From Author;
This letter was written in 2018.
At that time I already wrote several papers on language that had been thought in 1970s-1980s.
I learnt main themes on language from CHINO Eiichi who edited the Linguistics Dictionary published from Sanseido,Tokyo. He was born in 1935.
Another linguist HASHIMOTO Mantaro was also born in same year.
He wrote Modern Linguistics Front Lines of Current Linguistic Studies, 1981, from Taishukan Publishing Company, Tokyo.
After long time I read this book, thinking bach the days of 1980s when I only got lost in the vast linguistic field. Now I read the book calmly and think of his approach of new typology.
He died early in 1987, age 54.
CHINO died in 2002, age 70.
The time really passed by quickly, than very fast, when I thought in my youth days.
Letter to Y. Of Broad Language 4th Edition
Dear Y.,
1. From the definition of language to the direction of language research
1.1
I don't use the Japanese word "research" very often.but hereAbout language
Language study that makes thinking easy In other words, the question is The purpose of language research aim
and language research applications I think that's what it means.
When it comes to what language is here, in general,Language is what humans think of their minds.
A way of communicating state fairly precisely, I think it will be something like that. here
Usually, the language that humans speak and hear is assumed. so-called natural language
is. However, in my research on language, I would like to
It does not define the so-called language.My research, of course, involves natural language,
more extensive is. Moreover In my opinion, defining language in terms of natural language is still ambiguous.
I think it will only be a bad thing. This is the reason why super-languages are advocated in foundational mathematics theory.
vinegar.
1.2
Therefore, I do not call my research linguistics, and even in English I refer to linguistics, philology, etc.
does not use the term Because these terms are centered around natural language. my
case, it will be more extensive, so I just write research on language etc.
vinegar. this Broad Language, in my terms Broad Language but we will talk about this later.
will be described.
So, I wonder if confusion will occur if it remains undefined.
If so, you can (probably) understand the situation of the language I am talking about from what I have written, so
I will not use vague definitions.Since we mainly use mathematics,
The world built by axioms, theorems, etc., is the language I present.
vinegar.Mathematics is often written as having a history of 5,000 years since Greece, but in the long history
and have refined results. Often in the field of probability and statistics, this result is 100 million times
Since it was verified, it is probably okay.
It is not guaranteed that there will be problems when。
1.3
Mathematics cannot exist without absolute guarantees. That's the proof.
vinegar.But the word "perfect" is not commonly used. As Kruto Godel puts it, “Inside Mathematics
It is not possible to prove the completeness of mathematics using existing methods.”incompleteness theorem
Incompleteness theorem was proved in 1928. Now Iwanami Bunko
There is also a translation of it in , but I still don't fully understand it. How many proofs
I read it in kind. From the outside, it may look intimidating, but Mathematics itself is
Even if there is such a theorem, I will not be shaken。
1.4
For example, in language I use the word distance.the distance
It would be quite difficult to strictly define ba itself in natural language.。
Words such as linguistic space are also used, but in natural language, space is defined by
It will still be quite difficult.
Words such as change in language are often used, but the change from where to where and how
If there is a change, what is its substance?
things become meaningless. Also in the first place, when you start thinking about what change is,
Pick up will not arrive. Wittgenstein famously said, "Philosophy is the history of misunderstandings."
However, it seems that we have built something like a house of cards on top of the ambiguity of language.
I think
Difficulties arise when trying to basically define language by language.I will omit the details, but
Since the 1970s, there have been advances in the field of foundations of mathematics.In the summer of 2017, Gaishi Takeuchi
A Japanese pioneer of mathematics theory passed away.I learned a lot from him too. "Mathematics Center
Mina” February 2018 issue features him. It was a lot of fun for me.
But I'm not against philosophy. vice versa My roots are derived from philosophy
think there is It's from
1.5
For this reason,I no longer write the Basic stuff of a language in a language.
Ta. It's easy to put it this way, but in my case, it takes people in their 20s to 40s to get here.
I borrowed.
At the end of the 1970s, probably during the summer vacation of 1978 (because I was a teacher) when I was 31, I was still in Tokyo.
Yes, but there was a time when I was working on a research application paper for the Tokyo Language Institute. prize separately
It wasn't that I wanted to get
because it was The content is what a sentence in language is, and what I am currently thinking about
I tried to put together something like the preparation stage of . Method is a set of mathematics
I tried to use theory and mathematics foundation theory. In conclusion, as soon as you start writing,
Convinced that I could not write what I was aiming for in the accumulation of time, I abandoned this plan.
Ta. By the way, in Europe and the United States, mathematics theory is positioned as a branch of logic rather than a branch of mathematics.
is included. I think it's better too.
