Stephen
This is a fascinating response. I was under the impression that
languages deteriorated over time. Where did I get this idea?
Is there not a observable pattern outside of natural sciences
that shows a tendency for things to *fall apart.* Language is a
social phenomena, other social phenomena have a tendency to
move from organization to disorganization. A few examples of
this are Civilizations, Nations, Clubs, Churches, Families,
Tribes, Businesses. All of these move from ordered states to
disordered states with a fairly predictable pattern.
Now you will probably argue that Languages are not like
Civilizations or Families, that this is an unseemly comparison.
Perhaps you are correct in making this objection (if you make
it). But I think there is more to be said about the tendency
towards disorder than what the second law of thermodynamics
states. After all the Chaos dragon had been around several
millennia before thermodynamics came along.
Clay Bartholomew
Three Tree Point