Posted on 08/29/2015 10:29:43 AM PDT by JimSEA
There are languages that place the verb between the subject and the object (SVO order -- Subject/ Verb/ Object) while others place it at the end of the trio (SOV order). The order of these elements, far from being purely decorative, influences efficiency of expression. A team from SISSA's Language, Cognition and Development Lab (along with two Iranian institutions) studied the mechanism that controls the transition from the SOV form, considered the "basic" order by scientists, to the SVO order while the language is evolving, demonstrating that when the computational load on the brain is lightened, humans choose more efficient systems of communication which encourage the use of more complex grammatical structures.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
“...demonstrating that when the computational load on the brain is lightened.”
And how or why does that exactly happen ?
If it leads to more complex grammatical structures, would that increase the computational load on the brain ?
(just saying that strained my brain)
No thangs up in dis biatch found fo’ There is languages dat place tha verb between tha subject n’ tha object (SVO order — Subject/ Verb/ Object) while others place it all up in tha end of tha trio (SOV order). Da order of these elements, far from bein purely decorative, influences efficiency of expression. I aint talkin’ bout chicken n’ gravy biatch fo’ realz. A crew from SISSAz Language, Cognizzle n’ Development Lab (along wit two Iranian institutions) studied tha mechanizzle dat controls tha transizzle from tha SOV form, considered tha “basic” order by scientists, ta tha SVO order while tha language is evolving, demonstratin dat when tha computationizzle load on tha dome is lightened, humans chizzle mo’ efficient systemz of communication which encourage tha use of mo’ complex grammatical structures..
Me, too.
To me, “monkey banana eats” is harder to process because the monkey could be eating many things.
Easier is “monkey eats banana” because eat is only one thing and then we hear the final banana.
Interesting
Can you read this?
I cnduo’t bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.
Let's repeat the experiment, with a lexicon developed by an SOV speaker, taught by SOV speakers, to SOV speakers, and see what happens, shall we?
Additionally, this statement in the hypothesis is incorrect:
We started from the hypothesis that as languages change, they move towards greater efficiency of expression and along the way tend to grammaticalize more and more, that is, sentences can contain more complex structures.
In the evolution of English from root Germanic languages, grammaticalization decreased. Verb forms are dramatically simpler in English, the definite article became a single word, and the indefinite articles obtain entirely from stylistic considerations without any regard for grammar [except pluralization.] The case system is entirely gone except for possession, the case system for pronouns is mostly gone, and even the structural distinctions between adverbs and adjectives is disappearing.
None of this appears to have decreased the expressive power of English, nor the ability to construct elaborate semantic structures vis-à-vis its linguistic origins.
And BTW, this, IMHO is a real game changer when you consider how much more is being read electronically vs. on paper these days.
Test your reading speed.
A Roman looking at the sentence "monkey eats banana" may wonder whether the monkey is eating or being eaten (not having any idea what a "banana" is). But if he was told a banana is a fruit, he could say Simius comedit bananam or Bananam comedit simius and it would be clear who was the eater and what was the eatee.
Often, this is what happens in your larger monkey families, because no one wants to be caught eating the final banana:
[Sorry, but "then we hear the final banana," just sent me into paroxysms of laughter. There are so many images you can get from that.]
Principle of Banana Well-Ordering:
Every finite, non-empty set of bananas has a least banana.
I think that what happens is that the brain gets ‘wired’ by repetitive use of a certain structure.
It then sees that structure as ‘easy’ or ‘normal’.
I think it is generally agreed that the Romans did not eat, or even know about bananas. Which makes it kind of strange that they had a word for it in your sentence...
Yeah, I agree. I think this study is pretty dubious without a lot more careful work.
This is why we must control free thinkers like you!
On an individual basis, that is certainly true. My wife is wired for SOV and translates that to English words. I’m just the opposite and I mangle Thai such that people can’t understand me. Spanish even with the verb conjugation was much easier just as my wife speaks Lao.
What if . . . that Roman didn't know what a monkey or a banana was!
It’s really just reverse polish notation, only for language. It seems weird to us because we don’t think that way. Latin leans toward OSV, largely because the Romans realize they have a conjugated language and the subject is in the verb and unnecessary unless you want to emphasize it. Ie everyone’s favorite thing to hear “te amo” is literally translated as “you love (first person singular)” you only need to include “ego” if you really want to emphasize who is doing the loving.
Blue monkeys are depicted in a wall painting on the island of Thera (mid-second millennium BC), a good likeness of a species found in East Africa as far north as Ethiopia.
Pliny describes the banana in his Natural History, calling it either ariera or ariena (the reading is uncertain). The word banana as a Latin word is found in an author writing in 1606, according to the Latin-language Wikipedia article on bananas.
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