Languages and cultures self-repair the way ecosystems do, by selective replication of novel components that manage to find a job.
-
-
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
"Perfectivity" (aspect) is a property in linguistics by which speakers indicate completeness or finished-ness.
1 reply 0 retweets 5 likes -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
As Old English loses its perfective prefix ge-, use of demonstratives surge (that), eventually grammaticalizing into articles (the)
2 replies 0 retweets 3 likes -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
Once you can't say "I [chopped-completely] wood," you have to say "I chopped the wood." Quantifiers like "all" also increase.
3 replies 0 retweets 5 likes -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
@sarahdoingthing I feel like "I've chopped the wood" carries a lot of the meaning you're looking for here.2 replies 0 retweets 1 like
Replying to @admittedlyhuman
@admittedlyhuman yes because of the definite article but done or all is clearer
8:46 PM - 30 Nov 2015
0 replies
0 retweets
0 likes
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.