On Tue, 29 Aug 1995 jsampson@cix.compulink.co.uk wrote:
> In-Reply-To: <13735DD5A83@martin.cuw.edu>
> The hypothesis that languages have deteriorated raises a problem - if the
> trend continues how long before there are serious losses of meaning in
> Bible translation? To what extent does God preserve His Word to
> succeeding generations?
> I suspect as a gut feeling that no general trend upward or downward can
> be convincingly shown.
>
> _John Sampson_
>
>
Well, for what it's worth, I remember taking a linguistics class at Laval
University here in Quebec City with a non-christian (and non-creationist)
professor who discussed this same point and said that languages DO
deteriorate over time and that there is even a segment of linguistics
called glottochronology which studies this phenomena. This is also
discussed in an article in a small booklet.
Rice, Stanley The Origin of Language leaves Evolutionists
Speachless pp. 92-118
in Student Essays on Science and Creation Vol.1 1976
There the whole issue of language complexity over time is discussed in a
creationist context. This booklet was published by the
Creation Society of Santa Barbara PO box 203 Goleta CA 93017.
Hopefully they still exist.
Paul Gosselin