Gerry asks a fun question:
>Piotr, is there any evidence of a /m/ to /t/ linguistic
>switch in English. For example, a switch from idiom to idiot?
Piotr:
>The direct change /m/ > /t/ is difficult to imagine;
I can imagine it, Piotr :) But it does require more than one step and the
plausibility depends on the environment of the word. If it's final, one
might suppose the following: *-m > *-n > *-t. Not too impossible, I dare
say.
In initial position, it would require a good deal more than a generation...
Maybe we could suppose the following: *m- > *n- > *d- > *t-. Unlike the
first example, this latter recipe requires a good 20,000 years to bake :)
Let me tell ya, one has a better chance being struck by lightning than for
*m to regularly and directly, or even indirectly, become *t in a language
anyway. Even if it were to do so, it's practically impossible for the
phoneme to undergo a sweeping change like this in all positions Initial,
medial AND final?! Forget it!
- gLeN
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at
http://www.hotmail.com