Newsgroups: sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!Germany.EU.net!EU.net!sun4nl!mcv
From: mcv@inter.NL.net (Miguel Carrasquer)
Subject: Re: Language and genes
Message-ID: <D08Mr4.DsI@inter.NL.net>
Organization: NLnet
References: <634@percep.demon.co.uk> <aldersonD05v91.I90@netcom.com> <D06KqA.D2J@inter.NL.net> <3boeun$eot@amy13.Stanford.EDU>
Date: Sat, 3 Dec 1994 13:57:03 GMT
Lines: 48

In article <3boeun$eot@amy13.Stanford.EDU>,
Nathaniel Michael Pearson <raindrop@leland.stanford.edu> wrote:
>In article <D06KqA.D2J@inter.NL.net>,
>Miguel Carrasquer <mcv@inter.NL.net> wrote:
>
>>...Random variations in the
>>phonetic realization of (vowel) sounds are always present as "back-
>>ground noise": allophones, speech-defects, realizations in rapid
>>speech, etc.   This is the "equilibrium" state.  The equilibrium
>>can be suddenly disrupted (`punctuated') by a particularly "strong"
>>mutation.
>
>One problem with punctuated equilibrium models is that they may assume the
>existence of true equilibria.  Please pardon the cosmological posturing, but 
>anywhere, anytime except the heat death of the universe, there is no 
>equilibrium (if one accepts that there are no closed systems).  A language, an
>organism, an ecosystem, etc. are never fully at equilibrium; they may approach
>equilibrium in their apparent stability, but this stability is _always_
>transient as long as order remains, and even during an apparently stable
>phase things are changing.  This is a key foundation of a gradualist approach 
>-- to recognize that things are always changing at some level. Some mutations 
>are indeed "strong"-er than others, but all probably have effects, and, 
>ultimately, all probably have causes.
>

Well, I agree that there is no such thing as "true equilibrium".
`Panta rhei' as the Ancient Greeks said.  However, truly gradual
changes are also very rare.  Now this may be an artifact of the
_level_ at which one looks at things.  If you are looking at
individual H2O molecules as they approach the boiling point, not 
much happens: they just gradually increase their speed (kinetic
energy is I believe the technical term).  Only when viewed from 
a more macroscopic level is there a relatively sudden "phase-
transition".  The same holds for language change.
At the `microscopic' level of phonetics, a gradual and unspectacular
change takes place.  At the `macroscopic' level of phonology, there's 
a sudden system change.  This means however, that the _causes_
for the "microscopic" (gradual) change, are largely irrelevant
from the macroscopic point of view.  In other words, the
weatherman does not concern himself with the flapping of
butterfly's wings (to take another analogy [Lorentz's butterfly]
from the physical sciences).


-- 
Miguel Carrasquer         ____________________  ~~~
Amsterdam                [                  ||]~  
mcv@inter.NL.net         ce .sig n'est pas une .cig 
