Re: CHAT: The Conlang Instinct
| From: | Gerald Koenig <jlk@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, December 8, 1999, 21:25 |
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>Status: RO
>
>Quoth Gerald Koenig:
>> Anyway, I stumbled across an article yesterday on synesthesis in
>> Discover Magazine that got me thinking. I read it because I used to
>> meet every week in a class with someone who mentioned one day that she
>> could taste my words. I could hardly imagine that. According to the
>> article she is not alone. Here is a table from the article that
>> describes 175 synesthetes:
>>
>> Numbers and letters evoking colors 69%
>
>*WOW*. I always thought it was a bit weird, but I do this, and never
>realised it was a widespread thing. I see some words but *especially*
>numbers as colours. Or rather, shades of grey. I had no idea other
>people did too!
Hola, Don,
It looks like you're in good company here on Conlang. Since I posted,
three people on the list have mentioned that they have some synesthetic
sensibilites; I just checked the article I quoted from the Dec.
Discover magazine and the occurrence is thought to be one in 2000 in the
general population.
I don't think I have the synesthetic capabilities. Teaching my grandson
the number combinations for arithmetic lately, I realized I usually do
them in an imageless mode. On the other hand, music often evokes a
panoply of colors for me, but it doesn't seem to have the repeatability
required. My son the composer said he sees a lot of stable color with
the keys.
It's quite humbleing to realize that the images we build in others in
the process of communication cannot always be identical to the ones we
try to convey. If another reason is needed for tolerance of the other's
views, this is it. I do believe that the meaning words carry,
especially Wierzbicka's 89 "semantic primes" which are by definition
and experiment universal, may not have the same essential internal
representation for each person, and right there is reason enough to
make a personal conlang.
Thanks for sharing your world,
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Jerry | Without careful communication
Gerald Lea Koenig | jlkatnetcomdotcom There is boundless demonization.
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