1.6
Why did you stop at this point? I have little knowledge of language and mathematics, and my ability is low.
Of course, I will list the rest.
#1 I tried to mainly use the set theory of mathematics, but only the achievements of mathematics in that field at that time (many
min) Inability to handle complex language situations.
#2 Mathematics theory pursues the development of logic, and it is impossible to approach the roots of language itself.
(With the results at that time) it is not possible.
#3 The language as a whole is vast, and it is difficult for me to determine what part of the language I should focus on.
not
These were the main reasons for the cancellation.
1.7
In 1979, at the age of 32, I returned to college to study linguistics.Reunited with Eiichi Chino(first met in 1969)
years as a Russian teacher), where mainly Prague Linguistic Circle in the 1920s
I was told in detail about the situation. Among them Sergej Kartsevsky overwhelming presence of
came into me In his last book, The Open Door to Linguistics, Chino simply
He who called himself a genius,language duality pointed out.The language is soft and flexible to the outside world
Absorbs but at the same time has a strong and sturdy structure That's what it means. this contradiction
It is in this duality that the essence of language lies. Broadly speaking, this is a semantic
The most important part of this semantic language, which is part of the study of the time, was
And even now, it has been shelved as being too difficult and has been turned to more elaborate construction of simpler phonology.
I wrote For example, American structural linguistics after the 1950s is a typical example.
Since then, Chomsky's generative grammar has been mostly excluded from the semantics, and the focus has been on the structure of the grammar.
did. In this historical progression, he was somewhat prominent Edward Sapir only from
and i have suggested many.Drift This is the concept. by himlanguage and movement, i.e.
The temporal element of the language emerges It is. this later in my mind Presence of Perelman and
Connected To go.
In the end, no matter how much time passed, my Russian didn't improve, but I still have a deep attachment to it.
Last year, I read a booklet on Russian grammar for the first time in a while. A long time ago, Hakusuisha's habit sentence
The grammar in the library was good, but this time Brian Kemple's book from Dover Publications is simple.
It was clean and the important parts were detailed and excellent. The author also states on page 94 that
It was impressive to be there.
"the definitions do not pretend to be complete, or to settle points of interpretation that
grammarians have been disputing for the past several hundred years."
1.8
Although meaning is one of the most important things in language, it has not been used in linguistics in the last hundred years.
have always been excluded. After the Second World War, in the United States and other countries, the general semantics
The field will expand temporarily, but this is the role of language in society.
Well, it's a macro thing, and it will eventually be absorbed into sociology and anthropology. still
The meaning itself was unexplored territory. For me, the philosophical is Wittgenstein's sharp
Karcevskij joins in this
So we are almost ready. The target has already been centered on kanji and kanji China near
The rigorous linguistics of the), so the rest is the writing method
My challenge was to refine mathematics as law in my own way.
1.9
Fortunately, since around the 1980s, mathematics has developed dramatically, and an era has come when it is being applied to a wide range of fields.
Here we come. Iwanami Shoten has spent nearly 30 years developing mathematics
I have arranged the exhibition accordingly. Kyoritsu Publishing also traditionally had a series of books, so
It continues to publish contemporary achievements in various mathematics, and is still in progress. I am now called "Mathematical Brilliance"
I love reading the "Ki" series.
A mathematician once said in an interview, ``Now mathematics has finally accumulated enough to describe problems in various fields.
It's been a long time, isn't it?"
Now I can write my own problems, choosing from a wealth of mathematics methods.
Ta. Here Philosophy - Wittgenstein, Object - Elementary Schools such as Kingdom Wei, Purpose - Karcevskij, Method -
Algebraic Geometry Algebraic Geometry, and everything was complete. It's the middle of the 1980's.
1.10
In 1986, I finished my studies as a university research student, quit teaching, created a library, and was able to devote myself almost entirely to language research.
It was decided. Of course, the biggest factor was the understanding of those around me. I
Although his income has plummeted, he has managed to earn at least
I have reached the present while securing a limited income. Lecturer story from Mr. A to his K University in 1985
However, at this time, although I am immensely grateful to the university, I am already
was no longer the field of main that proceeded.
1.11
Since 1986, while reading mainly Chinese literature, Buddhist literature, etc., aiming in the direction of Karcevskij
However, when I was admitted to Ome City General Hospital with pneumonia in 2002, I happened to think intensively.
I was able to do so, based on Wang Wei's paper, the language, in my case, kanji, among them
Summarizing the problems of time inherent inOn Time Property Inherent in Characters, language
On the nature of time inherent in, was what it was. At this time, macro perspective
I explored the direction of my linguistic research from Manuscript of Quantum Theory for
Language It was uploaded under the title. Together in March 2003, skiing in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture
At the hotel I went to, while everyone was skiing
Ta. nostalgic.
