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When an observed verbal habit has more than one potential source, and that source is likely to be a different language or dialect, how do linguists determine the most likely origin? For example, i...
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linguistics
#2: Post edited
When an observed verbal habit has more than one potential source, and that source is likely to be a different language or dialect, how do linguists determine to most likely origin?For example, if some speakers of _Language A_ add an extra vowel to certain words, in a way that seems to resemble both _Language B_ and _Language C_, how would a linguist determine if one, both, or neither languages were likely responsible for introducing the change?
- When an observed verbal habit has more than one potential source, and that source is likely to be a different language or dialect, how do linguists determine the most likely origin?
- For example, if some speakers of _Language A_ add an extra vowel to certain words, in a way that seems to resemble both _Language B_ and _Language C_, how would a linguist determine if one, both, or neither languages were likely responsible for introducing the change?
- _I'm assuming that Language A has many speakers of both Languages B & C_
#1: Initial revision
How do linguists identify the origins of verbal habits that originate from other languages?
When an observed verbal habit has more than one potential source, and that source is likely to be a different language or dialect, how do linguists determine to most likely origin? For example, if some speakers of _Language A_ add an extra vowel to certain words, in a way that seems to resemble both _Language B_ and _Language C_, how would a linguist determine if one, both, or neither languages were likely responsible for introducing the change?