Bill:
In looking at the history of languages and literary styles, the only thing
we can say for certainty about changes over history is that there is no
universally true, linear pattern which all languages follow. Languages gain,
and lose phonemes over time, and there is no way to predict exactly how and
why. Different people's literary styles can be vastly different, even within
the same language within the same time period. Again no way to predict it.
The only way to trace it is afterwards, through looking at recorded
evidence: either by looking at a large body of literature of known venue, or
by looking at the same document in several versions, and tracing its change
over time.
Karl W. Randolph.
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