1.12
This is a bit off topic, but it was around this time that I learned about the depth of Buddhist literature.Taisho Shinshu Daizokyo, Japan
complete book of buddhism and so on, but the literature on the end of Buddhism in India was particularly important.
White, for example,The spiral structure of the world is clearly shown by around the 4th and 5th centuries AD.
vinegar. It is interesting to compare the situation of modern biology such as DNA, but avoid easy analogy.
should be. I have a deep attachment to the early days of molecular biology, which derives from physics.
Suga.
in Japan Saicho and Kukai I read mainly. Saicho is hard to read, Kukai is easy to read
is my impression. Professor Tadayoshi Kondo, an expert in Japanese literature whom I admire and respect, was a scholar of the former Soviet Union,
He was asked to send him a copy of Hifuron, and he fulfilled his promise, but Kondo-sensei himself said he hadn't read it.
It was written in Sei. This book is highly acclaimed as a phonological theory of the Tang dynasty, as there is no similar book from the same period.
It is worth reading, but it is also worth reading as a modern phonology. It's just punctuation
It will be difficult to read without it. There are good publications in China now. i bought that book
and read through. It may have been a far-off report to Mr. Kondo.
1.13
no relatives I read the theory of Buddhism in Taisho Shinshu Daizokyo, but it is considered to be the highest peak of philosophy in the East.
And there are things that make you straighten your collar, regardless of whether you have faith or not. Repeat if you have time
I want to read it again. Ever since I entered university, my belief is to start from the East.
I feel that I have come to fruition here.
In the autumn of 2017, at the Tokyo National Museum, there was a special exhibition of Unkei, a sculptor from the Kamakura period.
for the first time Statues of Mugen and Seshin reunited with I saw it at Kofukuji Temple in Nara when I was in my 30s.
Ta. There he also promoted the rebuilding of Todaiji Temple.Seated statue of ChogenI also met again. first of this statue
When I visited the Kyoto National Museum, there was no one on the floor except me. So
The seated high priest at that time was indeed a peaceful old priest who had finished solicitation, but last fall I met him again.
At times, Roshi seemed much more youthful and full of energy than I did. my
I felt old and the passage of time.
Also"Three Kingdoms Buddhism Transmission Engi" by Ginen, a learned monk of Todaiji Temple in the Kamakura periodKawa, who was once a teacher
I have nostalgic memories of reading together with two friends on the recommendation of Mr. Yasuyuki Saki.
will be This is how I became familiar with Chinese characters.
I will omit the elementary school in modern China for now.
2. Why is linguistics research so attractive, and are there any developments and applications from it?
2.1
Base has my theory fondness. In high school, I was most attracted to theoretical physics.I
In the case of , instead of the direction of Hideki Yukawa's meson discovery,Shinichiro Tomonaga's Super Multi-time Theoryin the direction of
Ta. The whole picture is quite difficult, but if you have knowledge of calculus and differential equations, you can do it somehow.
vinegar. I later sorted it out in my own way,There is a summary of language temporality.
Suggested by Kingdom Wei and Sapir.Thinking about it now, in Therefore, the transfer from theoretical physics to language
It seems that the exchange was quite inevitable.During this time Dirac, a clear physics
It was a big harvest to notice the existence of the person. More on this Englishman's magnificence
The late Yoichiro Nambu, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004, wrote in his essay.
vinegar.
2.2
Along with this love of theory, I also liked the philosophical direction of searching for something fundamental. high school
It was ambiguous at the time, but later in the 1970s, in my late twenties, Wittgenstein one translation after another
come out and, in reading them, consider his direction in making a radical examination of the philosophical heritage
In it, philosophical ambiguity should be avoided, and I began to seek a different direction. As a result
Mathematics was also considered effective.I have loved mathematics since high school.
Differential equations were the most effective when trying to find a solution for dynamics.
I can't solve it at the calculus level, and it was impressive that I thought this would be after university
was.
2.3
In my twenties, I studied mathematics little by little while working as a teacher. At this time in Kanda, Fran
mathematics group of Bourbaki meet. This determined my future direction in mathematics.
I was.Bourbaki's intent is to allow anyone to understand complex modern mathematics from a clear and concise starting point.
go to the top However, instead of being precise, it was enormous.
I continued to study, diligently.
2.4
As mentioned in 1.7,From 1986 to 2003, Wittgenstein, Wang Wei, Karcevskij
, aligned with Algebraic Geometry so I can finally start moving
I got it. The strength of this research isa. First of all, no matter what you do, there is no perfection.
infinite That is the maximum. I'm not very interested in finite things. in terms of content
teeth,b.Language is a great tool for humans, but it is both sophisticated and often misunderstood.troublesome
There is also something. Liar's paradox, or self-referential self-
An example would be a reference. Such a situation is described by Wittgenstein in detail.
vinegar. Moreover c. The meaning of language is an impregnable
It is a lonely castle.
