Dating the final IE unity

[Stanley Friesen]

At 04:05 AM 1/25/00 -0500, JoatSimeon at aol.com wrote:
>And one language does not replace another easily, or without very good
>reason.  For adults to learn another language is _hard_.

Language replacement usually involves a prolonged period of bilingualism.
With the two languages undergoing various shifts in popularity and prestige
until eventually one dies out.  Which one is hard to predict, given the
back-and-forth nature of the dance.

>-- languages spread over a large area develop dialects and then eventually
>split into separate, related languages.  This is one of the fundamentals.
>And we are speaking of a time before literacy or "standard" languages, as
>well.

Even now, *with* those things, and TV as well, dialects develop.

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May the peace of God be with you.         sarima at ix.netcom.com