On Sun, Apr 3, 2011 at 8:08 PM, Joel T.
<joelofarabia@gmail.com> wrote:
In any case, surely running two systems side-by-side is asking for
dialectisation (is that a word?), where speakers in one area get used
to one system while speakers in another prefer the other?
It can, and does. But we consider the flexibility to be a plus. That way, any person coming from a natural language background of say, Turkish, can from sentences the way that seems most natural to them, while someone coming from an English background can form setnences the most natural way to them. And both will be understood equally well. We had, for example, a while a back, a discussion over which was "better": to use "cu" often, or to totally eschew it in favor of sumti that are competely terminated so that there was no need for it (i.e. "lo gerku cu barda" vs. "lo gerku ku barda"). There are vocal proponents on each side, so it amounts to a dialectical split, but.. so what?
--gejyspa