Re: Brithenig. (fwd)

[Padraic Brown <agricola@wam.umd.edu>]

On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Andrew Smith wrote:

> Hello Peter, Hello Padraic,
> I have been considering the value of starting an informal list for people
> who wish to discuss and cultivate Brithenig language and culture.  So with

I like the idea, for one.

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> >Thank you for your reply.  I should be forwarding it to Padraic Brown as a
> >matter of course.
> 
> By all means.
> BTW does Padraic subscribe to CONLANG?

No.  I suppose perhaps I should?  How does one go about it?

> 

[snippage go leor on plurals]

> If there was felt to be a need to mark the plural, those plurals marked by
> the surviving -ON- and -AN- could well have set the pattern and been
> extended by analogy to other nouns as, e.g. -(e)s was similarly extended in
> English.  The move could also have been strengthened by borrowings from Old
> English with plurals in -N.
> 
> Just an idea.
> 
> Ray.

I rather like the idea.  The idea of a two case system developing is not
misguided at all.  As Ray said, French had a two case system (some remains
of which English inherited).  Using the stem for a plural is also not new
-- as Ray mentioned, English did the same thing; it just never really
caught on. As I believe I've said, the dialects of Duneint anyway retain
the two case system; so it would not be too surprising if the other
dialects had (have) it as well at some tome in history.  And what is more,
the -n plurals are a good example of morphological recycling in language
-- a never ending process indeed. 

Padraic.