happens in the process of learning, and, as Ed points out
analyzable forms are easier to learn. I still wager however, that
cows once learnt is stored as cows, not as cow-s... Which is at
the root of the development of new suppletive paradigms.
Boudewijn Rempt | http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt