Interesting synchronic explanation, but I feel the need to throw in some historical context. In medieval times I think the standard Christian belief was that anyone unbaptized (both babies and people of other religions) couldn't go to heaven - at best, would end up in purgatory. Particularly with high infant mortality rates at the time, this meant there was a clear reason to get the young'uns baptized as soon as you found a priest, so that if anything happened at least they could go to heaven.
Oh, and a side note on the Hebrew shvah - it's incorporated into English (and Linguistics) as schwa, the mid-central unstressed vowel found in such words as the first syllable in "Peninsula".
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Thanks
Date: 2005-11-30 02:03 am (UTC)Oh, and a side note on the Hebrew shvah - it's incorporated into English (and Linguistics) as schwa, the mid-central unstressed vowel found in such words as the first syllable in "Peninsula".