There are languages that express grammatical relations by suffixes (languages of the Turkic and Finno-Ugric families) or by prefixes (some languages of Niger-Congo). The question is: what way is more productive, the usage of suffixes or prefixes? What is there in the nature of languages that makes them prefer one way or the other?
Dear Rezia,
it is one of the fundamental issues of the lingvogenesis. If anyone could answer your question, we would be able to trace the development of the human language to its earliest stages.
IMHO, there it is a so-called convergence phenomenon. Most human languages tend to create suffixes and prefixes on their own. Probably, this is the most natural way of language development. As most biological species have developed eyes and blood circulation, so most human languages developed suffixes and prefixes.
Цитата: Elik от декабря 7, 2005, 06:53
Dear Rezia,
it is one of the fundamental issues of the lingvogenesis. If anyone could answer your question, we would be able to trace the development of the human language to its earliest stages.
IMHO, there it is a so-called convergence phenomenon. Most human languages tend to create suffixes and prefixes on their own. Probably, this is the most natural way of language development. As most biological species have developed eyes and blood circulation, so most human languages developed suffixes and prefixes.
Dear Elik, thank you for your reply. Could you comment what is meant by convergence here?
As follows from the biological example, I think, convergence means here the same as it does in biology - that different languages absolutely independently evolved to give some very similar features - of both similar function and similar view. But nothing about the reasons of such a tendency - maybe, and even most probably (as in biology :) ) it's one of several (or even the only) choices possible, maybe, one of the fastest(simplest) ways, maybe even, no reasons really, only an occasion. But the latter case cannot be accepted, of course, for the most of languages (or species).