[New-Poetry] Questions on form

[jfq at myuw.net]

On Wed, 2 Jan 2008, Bob Grumman wrote:

> Isn't it standard for inconsequential syllables to drop out of words as 
> languages evolve?  If so, at some point, a two syllable pronunciation of a word 
> like "different"--or "dialect," which I still usually pronounce as three 
> syllables but sometimes as just two--will become "correct."

It's definitely one mechanism of language change, although syllables and extra prefixes and suffixes get added too. Particularly in Chinese for example, the creation of multiple syllable words has been a major vehicle of dialect change.