Re: THEORY: Storage Vs. Computation

Charles wrote:

> Ed Heil wrote:
>
> > But surely it's not true that there is a unidirectional tendency
> > towards loss of irregularity?  If that were so, we'd all have
> > wondroudly regular languages by now.
>
> I think the natlangs ARE wondrously regular and logical.
> But we waste disproportionate effort with needless exceptions.
> There are tendencies making language more ornate as well,
> and probably many others orthogonal to both.
As The Dude said in the movie _The Big Lebowski,_, "Well, that's,
just, like, your opinion, man."

"Wondrously regular and logical" is not the impression I get both
from observing natlangs firsthand and from watching linguists try to
come up with regular and logical theories that actually work for them.
 But I will allow that we may have different definitions of
"wondrously regular and logical."

Indeed, I'm not sure I'd find something that is utterly "regular and
logical" all that "wondrous," but that's an aesthetic judgement.

> > I suspect that on the contrary
> > languages tend to lose irregularity and suppletion under stress
>
> I don't think creolization is a normal means of simplification.
Didn't say it was.  Just said that situations where a lot of people
have to learn a language under less-than-optimal circumstances are a
normal means of simplification.  Things needn't go as far as
creolization, just heavy usage of a language as a second rather than
first and only language.

But that's just my guess.  As far as I know, nobody has nailed down
for certain the factors that cause languages to change and dictate in
what directions they change.

> A true creole only seems to arise following major disaster.
> A pidgin like the Lingua Franca might arise out of "tourist talk".
> I just wish we had something more presentable to alien visitors.
Invent it. :)

Ed Heil ------ edheil@postmark.net
--- http://purl.org/net/edheil ---