Spec Tech: Inception

As I mentioned in a post earlier this year (“Language and Culture”, 1/13/11), it is critical to distinguish between what a language has a formalized method for saying and what a language is capable of expressing.  Apparently at odds with public opinion, the expressive power of a language is not limited by the words in……

Spec Tech: Language and Culture

What is the relation between language and culture? How does the language we speak influence the way we think? These important questions are unfortunately too often not asked. People often assume a position without looking at the actual empirical evidence. On one side there are a good number of anthropologists who aver that language and……

Spec Tech: Writing Systems

When authors put a created language in the mouth of one of their characters, they have to decide how to get the sound of the language in their mind to the mind of the reader.  This is accomplished by the miracle of writing.  We mostly take it for granted, but a second’s thought will bring……

Spec Tech: Xenolinguistics

Imagine that you’ve just encountered an alien life form. Once you’ve gotten over the initial shock/excitement/etc. of discovering that we are indeed not alone in the universe, you of course want to find out all about it: where it comes from, what its home world is like. Assuming it’s sentient, you’ll also want to know……