[gothic-l] Language change.

[Francisc Czobor]

On Sat, 15 Jul 2000, Nathan Bellomy-McKnight wrote:

> Hi, 
> 
> So, here's a question that should show my ignorance of germanic
> languages, and linguistics in general:  Is it possible to predict in a
> general sense how Gothic might have developed had it survived to the
> present. Perhaps by analogy to other modern germanic languages, you
> could guess at whether it would have experienced certain phonological
> changes &c. Or is language change too much an internal process to spot
> trends across languages. Aren't there examples of forms that have been
> lost in many languages over time (I'm thinking here of dual forms and
> things like the subjunctive mood)? Can language contact spread such
> changes across linguistic borders? 
>      Or, if that approach isn't useful, perhaps one could look to
> Crimean Gothic to get ideas. Is de Busbecq's record detailed enough for
> such a venture, or are there any other extant records of this dialect? 
> 
> Best,
> Nathan (Naþan?)
> 

I also proposed sometime to look to Crimean Gothic, but it seems that this
idea had not much popularity among the members of this list.

Francisc


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