Re: Ungrammaticalization?

On Mon, 19 Jul 1999, Nik Taylor wrote:

> Patrick Dunn wrote:
> > I just finished studying this for a year.  I can't believe how much I
> > remember:
> >
> > Behold!  We from the spear-danes in days of yore
>
> Hmm, the translation I'm familiar with is:
> Lo!  We have heard the Spear-Danes' Lays
Oh, I was being hyper-literal.

> > and more strong verbs than you can throw a Klaeber at.
>
> Yeah, English verbs have gotten so wimpy!  We need to toughen them back
> up!  Love live (past tense "love") strong verbs!
>
> Does anyone know the reason for the strong/weak terminology?  I'd heard
> it was because German had so many, and the early linguists, mostly
> German, wanted to emphasize German's "strength and manliness".  Sounds
> apocryphal to me, but that's the story I've heard.
Dr. Deskis taught that it was because the change in the word was more
fundamental, i.e. "stronger," than the tacking on of a dental.

Of course, that could be wrong.  But I suspect the German story has its
roots somewhere in anti-German sentiment during WWII.

--Patrick