In other words,Infinite, Refined, Impregnable and three,Climber aiming for an unclimbed peak almost the same as
It will be the same. someone said,Why climb mountains, because they are there,because forever
It's a distant saying.
2.5
My position is as above, but I would like to know if there is any development or application in the real world from there.
I usually don't think much about whether there is a future, but if I force it,
I can think of one thing.
It's a medical application. It's not like I'm going to do that much, but the theoretical
At the current stage, I think that only the direction is mathematically possible, and I need to apply the preparations for that.
It's not a primary goal, but it's in progress. mySite, Geometrization
Language on the right side of the Genre Preliminary is it.
Geometrization Language What is "Geometric language” means something like that.
2.6
First of all, it is necessary to briefly show what a geometrization is.In 1980 Thurston made a three-dimensional
The conjecture that a closed manifold decomposes into eight kinds of geometric structures submitted.
In the early 1980s, Hamilton formulated this conjecture as a kind of equation.、2002 or so
2003 was finally resolved by Perelman.More succinctly, three-dimensional
can be classified into 8 types, and their formulation is also possible.
2.7
Here is my reasoning. In the field of medicine, various image analysis
It is used to identify the disease and the stage of progression of the disease. This solution
The judgment of the analysis depends on the visual observation of the doctor, but as the images are diversified and the amount is enormous,
So, at present, it is classified by statistical processing, divided into several types, and detailed judgments are made.
It seems that it is coming to the point where it can be done. If this classify statistical agglomerations by geometricization thing
is possible, the The iconography is formulated mathematically, and the formulation is translated into natural language.
Become By Iconographic analysis becomes both precise and accurately shareabl ein
Sho.
2.8
As I have already said, I am not conducting linguistic research with the aim of such applications.
there is no. As shown in 2.4,I am a mountain climber who continues to yearn for unclimbed peaks
nothing more than a home. I built a small Base Camp all by myself far below the high peaks. child
There must be countless mountain climbers in the world. but like thisAll comparisons and hesitation
Everything disappears when you see an unclimbed peak rising in the blue sky. Because there are mountains there.
2.9
Let's jump to our immediate conclusions.ï¼’.6, 2.7 I incorporate the images shown in , etc. into the domain of language
I'm thinking about putting it in.Emoji Emoji also enter,LATEXwill also enter. I am a master of these languages.
area, by myself Broad Language I'm calling it. in this egyptian elephant
glyph hieroglyph、Chinese ancient hieroglyphs, i.e. oracle bone inscription Jaguwen will also enter. deer
But my field is not the semiotics semiotics that were popular for a while. Semiotics are fertile
I think Hirono, but the method is not clear. I will refrain from going into detail for now.
Considering this, I can imagine how important the ancient Chinese oracle bone inscriptions after 1400 BC are.
you can imagine. Kanji has inherited pictograms from ancient times in an unbroken way to the present day.
It is the extant writing system that has been around for a long time and is an important branch of language. I love this kanji
It was the first subject of research.
2.10
Can you see the general development of my linguistic research?The meaning of language includes temporal changes.
For the first time, it is expressed clearly in mathematics as a geometric figure.However, I am not aware of such developments.
I hardly ever thought about it. I'll just pack my bags to build the next Base Camp
Just take it off and start walking. In order to climb high places, it is better to carry less luggage.
Sho. my luggage is Kanji and Mathematics is enough. To prevent oxygen deficiency,chinese small
Studies and Chinese translations of Buddhist scriptures, Danmamasai, Kingdom Wei, Sho Bing Lin, Taisho Shinshu Daizokyo, Nihon Daizokyo is sometimes necessary
Sho. for energy supplementation1920s Linguistic Circle of Prague is still
It will be a big support for you. I don't know how close I can get to an unclimbed peak.
Senga. That is no longer my question.
I wrote this essay mainly from my memory, so I may have misunderstood the detailed year etc.
There may be differences. Also, I'm not sure if it answers your question.
yeah. Please forgive me for that.
As I was writing this, I realized that once upon a time, a professor of Buddhist studies in Kyoto wrote in his book,
I remembered the words. A teacher talks about Buddhism around an outdoor bonfire at night in Tibet
When the Buddhist monks recite the sutras from memory,
Because he was doing research based on documents at his desk, he was unable to respond quickly.
He said. It also shows their sincere attitude towards Buddhism,
I was struck by the profundity of
I hope you are doing well.