rate of change

[JoatSimeon at aol.com]

 From:	manaster at umich.edu

>I dont know where specifically this is discussed, but I think you miss
>the point that before a certain date Castillian and Portuguese while
>certainly distinct where no more distinct than many pairs of forms of speech
>(for lack of a better term) which we usually consider to be dialects.

-- good point.  Portugese and Castillian are -still- mutually comprehensible,
in the sense that speakers of each can, if they speak slowly and on simple
subjects, understand each other. (Personal experience.)

And if you use Gallego-Spanish rather than Castillian, the resemblance is even
closer.

It's comparable to the distance between Netherlandic and German.