[1] From: Stephen Clark <srlclark@liverpool.ac.uk> (27)
Subject: Re: 9.654 evolution of words (fwd)
More information on evolution of words:
> From: "Dr. R.H.P. Wright" <rhpwri@liverpool.ac.uk>
> Many thanks - there's an American called Lee Hartman (Carbondale,
> Southern Illinois University) (e-mail GA5123@siucvmb.siu.edu )
> who's prepared, after many many years trial-and -error, a computer
> programme whereby you can feed in a Latin word and it'll
> tell you the "regular" Spanish development. I.e., if the actual
> Spanish development is different, then that's worth investigating
> further. I'm not clever enough to use it, but he's a good bloke.
> It might be worth transmitting this info to the group you've
> got it from - Roger Wright
>
>
> In the last mail Stephen Clark said:
> >
> > [1] From: Russon Wooldridge <wulfric@epas.utoronto.ca> (27)
> > > >
> >
> > Isabelle Tellier (Humanist 9.611) asks about "software to simulate the
> > evolution of words". I have heard this idea discussed in the context of the
> > Romance languages, where the laws of historical phonetics could be used to
> > generate hypothetical vernacular forms derived from Latin and a database of
> > attested forms would show the degree of conformity of the actual to the
> > virtual (e.g. Lat. *tabula* > It. *tavola*, Fr. *table*, Sp. *tabla*). This
> > could be a wonderful pedagogical tool which I hope someone -- or a team of
> > someones, perhaps I. Tellier and her friends -- is working or will work on.
>
>