A word is produced by a highly intricate succession of acts on the part of the vocal organs; a careless and unheeded omission of any one of them results in a mutilation of the word, or a slight relaxation of the energy of articulation affects the character of one on the sounds in the compound; and as the word answers its purpose just as well as before, it passes without notice, and the act is repeated, and becomes first customary, then constant. This is, in fact, the normal method of phonetic corruption […].
- Whitney (1875), Pag. 147-148

When phonetic corruption has disguised too much, or has swept away, the characteristics of a form, so that it becomes an exceptional or anomalous case, there is an inclination to remodel it on a prevailing norm.
- Whitney (1875), Pag. 74