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Wow! I like the "isness" concept! It sure beats "wasness" as in static or petrified or atrophied or tending toward entropy. On Sat, Nov 20, 2010 at 1:13 PM, Joseph Gilbert <joeg4us@roadrunner.com>wrote: > Dear Robert Lake: > In the absence of any conclusive information on the meaning of any thing, > we humans rely on the effects of our words, (as sounds), to inform us of how > we are affected by that which makes up our environment. This informing seems > to take place subliminally and to provide us with a sensesence of the isness > of, (the nature of), any thing for which we have a name. I suppose that > spoken language can be thought of as regulated singing. Singing could be > likened to free-form dancing while talking could be likened to square > dancing or to some other form of dance with rules. > > Joseph Gilbert > > > > On Nov 20, 2010, at 6:24 AM, Robert Lake wrote: > > Serpel and Joseph, >> >> I appreciate your dialogue on this. >> >> Have you read Jesperson's thought on this. >> >> *Men sang out their feelings long before they were able to speak their >> thoughts. But of course we must not imagine that "singing" means exactly >> the >> same thing here as in a modern concert hall. When we say that speech >> originated in song, what we mean is merely that our comparatively >> monotonous >> spoken language and our highly developed vocal music are differentiations >> of >> primitive utterances, which had more in them of the latter than of the >> former. These utterances were at first, like the singing of birds and the >> roaring of many animals and the crying and crooning of babies, >> exclamative, >> not communicative -- that is, they came forth from an inner craving of the >> individual… * >> >> * They little suspected that in singing as nature prompted them they >> were paving the way for a language capable of rendering minute shades of >> thought; just as they could not suspect that out of their coarse pictures >> of >> men and animals there should one day grow an art enabling men of distant >> countries to speak to one another.* >> >> * * 0. Jesperson, *Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin*( >> London: >> Allen & Unwin,1922), pp.436-437. >> >> >> On Sat, Nov 20, 2010 at 12:04 AM, Joseph Gilbert <joeg4us@roadrunner.com >> >wrote: >> >> Serpel; >>> I suggest you explore your own emotional/somatic reactions to the vocal >>> sounds of whatever language you wish. If you do not feel any reaction, >>> then >>> look for what emotional states the sounds suggest? Spoken language is >>> founded upon sounds of the body, sounds that convey states of the body's >>> emotions. The use of these sounds as words, to refer to things, is based >>> upon their being expressive emotionally. Scientists have been distracted >>> by >>> the referential function of spoken language and have neglected to study >>> the >>> primal function of vocal body language, the conveyance of what's going on >>> with the moment-by-moment emotional process. >>> >>> Joseph Gilbert >>> >>> >>> >>> On Nov 19, 2010, at 10:18 AM, Serpil S Sonmez wrote: >>> >>> I thought this is a very timely article after >>> >>>> Vygotsky/Sapir/Whorf/Saussure discussions. >>>> Best, >>>> >>>> Serpil S. Fox >>>> >>>> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101103111206.htm >>>> >>>> The paper appears in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. >>>> "Charlemagne is reputed to have said that to speak another language is >>>> to >>>> possess another soul," says co-author Oludamini Ogunnaike, a graduate >>>> student at Harvard. "This study suggests that language is much more than >>>> a >>>> medium for expressing thoughts and feelings. Our work hints that >>>> language >>>> creates and shapes our thoughts and feelings as well." >>>> >>>> Implicit attitudes, positive or negative associations people may be >>>> unaware they possess, have been shown to predict behavior towards >>>> members of >>>> social groups. Recent research has shown that these attitudes are quite >>>> malleable, susceptible to factors such as the weather, popular culture >>>> -- >>>> or, now, by the language people speak. >>>> >>>> "Can we shift something as fundamental as what we like and dislike by >>>> changing the language in which our preferences are elicited?" asks >>>> co-author >>>> Mahzarin R. Banaji, the Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics >>>> at >>>> Harvard. "If the answer is yes, that gives more support to the idea that >>>> language is an important shaper of