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Su Cheng Zhong Posted 21 years ago
Linguistics Studies
The reform of linguistics
Linguistic law
We know that the computer use only two codes to describe the whole universe. Can people using two phonetic symbols, for instance A and B to describe the world too? Definitely, they can. The only different is that the expressing speed may be very slow. Supposing a certain language has 400 different phonetic symbols and there are only 400 different things waiting to be expressed in the world. The 400-symbol speaker can easily use each phonetic symbol to indicate each of those different things. While the 2-phonetic symbol speaker, some times has to use 9-phonetic symbol to express one of those different things, for 222222222>440. Just imaging, the 400-symbol speaker say , which like English means 'myself', correspondingly, the 2-phonetic symbol speaker perhaps must say . While, what if the 400-symbol speaker gives out four to five phonetic symbols in one second? The 2-symbol speaker could not utter 49=36 phonetic symbols in the same time. We not say a faster expressing language is a smart language, but obviously it is a language with faster thinking speed. The reason is that as our thinking system is a sort of 'speaking in mind' so a faster expressing system means a faster thinking speed. People utter a phonetic symbol will spend roughly 250msec. Just imaging, 400-symbol speaker using 5250=1250msec to finish a sentence, at the end, what is in his mind is the idea of this sentence. While at the same time the two phonetic patterns' speaker gets only one ninth of the same idea of this sentence. From psychology we know that a word like is much harder to remember than a simple . So the linguistics law is that when the phonetic symbol increased in a language, the thinking speed and vocabulary-in-mind of the speakers would be increased also, vice versa. Then the key issue is how to find out more phonetic symbol for a certain language.
We know that the computer use only two codes to describe the whole universe. Can people using two phonetic symbols, for instance A and B to describe the world too? Definitely, they can. The only different is that the expressing speed may be very slow. Supposing a certain language has 400 different phonetic symbols and there are only 400 different things waiting to be expressed in the world. The 400-symbol speaker can easily use each phonetic symbol to indicate each of those different things. While the 2-phonetic symbol speaker, some times has to use 9-phonetic symbol to express one of those different things, for 222222222>440. Just imaging, the 400-symbol speaker say , which like English means 'myself', correspondingly, the 2-phonetic symbol speaker perhaps must say . While, what if the 400-symbol speaker gives out four to five phonetic symbols in one second? The 2-symbol speaker could not utter 49=36 phonetic symbols in the same time. We not say a faster expressing language is a smart language, but obviously it is a language with faster thinking speed. The reason is that as our thinking system is a sort of 'speaking in mind' so a faster expressing system means a faster thinking speed. People utter a phonetic symbol will spend roughly 250msec. Just imaging, 400-symbol speaker using 5250=1250msec to finish a sentence, at the end, what is in his mind is the idea of this sentence. While at the same time the two phonetic patterns' speaker gets only one ninth of the same idea of this sentence. From psychology we know that a word like is much harder to remember than a simple . So the linguistics law is that when the phonetic symbol increased in a language, the thinking speed and vocabulary-in-mind of the speakers would be increased also, vice versa. Then the key issue is how to find out more phonetic symbol for a certain language.
Top answer
Su Cheng Zhong wrote: . . the key issue is how to find out more phonetic symbol for a certain language.
- Su Cheng Zhong wrote: .
- .
- the key issue is how to find out more phonetic symbol for a certain language.
- Creoles and pidgins do just that, I suppose.
- , Japanese) are phonologically binary: consonant+vowel.
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80 Answers
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Su Cheng Zhong wrote:
. . . the key issue is how to find out more phonetic symbol for a certain language.
Creoles and pidgins do just that, I suppose.
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The 'phonetic symbol' I used above is in fact the 'phonetic pattern' not the syllable. I am going to explain this term. Why I don't use 'syllable. The question must start from why the ancient people invent this unit? It is a unit irrigular in time. 'a' is a syllable. 'sprint' is also a syllable. Repeating them seceral times, you will understand the different. The old linguistics is target on lear
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All you're saying is: a bigger "bandwidth" carries more info. How big can the bandwidth get, I wonder.
We need to consult the IPA!
We need to consult the IPA!
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Of course we need consult IPA, but some of their concept require some change. For instance, some times, it is very hard to denote a 'Phonetic pattern' in any letters. It is not syllable, not CV note. 'man' is a syllable, it is not a CV note or we may say, it is a series of CVC, yet it is one 'phonetic pattern'. While the 'mad' is also a CVC series. It would be classified more than one 'phonetic
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Before you go any further, you may keep in mind the limits of human ability. What you suggest may be more efficient, but probably more than an average human can handle
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I have think about this question. The answer is positive. For the Chinese Cantonese can detect nine tones in the average pronunciation. They are human being, like any of the people. Every time I talk about this, most English speaker feel sad. But I warn you, don't be so sad for their tones are far from fully employed. In fact, plenty of their vowels are just employing one tone, exactly like the a
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>For the Chinese Cantonese can detect nine tones in the average pronunciation.
Well, I speak Cantonese, and I can't always tell one tone from another.
I'm not aware that English has tones. English has stresses, but not tones, I believe.
Mandarin has four tones and a neutral.
Again, I find your suggestion a bit ethnocentric. (No offense) We can't model a unive
Well, I speak Cantonese, and I can't always tell one tone from another.
I'm not aware that English has tones. English has stresses, but not tones, I believe.
Mandarin has four tones and a neutral.
Again, I find your suggestion a bit ethnocentric. (No offense) We can't model a unive
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During the long linguistic history, I can only find three models of language. First one is Phoenician. We know that they invented the alphabetic system for the current alphabetic world. Yet they only recognized the consonants as information carrier. Then since Greek, the language recognized both vowels and consonants as information carrier. While in East Asia, since their writing system was not d
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Many people can speak four or five languages or more. The more languages we speak, the wider our cultural perspectives. Perhaps we then have a more comprehensive view of what a "good" linguistic system comprises, and how different people view "effective communication" differently.
Problem is, every language is developed to cater to their speakers' needs (so it's effective within its o
Problem is, every language is developed to cater to their speakers' needs (so it's effective within its o
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They speak several languages, but I doubt if they can speak them as well as the native speaker. The English has more than one million words; some of the Europe language has the vocabulary like this. If some one knows 5 percent each language it would take a long time to learn them. He may not speak all of them fluently. I have said that the reason of Shakspea having such good English is that in hi
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