Re: Two-dimensional time and the friends of Whorfians (was:Re:Chinese dimensionality

Quoting Ray Brown <ray.brown@...>:

> The point is surely that he maintains that the Chinese language treats
> [spacetime] as five-dimensional. It is certainly news to me and, presumably,
> it is news to Andreas. He asked in his first mail - and I quote:
> "[can] any of our Chinese speakers here can think of any feature of
> Sinitic grammar or vocabulary that might, thru exaggeration or
> misunderstanding, give rise to such a claim"?
>
> What features in the Chinese language have given the guy the idea that
> Chinese treats spacetime five-dimensionally?
Thanks, Ray. That's indeed precisely what I wonder.

I must confess that apart from Jörg's (IMHO largely justified) attack on the
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, I've found the replies to this thread this far somewhat
confusing.

If any Chinese-speaking person is following this, your input would be
appreciated, even if it's only "no, I can't think why he might think that".


Quoting "Joseph B." <darkmoonman@...>:

> > It's based on his kooky behaviour. Strikes me as the kind of person who
> spends
> > to much time alone reading and philosophizing. Despite being (claiming to
> be) a
> > professional translator, he is no good at all at communicating his
> thoughts
>
> > Or shall we just say good at translating? How far a translator understands
>
> > the thoughts behind the words s/he translates is another matter.
>
> I've been amused more than once by translations done by "professionals".
> :-)
> "professional" sometimes means no more than "has convinced someone to pay
> for his work".
>
> Andreas shared with me that the guy is posting only assertions and appeals
> to authority - no examples, logical arguments, etc. Typical, yet
> disappointing.
I thought that went to the list. I'm still not used to gmail, it seems.

Indeed, his argumentation mostly takes the form "I know this subject and have
long thought about it; you have not, and should therefore accept whatever I
say".

                                                       Andreas

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