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<TITLE>Re: [ILAT] Culture trumps biology in language development, study argues (fwd link)</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:14pt'>Thank you for stating it so well for us. MJ<BR>
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On 4/15/11 10:05 AM, "Richard Zane Smith" <<a href="rzs@WILDBLUE.NET">rzs@WILDBLUE.NET</a>> wrote:<BR>
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</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:14pt'>kweh omateru',<BR>
If i understand correctly, it seems an understanding of THE BIG picture (paradigm) is ever expanding,<BR>
and when we recognize <I>universal patterns</I>, eg.,within physics, astronomical, molecular, <BR>
we can learn how BASIC universal patterns apply to all of reality ... even to our fields of linguistics. <BR>
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"Continual metamorphosis" (as Jess described) seems to be an established universal model,<BR>
pops up everywhere, not a concept foreign to any indigenous thinking i'm aware of.<BR>
Our own cultural expressions, reasons, and descriptions of "change" WILL be different, and thats the beauty.<BR>
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BUT is it merely from the halls of academia that the big picture comes into view?<BR>
or are indigenous cultures approaching the BIG PICTURE views in their own particular ways?<BR>
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For those of us in the process of revitalization of Language/Culture,<BR>
We have that difficult task of moving, often as our Maori friends describe as, our backs to the future.<BR>
How do we preserve worthy cultural distinction while appreciating the "BIG PICTURE" ?<BR>
Will the standardization of a ONE SIZE fits all GENERIC Academic system,<BR>
only feed the tsunami effects of an underlying undetected colonialism?<BR>
reducing all cultural circles to floating angular particles, with a touch of "nice" color here and there? <BR>
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Will our own cultural leaders return from Academic Institutions,the <I>new</I> secular missionaries<BR>
to compartmentalize our own cultural practices and life-ways into nice new ribbon shirts?<BR>
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I am <I>always</I> hungry to learn more! ... but at the same time I'm cautious and suspicious of <BR>
academicism, and Greenhouse grown paradigms, always reducing...always compartmentalizing,<BR>
It is the nature of conquest to blaze trails, be the first, to discover new uncharted territories<BR>
There is a very destructive side to all this reductionism that i find worrisome.<BR>
(the sciences once thought creating styrofoam for the entire world! was an excellent idea)<BR>
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ske:noh<BR>
Richard<BR>
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On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 2:29 AM, jess tauber <<a href="phonosemantics@earthlink.net">phonosemantics@earthlink.net</a>> wrote:<BR>
</SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE><FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:14pt'>Well, off topically, I've been reworking the Periodic Table, at both electronic and nuclear levels, and have found numerous new, previously unnoticed relations to the Pascal Triangle and the Golden Ratio. The latter appear in natural phenomena, both inanimate and living, all over the place, and at every scale. It should therefore not be surprising that people are looking into language structure and usage along these lines as well. I also dabble in optical theory, one application of my work may give us the ability to create new space telescope objectives on the scale of many miles or larger, cheaply, that will let us image planets around other stars. We'll be able to watch the pod people squabble about their endangered communicative systems. Exolinguists, sign up now.<BR>
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As for word roots and their naturalness within particular language systems, it seems to me that there is always a reworking going on, ultimately based on some semiotic principle or other, at some constructional level. Continuous metamorphosis. This might explain the distribution of sound symbolism in the languages of the world, against morphosyntactic type, word formation, etc. It reminds me a bit of the heirloom hammer where the father had to replace the head after it rusted through, and the son got a new handle after the original rotted.<BR>
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Jess Tauber<BR>
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