attitudes." >>>> >>>> Ogunnaike, Banaji, and Yarrow Dunham, now at the University of >>>> California, >>>> Merced, used the well-known Implicit Association Test (IAT), where >>>> participants rapidly categorize words that flash on a computer screen or >>>> are >>>> played through headphones. The test gives participants only a fraction >>>> of a >>>> second to categorize words, not enough to think about their answers. >>>> "The IAT bypasses a large part of conscious cognition and taps into >>>> something we're not aware of and can't easily control," Banaji says. >>>> >>>> The researchers administered the IAT in two different settings: once in >>>> Morocco, with bilinguals in Arabic and French, and again in the U.S. >>>> with >>>> Latinos who speak both English and Spanish. >>>> In Morocco, participants who took the IAT in Arabic showed greater >>>> preference for other Moroccans. When they took the test in French, that >>>> difference disappeared. Similarly, in the U.S., participants who took >>>> the >>>> test in Spanish showed a greater preference for other Hispanics. But >>>> again, >>>> in English, that preference disappeared. >>>> >>>> "It was quite shocking to see that a person could take the same test, >>>> within a brief period of time, and show such different results," >>>> Ogunnaike >>>> says. "It's like asking your friend if he likes ice cream in English, >>>> and >>>> then turning around and asking him again in French and getting a >>>> different >>>> answer." >>>> >>>> In the Moroccan test, participants saw "Moroccan" names (such as Hassan >>>> or >>>> Fatimah) or "French" names (such as Jean or Marie) flash on a monitor, >>>> along >>>> with words that are "good" (such as happy or nice) or "bad" (such as >>>> hate or >>>> mean). Participants might press one key when they see a Moroccan name or >>>> a >>>> good word, and press another when they see a French name or a bad word. >>>> Then >>>> the key assignments are switched so that "Moroccan" and "bad" share the >>>> same >>>> key and "French" and "good" share the other. >>>> >>>> Linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf first posited in the 1930s that language is >>>> so >>>> powerful that it can determine thought. Mainstream psychology has taken >>>> the >>>> more skeptical view that while language may affect thought processes, it >>>> doesn't influence thought itself. This new study suggests that Whorf's >>>> idea, >>>> when not caricatured, may generate interesting hypotheses that >>>> researchers >>>> can continue to test. >>>> >>>> "These results challenge our views of attitudes as stable," Banaji says. >>>> "There still remain big questions about just how fixed or flexible they >>>> are, >>>> and language may provide a window through which we will learn about >>>> their >>>> nature." >>>> >>>> Ogunnaike, Dunham, and Banaji's work was supported by Harvard's >>>> Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Mellon Mays >>>> Foundation. >>>> >>>> ] >>>> __________________________________________ >>>> _____ >>>> xmca mailing list >>>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu >>>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca >>>> >>>> >>> __________________________________________ >>> _____ >>> xmca mailing list >>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu >>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca >>> >>> >>> >> >> -- >> *Robert Lake Ed.D. >> *Assistant Professor >> Social Foundations of Education >> Dept. of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading >> Georgia Southern University >> P. O. Box 8144 >> Phone: (912) 478-5125 >> Fax: (912) 478-5382 >> Statesboro, GA 30460 >> >> *Democracy must be born anew in every generation, and education is its >> midwife.* >> *-*John Dewey. >> __________________________________________ >> _____ >> xmca mailing list >> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu >> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca >> > > __________________________________________ > _____ > xmca mailing list > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca > > -- *Robert Lake Ed.D. *Assistant Professor Social Foundations of Education Dept. of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading Georgia Southern University P. O. Box 8144 Phone: (912) 478-5125 Fax: (912) 478-5382 Statesboro, GA 30460 *Democracy must be born anew in every generation, and education is its midwife.* *-*John Dewey. __________________________________________ _____ xmca mailing list xmca@weber.ucsd.edu http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca