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Re: Language Change

From:Ed Heil <edheil@...>
Date:Friday, January 7, 2000, 1:43
Nik Taylor wrote:

> Ed Heil wrote: > > There's a special reason for Australain aboriginal languages to > > change so quickly though: taboo. When someone dies, you must never > > say his name again, *or any word that sounds like his name.* > > Well, the taboo only lasts a certain period, right? Of course, it's not > uncommon for the taboo word to simply drop out.
Maybe so; my source (Trask's _Historical Linguistics_) only mentioned the phenomenon in passing and didn't mention a time limit on the taboo. Ed --------------------------------------------------------------------- edheil@postmark.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------