ABSTRACT
The exceptionless change must occur in a given area and at a given period, since the law operative for one dialectal zone need not apply to another, and the operation of the law is definitely circumscribed in time, so that a word entering the language after the law has ceased operating is not subject to that law. Analogy being, by its very nature, a highly elastic and flexible line of defense, it was not only adroitly used, but maladroitly overused by the believers in the sound laws. The problem of law vs. free choice must be solved on a compromise basis, with the recognition of trends or tendencies in linguistic change, accompanied by numerous exceptions, many of which are reducible to secondary laws, while others must be described as exceptions pure and simple, due to the capricious arbitrium of the speakers.
