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From: deb5@midway.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Re: SF & Language - Minimums
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References: <E6Mw94.Io1@midway.uchicago.edu> <5fpi8b$bd0@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: Fri, 7 Mar 1997 23:17:13 GMT
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In article <5fpi8b$bd0@agate.berkeley.edu>,
Coby (Jacob) Lubliner <coby@euler.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>In article <E6Mw94.Io1@midway.uchicago.edu>,
>Daniel von Brighoff <deb5@midway.uchicago.edu> wrote:
>>In article <kedamono-0503972228290001@cnc096055.concentric.net>,
>>Kedamono <kedamono@concentric.net> wrote:
>>>However, reading is a learned ability. So while no human tongue could hope
>>>to twist around the sentence case/noun predicate structure of a truly
>>>alien language, you can always learn to read one.
>>
>>	I find this difficult to understand.  It is possible to read
>>languages that one cannot speak for physiological reasons (i.e. you never
>>learned the pronunciation, you have a speech impediment, the language is
>>signed, etc.).  However, if the reason you can't speak the language is
>>that the grammar is irreconcible with your own hardwired universal
>>grammar, how would seeing that grammar reproduced in written form overcome
>>the difficulty?  Writing is just a notational system for recording spoken
>>language 
>
>[etc.]
>
>This is far too Chomskian to withstand realistic scrutiny.  When I
>read mathematical equations, or notated music, what is the
>underlying spoken language?

I suspect that mathematicians can read complex equations without
"subvocalising" them; mere mortals like myself tend to read "e =
mc[superscript]2" as if it were another way of writing "E equals mc
squared".  (That is, those of us who learned maths in English.)

But this is besides the point.  It may be possible to read symbolic or
otherwise paralinguistic notational systems (such as for maths,
music, dance, etc.) divised by an alien whose language we would be
physiologically incapable of understanding.  But how would we distinguish
them from the linguistic notational systems (what I misleadingly called
"writing" in my previous post) which are impossible for us to understand?
It seems to me that, in such a situation, all alien writing would be
equally opaque.

-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
