Re: irregularities

Tom Tadfor Little wrote:

> Most people probably underestimate the amount of irregularity in languages.
> We tend to think of a few common irregular verbs, and then presume that
> everything else, from root structure on up, is pretty logical. A certain
> vigilance is required if one wants to make a conlang realistically quirky.
If I remember my numbers correctly, English has 168 irregular verbs. And
those are just the ones we use *now*. There are all sorts of archaic
irregulars that are no longer used but heavily attested.

My favorite irregular series in English:

think-thought
bring-brought
buy-bought
work-wrought (the old usage)

I like them primarily because they are so transparently cognate with German:

denken-dachte-gedacht
bringen-brachte-gebracht
(kaufen and arbeiten are no longer part of the series)

I think that I'll add a web page about irregular verbs in English and
German when I've got the time.

--
Daniel Seriff
microtonal@sericap.com
http://members.tripod.com/microtonal

Honesty means never having to say "Please don't flush me down the toilet!"
                      - Bob the Dinosaur

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