ABSTRACT
What part then does the individual speaker play in these sound-shirtings? Do they start with the individual and spread from him to others in ever-widen~ ing circles? Gauchat decid~dly thinks not: 'The indkvidual counts for nothing in this phonetic development. The first individual who said du pa instead of dow pi}, did not make the others follow his example. It simply was not remarked'. (p. 202). His material shows him no trace of personal influence, and as he puts it roundly: 'j'ai etudie, d'une fa~on sommaire, environ 50 langues individuelles et je n'y ai rien trouve d'individuel' (p. 231).
