The following changes are observed and predicted in Proto-Indo-European sounds:
voiced aspirated stops become voiced fricatives
voiceless stops become voiceless fricatives
voiced stops become voiceless stops.
Check the article below for examples. What does this mean for the English language? If these changes continue to progress, will we lose all of the sounds found frequently in Russian and High German?
From wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Barthes
Barthes’s earliest work was very much a reaction to the trend of existentialist philosophy that was prominent during the 1940s, specifically towards the figurehead of existentialism Jean-Paul Sartre. In his work What Is Literature? (1947) Sartre finds himself to be disenchanted with both established forms of writing, and more experimental avant-garde forms, which he feels alienate readers. Barthes’ response is to try to find what can be considered unique and original in writing. He determines in Writing Degree Zero (1953) that language and style are both matters that appeal to conventions, and are thus not purely creative. Rather, form, or what Barthes calls ‘writing’, the specific way an individual chooses to manipulate conventions of style for a desired effect, is the unique and creative act. One’s form is vulnerable to becoming a convention once it has been made available to the public. This means that being creative is an ongoing process of continual change and reaction. He saw Albert Camus’s The Stranger as an ideal example of this notion for its sincere lack of any embellishment or flair.
Looking for information on E-prime (software), I came across E-prime (linguistics).
Have you heard of E-prime? E-prime is a modified form of English which encourages active voice. This reminds me of what one person I know had talked about, not using predicated something or other as a method for better communication. I think it is (note: I had first typed “It is” and correct myself) interesting how it forces the observer to acknowledge his/her subjectivity, as demonstrated below.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime
Korzybski (1879–1950) had determined that two forms of the verb ‘to be’—the ‘is’ of identity and the ‘is’ of predication—had structural problems. For example, the sentence “The coat is red” has no observer, the sentence “We see the coat as red” (where “we” indicates observers) appears more specific in context as regards light waves and colour as determined by modern science, that is, colour results from a reaction in the human brain.
Other notes: Albert Ellis’ book A New Guide to Rational Living discusses applying the avoiding reificative or stative language in daily life and leadership. Alfred North Whitehead said “There are no whole truths, all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.” One article states that for leaders, “we would do better to state our opinions as opinions”. This seems to me to tie in with a discussion on the subjectivity of science and personal reality. I am excited to find practical applications of semantic and linguistic conscientiousness.
Science in San Antonio