From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npoiv!npois!bsg Newsgroups: net.nlang Title: regularity of languages Article-I.D.: npois.1554 Posted: Fri Jul 16 11:44:38 1982 Received: Sat Jul 17 01:51:21 1982 I've read somewhere that the OLDER a language is, the more regular it tends to be. This seems to support the notion that as civilization (or at least time) advanced, humans developed the ability to do more complex language processing. I think--although I'm not sure--that I read this in an interview with Anthony Burgess in which he was discussing the language which he developed for the film "Quest For Fire." What little I know supports this, in that the only foreign language that I speak is Hebrew; that is both a great deal older and a lot more regular than English. (Although it has been modernized somewhat, the modern version is firmly rooted in the biblical language.) I'm not sure quite what this proves, except maybe that attempts to regularize language are probably doomed. I don't know if this applies to spelling reform as well. Two other comments-- I say Mary, merry, and marry three different ways BUT I can't distinguish (in speaking or hearing) ferry from furry--tho I've been laughed at for saying them the same, I honestly don't know the difference. (P.S. I'm originally from Philadelphia, if that has any bearing.) If the Irish did such a magnificent job of spelling reform, why is it that the name (of a town) "Dun Laoghaire" (I may have a few letters off, but it's something like that) is pronounced as "Done Leery?" And for that matter, why is it that driving thru Ireland, when you see signs that say "X 10 miles" then "X 5 miles" then "X 2 miles" etc., X of course a variable, X is spelled differently on each of those signs? This occurs repeatedly--or did when I was last there, in 1974. Billie Goldstein Bell Labs Neptune NJ ...!npois!bsg