Re: leudh- > Germanic > OE leode

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "G&P" <G.and.P@...> wrote:

>
> > Or consider the fate of -gh in English, which suddenly became
> > unpronounceable, with multiple outcomes, with no clear rules for
> > which alternative was preferred.
>
>
>
> Should we word that as, "no clear rules for which dialect form would
> survive into modern English in which context?"
>
>
>
> The outcome in modern English is apparently chaotic, but that does
> not mean that the process was chaotic. The main thing that was
> unpredictable is the choice of the version we now use, and that
> choice is often moderated by context (e.g. plum duff, spotted dick,
> and dough.)

Erh, yes.
BTW, I think chaotic is in the eye of the beholder. It's how we describe processes and outcomes we haven't (yet) found a rule for.

Torsten

> Peter
>