Rate of Change

[Eduard Selleslagh]

----- Original Message -----
From: <JoatSimeon at aol.com>
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 5:06 PM

[snip]

> 1000 years is 1000 years, whether it occurs from 6000 to
> 5000 BCE, or from 0 to 1000 CE.

[Ed Selleslagh]

Although this is strictly true, it is highly debatable: you have to take into
account the rate of change of local society. E.g. during the Middle Ages
society hardly changed over 100 or more years; in more recent times, however...

Language is part of culture, and its rate of change is certainly influenced by
that of culture in general, e.g. technological evolution (new words), foreign
exposure, ...

How else could we have such conservative languages like Lithuanian or Basque,
as compared to e.g. English or German? (Phonetically, German is one step
further than e.g. Dutch), if rates of change weren't different. In very ancient
societies cultural rate of cheange was undoubtedly slower than in the last 2000
years, except in periods of upheaval, relatively sudden migrations etc.

Ed.