Sunday, April 4, 2010
Linguistic wave patterns: The ECG of linguistics
Well, I am going to try to explain my theory of linguistics as a sound wave. It seems that language has a perpetual motion effect that continues no matter what. Of course language is not a single wave but a multiplex set of waves that run parallel like a current. A single wave is composed of a mid point plateau, upper ascending, top climactic point, upper descending, plateau, lower descending, low climactic point, lower ascending, plateau an so on. The midpoint or where the plateaus happen is the points of change within one language. For example, if there is an extension of estar this would be marked as a plateau because it is a change to the established rule. The length of the wave segments marks the time it takes for the change to occur or the length of time it takes for the decline or uptake of a linguistic doing within the language. Now in the English language this same wave pattern happens and when something like codemixing happens the waves intermingle overlapping in the high and low climactic points. I think of this whole thing as the ECG of linguistics. Hopefully I can develop some kind of software where I can map speech. Hopefully this does not create a “so what” feeling but it is more a scientific approach that can actually be used in application.
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Hola Jose,
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting view of language. However, I would not think of the plateau as a changing point in a language, because nothing seems to be happening. I would think of the ascents and descents of the wave as changing points. The steeper the wave the faster the language is changing. I would analyze these points as where language contact is speeding up the evolution of a certain language. It'd be like calculating the derivative. Whereas, the plateau would be more like a lack of language contact and thus a slower velocity of change.