Some have been operating as hybrids, with an -ed past and an irregular past participle. Irregular verbs with a half-life of 700 years are going or gone. The most frequently used irregular verbs, however, look likely to outlast the language.Įnglish has been developing (and changing) for more than 1,400 years. According to the findings, many have already reached their half-lives others are nearing them. The Harvard study calculated the half-life of 177 English irregular verbs. This is a normal part of the development of the language. Nevertheless, I accept the fact that many of the remaining irregulars are being lost daily to regularization: changing their distinctive past forms to -ed in both the simple past and past participle. I see them as a link with the oldest form of the language, living fossils still in use. Irregular verbs are one of my favorite things about English. The less frequently a verb is used, the more quickly will it begin to decay.
In 2007, a group of Harvard mathematicians developed a formula to calculate the half-life of English irregular verbs. Now, the term is also applied to the time required for half the amount of any substance to be “eliminated or disintegrated by natural processes.” The radioactive application dates from 1907. One earlier meaning was “an unsatisfactory way of life.” Another was “the size of painting half life-size.” The term half-life existed before the term was applied to the breakdown of a radioactive substance.
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