Unlocking the secret sounds of language

[Mia Kalish]

*       even though Universal Grammar says it should be so and linguists
labor to make it so

 

 If you look at the exceptions to the UG rules, and the exceptions to the
exceptions, and the general applicability of UG to PIE languages, and you
incorporate the understanding that Chomsky wanted to be a programmer, the
“Rules” of UG become very suspect. 

 

Story: Chomsky was speaking at UNM in Albuquerque here in NM, and he was
saying that all languages contain all the words that describe the world. It
was a pretty sweeping statement, and a person in the audience asked, Does
that mean that every language has words for ‘carburetor’? , the implication
being of course that since words needed to be invented, they couldn’t all be
encapsulated just waiting to be activated or awakened. :-) 

 

And OF COURSE PIE languages are going to look similar in UG: They are all
derived from the same root :-) 

‘Course, people don’t tell you this. Everyone is so baffled by Chomsky and
his metanarrative, that they don’t feel that what they see is worth putting
forth. ‘Cept of course for little renegades like me, who have actually BEEN
to MIT, who actually KNOW Minsky, and Yngve, and lots of other people
involved in the various projects. Although I haven’t actually had the
misfortune of having to deal with Chomsky face to face. People put him in a
building far, far away. The man is driven, and I think between him and the
one-armed man, they have done more damage to indigenous languages than maybe
even religion. 

 

Good morning everyone, guess I’m feeling feisty in the beautiful cool air.
But like Mihesuah writes, someone has to start telling the truth. The upshot
of UG, by the way, is that it doesn’t work. UG was supposed to process
language for the military. And the military actually CARE whether stuff
works or not. NOT. :-) 

 

Mia 

 

  _____  

From: Indigenous Languages and Technology [mailto:ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU]
On Behalf Of phil cash cash
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 10:35 PM
To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ILAT] Unlocking the secret sounds of language

 

After reading the article, I have to root for the Pirahã here as I am ever
more convinced that as more and more indigenous languages become documented
that the natural genius of human language will become evident.  With 6,000
(est.) languages in the world we seem to know so little about how or why a
language should be in our mouth making sounds but we do pretty good when it
does.  

Too it seems most appropriate now that it takes a fairly remote indigenous
speech community to revolutionize the way we think about language!  I do
hope that the Pirahã continue to remain Pirahã as I do not wish them to be
like us even though Universal Grammar says it should be so and linguists
labor to make it so.  

Phil Cash Cash

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