Paper
The Effects of Emotionality of Languages on Evolution of Cultures
- Authors:
- Leonid I. Perlovsky
- Abstract
- Languages convey emotional as well as conceptual information. Conceptual contents of languages mostly reside in words and their semantic meanings. Emotional contents of languages mostly reside in language prosody (sounds). Conceptual contents could be borrowed among languages. Emotional contents are significantly determined by grammar, and cannot be easily borrowed. Conceptual and emotional mechanisms of languages are considered along with their functions in the mind and cultural evolution. Neural mechanisms are suggested as well as their mathematical models. These include neural modelling fields, dynamic logic, the knowledge instinct, the language instinct, and the dual model connecting language and cognition. Mathematical results are related to cognitive science, linguistics, and psychology. We consider an essential contradiction in human evolution: while evolving from animal vocalizations language evolution has required reduced emotionality. Yet, a language without emotions contains just “empty” sounds, disconnected from sensory-motor experience and “irrelevant to life”. Too “low” emotionality makes languages “irrelevant”, too “high” emotionality makes languages inflexible for acquiring new knowledge. We suggest approaches to quantifying these quoted, difficult to define notions. Experimental evidence and theoretical arguments are discussed. Approximate equations for evolution of human minds and cultures are derived. Their solutions identify just few types of possible cultures and language emotionalities leading to these cultures. We consider evidence and testable predictions. The proposed emotional version of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests that differences in language emotionalities influence differences among cultures no less than conceptual differences. We discuss future research directions.
- Keywords
- Language; Cognition; Basic Emotions; Prosodic Emotions; Knowledge Instinct; Language Instinct; Inner Form; Outer Form; Language Firmness; Dynamic Logic; Mind; Hierarchy; Dual model; Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis; Emotional Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
- StartPage
- 1
- EndPage
- 13
- Doi