Re: where do so many tenses come from?

In article <e0mpu5$3aci@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
hrubin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Herman Rubin) wrote:

In article <ZhOWf.20177$dy4.12130@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
John Atkinson <johnacko@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

And what is the "right" metric? Give me two languages A and B, and I'll
guarantee you there's a metric in which A > B, and one in which B > A.

The appropriate metrics would be length of time needed to
communicate equally clearly,

Which requires a definition of "clear communication" that can be
applied across languages...

At minimum, this would require a complete, universal theory of
semantics and pragmatics. Good luck finding that!

Having a large number of distinct phonemes is an advantage
in speaking,

Not in every respect. The more phonemes you have, the more effort you
have to expend to keep them distinct from each other. Speakers of a
language like Hawai'ian won't care if their /p/ comes out a little bit
voiced or a little bit aspirated, so speakers don't have to control
their vocal cords as strictly every single time they say /p/; but in
Hindi, such variation is phonemic and must be avoided to prevent
potential misunderstanding.

Certainly, expending less effort is an advantage, no?

Hawaiian, and other Polynesian languages, are slower
because of the lack of phonemes.

Claims like this should be backed up with citations of relevant
research. Who has defined a cross-linguistic measure of "slowness"
and shown that Polynesian languages are "slower" than other languages?
I'd certainly be interested in reading their work!

Nathan

--
Nathan Sanders
Linguistics Program
Williams College
http://wso.williams.edu/~nsanders/
.

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