diachronic compensation

[Steven Schaufele]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Dear fellow historical & comparative linguists,
 
Wrt Larry Trask's recent question about (if i understand him correctly)
a shorthand label for the observation that diachronic `simplification'
in one area of a language's (e.g.) grammar is typically compensated for
by a relative `complication' in another, Theo Vennemann made a valuable
bibliographic recommendation and then wrote:
 
> The consequence is so self-evident that I do not really think a name is
> needed. If things were different, languages would be optimal on all
> parameters, which is impossible. Thus, the principle also follows
> from the observation that languages keep an overall identical level
> of complexity, at least as long as we do not talk about language de-
> velopment in terms of the evolution of the species.
 
It -- the diachronic compensation between different grammar-modules
mentioned earlier, as well as Theo's `observation that languages keep an
overall identical level of complexity' -- is self-evident to *us* who
spend our time and intellectual energies studying the matter; i suppose
the value of sex for rearranging genes is self-evident to geneticists,
biologists, and evolutionists.  But it's very far from evident to the
general public, including the intelligent, relatively well-educated
public.  (I'm thinking of my own parents, among others, who in spite of
being at least tetraglot if not pentaglot still tend to assume that
English as a whole is `simpler' than, e.g., Latin or Polish, and Modern
English is `simpler' than Old English or Modern German.  I'm also
thinking of my own students here in Taiwan, some of whom are astonished
at the notion that Chinese has any `grammar' at all.) This `principle'
that Larry is seeking a convenient label for is something we need to
reiterate iteratively in our dialogue with the general public, and for
that reason i'm entirely sympathetic to Larry's quest.
 
Best,
Steven
--
Steven Schaufele, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. of Linguistics, English Department
 
Soochow University, Waishuanghsi Campus, Taipei 11102, Taiwan, ROC
 
(886)(02)2881-9471 ext. 6504     fcosw5 at mbm1.scu.edu.tw
 
http://www.prairienet.org/~fcosws/homepage.html
 
 
 
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