Re: what is etymology? (linguistics and biology)

What is language? and what makes the specific human
language so different from other forms of communication?

At age 14 I asked myself a question: what is language?
I pondered this question for more than eleven years,
and then, in 1974/75, at age 25/26, I found this answer:

Language is the means of getting help, support and
understanding from those we depend upon in one way
or another --- and every means of getting help, support
and understanding may be called language, on whatever
level of life it occurs, whereby the form of language used
mirrors that level of life. We humans make use of tools,
we fabricate plenty things, and shape our surroundings
by the help of all kinds of devices, we create an artificial
world, which requires art, namely a harmony of the
artificial with nature in both forms, within ourselves,
and around us. Now the use of tools and other objects
is mirrored in human language, namely in the use of
words. First of all, a word names an object, such as
a tool, a board, a table, a brick, a wall, a house ....
A tent, a roof, a vault makes you see the sky as
a vault overarching the earth, and thus you may
coin a word for it. A human shape drawn on the wall
of a cave, or formed in clay, allows to name man,
Adam, the one made of clay. A statue may be as
perfect, natural and lovely as ever possible, there
will always lack something to the real human being,
and that what's lacking is called life, as if it were
a thing of its own, an elusive one, though, like air,
breath, which became the symbol of life. A noun
can become a word, and a word a noun, life live,
live life. A band may tie two objects, and can then
become the symbol of unity, band (b)and and ...
As we combine different elements when building
a house, bricks, boards, beams, planks, nails,
metal tubes, glass panes, according to the rules
of the respective craftmanship, we add words to
sentences and paragraphs and speeches, or
articles and books, according to the rules of
grammar and syntax. Using language we play
God, we create the world, at least in the mind of
our listener. When I say: the sky is blue, I create
a sky and paint it blue. When I say: the sun rises,
I create a sun and make it rise ... The creative power
of language serves the basic purpose of language,
namely finding help, support and understanding from
those we depend upon: we (try to) shape the world
in such a way that a listener or reader can't but agree
and will in the final end understand our opinion and
help and support us the way he or she can.

Next time: reading a further Goebekli Tepe hieroglyph

Regards Franz Gnaedinger www.seshat.ch


ABC genes

An article in the New Scientist raises an old question:
why did Albert Einstein, Paul Dirac, Richard P. Feynman
and others rely on the beauty and elegance of their theories,
even when contradicted by evidence? I like to answer that
question by means of the ABC genes that shape a blossom.
Here some quotes from Stephen Jay Gould, "The Structure
of Evolutionary Theory," chapter: "Deep Homology and
Pervasive Parallelism: Historical Constraints as the Primary
Gatekeeper and Guardian of Morphosphere." Gould mentions
the ABC model by Coen, Meyerowitz, Juergens, Busch,
Bomblies, Weigel, Wagner, Sablowsky et al. that explains
how the blossoms of Arabidopsis are formed by three genes
called A B C that work partly alone and partly together:
"In this elegant simple model (...) based on genes with
homoeotic effects upon serially repeated structures
arranged in systematic order (with repetitions in concentric
whorls rather than linearly along a body axis), A genes
operating alone determine the form of the outermost whorl
of leaf-like sepals; A plus B genes build the male stamens,
while C genes working alone make the most interior female
carpels. Moreover, _leafy_, a "higher central" gene previously
recognized as an initiator or suppressor of floral growth and
placement in general (...), apparently also regulates the more
specific operation of the ABC series (...). This model enjoys
obvious significance for the full gamut of evolutionary theory
(...) I merely wish to highlight a linguistic point: the selected
terminology of ABC surely encapsulates the accurate
impression (and the excitement) of researchers who recognize
their role as pioneers engaged in the construction of a basic
alphabet for a new understanding of nature."

The genes that produce our body certainly have an influence
on our mind and make us prefer simple and elegant theories
that explain complex structures with little effort, as the ABC
genes, alone and in cooperation, form a beautiful blossom,
discovered in the case of Arabidopis, probably holding for
every blossom, and, I dare say, also for blossoms of the
human genius.

Another question closely related to the above question:
do we construct our theories, or discover them? My
answer: we construct them, guided by the deep wisdom
contained in our genes.

Next time: what is language? and what makes human
language so different from other forms of communication?

.

Relevant Pages

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