Metamorphosis: the evolution of language [1]
The word 'metamorphosis' means 'change'; it's an English word taken from the Greek word μεταμόρφωσις, which literally means a change of shape. Metamorphosis is a key element of biological evolution, seen clearly in the change of animal species from one to another, sometimes with dramatic changes in shape.
In a similar way to evolution, all human languages change over time.[1] Just like evolution, this process eventually produces new languages, and results in the death of other languages. Some languages change faster than other, depending on the environment and the various pressures which cause language developments.
In many ways, the change of language is like evolution. However, in some ways it is quite different. Over time, evolution has produced a massive number of different species on our planet, which (as a general trend), started from very simple life forms which developed into more and more complex organisms.
However, the development of languages over time is very different. Although it is natural for us to think that earlier languages from less modern societies must be very simple, and that languages have become more complex over time as our societies have become more sophisticated, the opposite is true; older languages are typically much more complicated than modern languages.[2]
What we find, interestingly, is that over time languages show a general trend of becoming simpler. This kind of change involves a combination of different influences which may not all apply in each situation, but some of them are typical to any language change. These influences will be described in the second post of this series.
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[1] 'All human speech varieties are always in a constant process of slow transformation into what eventually will be so different as to be a new language entirely. This change is certainly influenced by historical, social, and cultural conditions but is not caused by them alone; the change would continue apace even without these things.
Just as we can understand biology only by being fully aware of the centrality of evolution to how life as we know it arose and will develop, we can truly understand language only by shedding the Monopoly-instructions conception that school inculcates us with and replacing it with a conception of language as a fundamentally mutative phenomenon.', Whorter, 'The Power of Babel', p. 16 (2003).
[2] 'One might quite reasonably suppose that a First World culture with tall buildings, cappucino, and Pokemon would have a grammatically "richer" language, necessary to convey the particular complexities inherent to our treadmill to oblivion, whereas preliterate cultures such as, say, those in the Amazon rain forest would have "simpler" languages for simpler lives. "Bunga bunga bunga!!!!" as the natives say in old cartoons.
Ironically, however, if there is any difference along these lines, it is the opposite: the more remote and "primitive" the culture, the more likely the language is to be bristling with constructions and declensions and exceptions and bizarre sounds that leave an English speaker wondering how anyone could actually speak the language without running the risk of a stroke. Meanwhile, many of the hotshot "airport" languages are rather simple in many ways in comparison with the "National Geographic" cultures' languages: English, Spanish, and Japanese grammar are "Romper Room" compared with any language spoken by the hunter-gatherers who first inhabited the Americas.', Whorter, 'The Power of Babel', p. 6 (2003).
Comment
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Comment by Robin Hariyadi on April 30, 2012 at 1:00pm -
Yes, it shows that if the life never start by itself, how could it even develop by itself?
Francis Crick is an interesting figure. I include that in the list because he also said that : "Every time I write a paper on the origin of life I swear I will never write another one, because there is too much speculation running after too few facts." or " Darwinian biologists must keep repeating that reminder to themselves because otherwise they might become conscious of the reality that is staring them in the face and trying to get their attention." they realize their biological knowledge and what does it shows them.
sorry, i what i meant with use of "evolution" word is your use as a starter to the series.
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Comment by 白炯涵 （Jon Burke) on April 30, 2012 at 12:33pm -
Klaus Dose and Hubert Yockey only opposed the idea of abiogenesis (not evolution), and Francis Crick was a strong supporter of evolution. Although there are various disagreements about the specific details of biological evolution, the overwhelming scientific consensus supports it, and it has been used as the basis of breakthroughs in biological and medical science for decades.
Regardless, I believe 'evolution' is a good word to use for the change of language over time, because that's what happens with language; it changes under natural and artificial selection, it experiences mutations, and develops new species. I will do my best to make my next post in this series tonight. I'm glad you're enjoying it. :)
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Comment by Robin Hariyadi on April 30, 2012 at 12:19pm
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We could refer to Klaus Dose, Hubert Yockey, and Francis Crick. Those great people (and also many other) have also scientific consensus that biological evolution has many problem.
Well the language part, i think is all about transmitting message. Would love to see your next series! It is just the use of "evolution" word should be taken with care.
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Comment by 白炯涵 （Jon Burke) on April 30, 2012 at 11:37am
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Thanks for your comment Robin. Regardless of whether biological evolution is happening (and the overwhelming scientific consensus is that it is), the fact is that 'evolution' is still an appropriate word to use for the change of language over time.
Although languages do tend to simplify over time, they are not getting back to any 'basic form of unity'; in fact it is doubtful that there was ever any basic form of unit. In addition, not all languages do simplify over time, for reasons I will be explaining, and the vast majority of languages used in human society will simply die out before they change significantly.
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Comment by Robin Hariyadi on April 30, 2012 at 11:33am
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The introduction has a problematic usage of "evolution" word. This is a debatable subject as darwinism has been approved by some but also rejected by some others.
Also, as far as i read from the two series, it seems that language is just getting back to its basic form of unity? so, it does not suppose to be called evolution at all?
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Comment by 白炯涵 （Jon Burke) on April 23, 2012 at 8:45am
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Looks great. :)
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Comment by Ben Koo on April 23, 2012 at 6:23am -
Jon:
I found an online cryptography course on Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/course/crypto
There are many other courses on this website. They are mostly under 15 mins. We can use this to supplement our material for learning.
Ben
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Comment by 白炯涵 （Jon Burke) on April 22, 2012 at 9:47pm
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Information theory connects well with this subject; it would be easy to design a simple demonstration of the Shannon-Hartley Theorem which the kids could understand. I'm not good with math, but I certainly know about information theory.
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Comment by Ben Koo on April 22, 2012 at 9:00pm
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Jon:
I recently met a guy from Hackerspaces who studied encryption and control theory for his doctoral work. He and I both think a mathematical course for kids can be designed to incorporate ideas from cryptography theories. It could also be a lot of fun. More importantly, these courses would better integrate mathematical ideas with real life events. However, we need to find the right instructors to help us design the course.
Ben
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Comment by 白炯涵 （Jon Burke) on April 22, 2012 at 8:08pm
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Ben, the subject of encoding information, and information media, are linked directly to this subject. It's a fascinating area of study, and I believe it has a great dealt to teach our kids. We are supposed to be living in the 'information age', yet children are taught virtually nothing about key principles of language theory, and core information concepts which can help them become effective information brokers later in life. I am very interested in writing a course on this subject, which is what these blog posts are about.
Events
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THUISS Pre-Lecture Series 1
July 10, 2013 at 8am to July 15, 2013 at 8pm – S.T. Building 舜德楼
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