Re: LANGUAGE LAWS

charles wrote:

> Tommie Powell wrote:
>
> > To get this discussion started, I'll propose one such law.  We can call
> > it "Tommie's Law".  Here it is: "What is permitted depends on what is
> > required."
>
> Grammar increases until it becomes a burden.
> (Same for idiomatic usage.)
>
> Time increases irregularities (hoary tradition).
>
> Similar words form categories (logical or phonological).
>
> Language laws all tend to contradict each other.
I agree with all, but I think that your first two laws -- "Grammar increases
until it becomes a burden (same for idiomatic usage)" and "Time increases
irregularities (hoary tradition)" -- are so closely related that they ought
to be reducible to a single law.

Specifically: I suspect that the increases in irregularities are due to the
increases in grammar (and/or in idiomatic usage) and that the increases in
irregularities are the reason why the increases in grammar (and/or in
idiomatic usage) become a burden.

-- Tommie