new ideas

[Margaret Fleck]

Brian MacWhinney wrote:

> I much agree with your line of thinking that foregrounds principles  
> such as spatial symmetry, embedding, and recursion as precursors to  
> similar functions in language.  We all perceive the salience of  
> symmetry in houses and drawings.  But, like Lise, I would argue that   
> symmetry cannot apply directly to language on the sentential level,  
> since judgments of symmetry require the copresence of all pieces and  
> language evolves through a rapidly fading temporal medium.  Lise's  
> example of saying your phone number backwards was lovely.  There may  be 
> some symmetry effects at the level of the word and syllable,   since 
> those units are perceptually copresent.  There could also be  some 
> symmetry effects on the discourse or rhetorical levels, but  those would 
> be probably backed up by long-term training in rhetorical  form.

The mathematical term "symmetry" covers a wide range of type of self-similarity.
A better one to look for in a moving temporal medium would be translational
symmetry, better known as repetition of a pattern in the same order (rather
than reflected).   *THAT* is quite salient in language and in related domains
such as music and poetry.

Margaret
   (Margaret Fleck, U. Illinois)