Re: Language Change

Patrick Dunn wrote:
> I was unaware that languages could gain cases; I was always under the
> impression that languages tended to simplify, but now I see that "simple"
> is subjective, isn't it?  Hmm.
Of course - if languages couldn't, there'd be no such thing as cases by
now.

> What sorts of things cause a language to gain cases?
Adpositions becoming affixes, I don't know what would *cause* that, but
that's how they'd originate.  For instance, suppose that /t(@)/ became a
dative marker in English.  In Spanish, the preposition _a_ indicates
accusative, it's reasonable to suppose that at some future date it might
become a prefix.

> This, paradoxically, can de-emphasize the importance of rhyme
I don't see why that would be a paradox - poetry involves things that
aren't part of prose.  If rhymes occur all the time, it would lose its
significance.

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