How is the time alive in language?
TANAKA Akio
1.
When one first hear the existence of time in language, he may doubt its certainty. But I have intuitively believe it since I learned the ancient Chinese inscription on bone ad tortoise shell (in Chinese called Jiaguwen). In my early 20s, I met with the book of Chinese modern linguists, WANG Guowei, this belief changed the conviction. His lifework book Guantangjilin is hard to read till now. But some papers in it are always inspires me by his deep and vast insight to character, language and history of ancient China. He also wrote fine criticism on Chinese pre-modern poem Ci.The title is RenjianCihua. The book is one of my favourite books of Chinese literature. People sometimes say that he was the highest genius after Song Dynasty, 1,000 years.In 2003 I wrote a tiny paper hinted by WANG's paper. It was the first paper for me that I directly faced the time inherent in inscription using Jiaguwen's update linguistic results. The title is " On Time Property Inherent in Characters".
2.
In summer 2003, I stayed at Hakuba, Nagano for a while for writing over the paper that was intended to present a symposium at Nara in winter. The paper was taking up the structure of written language that was dealt with the relation between time and grammar. But I did not solve the question on with what shape language exists in the language world. What shape has language and at where space does language exist or float? The theme on space was hard to deal at that time. I only concentrated to the shape in space. At 28 August I was fatigued to think and went for a stroll outside the inn putting up. The place was at the mountain side of the Hakuba Range and there was only one convenience store, where I walked in the shop and saw one advertisement of electric pocket dictionary. I returned having this advert to the inn and read its sentences. At the very time I found the shape of language I sought was sphere that was inherited time in it, also having grammatical functions. The paper's title was named to " Quantum Theory for Language" by the shape of language. This was a really product of clear and fine atmosphere of Hakuba with a distant view of the North Alps of Japan.
3.
From 2004 to 2008 I wrote some papers on inscription and language. But I was not satisfied inwardly for the style of intuitive approach to language. I wanted to write more simple and clear expression. For being realised of my wish, I definitely needed to use mathematical tools. I returned to my 20s days' reading of Bourbaki that was desperately difficult for may ability. I again gradually read mathematical books and journals for seeking useful source of my hope to converting to language study. A certain results that came to my papers with satisfaction was appeared in 2008 by the papers titled Complex Manifold Deformation Theory.
Above all, the first paper in this group, I first defined the concept, distance by complex manifold.
The concept of distance was one of the most important themes on language, so I at early times wrote the intuitive paper, "Distance Theory".
At the fifth paper of Complex Manifold Deformation Theory, I again challenged the hard theme of the time in language, titled to " Time of Word".
4.
The definition of space in which language exists is one hard target for me to write satisfactory. A fixed results came to me at the papers group titles Symplectic Language Theory in 2009.
In the group, a paper focused on mirror phase on language became one peak for my writing.
5.
Related with the shape of language, quantization and discreteness on language was the urgent themes for the further step of studying the total image of language I was pursuing. Floer Homology Language was the one milestone for me to overcome to the next stage.
In this group, the eighth paper was dealt with the quantization and discreteness of language.
6.
What situation does the time in language have? This question exists in my mind at the early days when I wrote the paper "On Time Property Inherent in Characters". The first step to solution was described at the paper " Prague Theory". The group of Prague Theory was written due to dedicate to Prague, The Linguistic Circle of Prague and Sergej Karcevskij with the memory of my teacher CHINO Eiichi.
In this paper, Chinese Character /kun/, that meaning is difficult in English, was used for the eternity of loop time. This loop time was also appeared in the paper " On Time Property Inherent in Characters". But Prague Theory shows more direct and compact by growing tree and its obstructive enclosing fence. This intuitive image was more clearly described at the paper " Word as Infinite Loop Time " at Infinite Loop Space Language in 2012.
In this paper, time in language is clearly connected with dimension of algebraic group saying as the next. Word has dimension that belongs to algebraic K group.
7.
The relation between time and dimension was entered on a new phase at the learning of algebraic geometry, especially of arithmetic geometry. Arithmetic Geometry Language, abbreviated to AGL, was the starting papers for me to arithmetic method.
From these four papers, I concisely extracted the next three conjectures.
At these conjectures, time inherent in language is in the basis of describing dimension, synthesis and reversion. The process of leading to the conjectures is over viewing the next.
8.
Acknowledgement
Time inherent in language is a fantastic but as hard to pursue for me still now. I would examine this theme further more and more, probably till the end of my research life. Now all the thanks are going to The Linguistic Circle of Prague and especially its member Sergej Karcevskij, with my teacher CHINO Eiichi who taught me their precise information from his long study at Prague in 1960s.
9.
For CHINO Eiichi
Golden Prague
C also died early, who had taught me Russian and linguistics. He loved
the old city that had the beautiful towers and bridges.
In C's many works there was the essay "The Moon of Carpathians". He wrote
that the conference was over, departed at Kiev, saw the moon and
churches over the Carpathian Mountains, impetuously went to the west,
passed Slovakia, Moravia, Bohemia, and at last reached "Golden Prague".
Prague, it was his youth itself.
Now I cannot hear his voice telling the various anecdotes on languages,
of which he freely had commanded. By the short heading, a newspaper
reported his death, naming as "the genius of linguistics".
- 9 October 2014 -
Coffee shop named California
If C live, he also may ask me, "What are you researching now?"
And I also will answer him as same as ever.
"I have pursued universals, never done facts, without repenting."
Oh C, if you live, will we also talk on language?
At the table facing each other under the low ceiling of the shop going up the steep stairs.
The name of the shop is California.
For the memory of our daily forgetful life,
its never miserable though poor all over,
I will write down our delight.
- 27 October 2014 -
10.
Ode to Kanda
"I need not more wander the book shop streets." / From Tale, Print, 2012
This tale was written by TANAKA Akio, pen-named LI Koh in autumn 2012 for remembering the poor but brilliant youth time of myself. This is one of my favourite phrases in this tale.
The book shop streets described in the tale is Kanda, Tokyo, which is located in the central Tokyo, where I frequently walked seeking the old Chinese classic books for the study from Oriental way of linguistics. In late 1960s, the streetcars were surely running in the old fashioned streets of Kanda, now perfectly changed to the subway streets.
From Print 2012, Chapter 10
もはや本屋街をさまようことはない。I need not more wander the book shop streets. 対象は私のうちにある。The object exists in my mind. 私はただこの運河をながめていればいい。I would better watch the canal. 遍歴は終わった。Wandering is over now. たぶん永遠にマイスターにはなれないだろうが、みずからの小さな仕事場で、日が落ちるまで作業をすればいい。Perhaps I would not become meister forever. In my narrow working place, I 'd better do my work till sunset. すると仕事場の窓辺を聖者が通って行く。 So out of the window by the working place, the saint passes by. かつてそんなロシアの民話を読んだ。I ever read the Russian folk tale like that.
秋の日ぐれは早い。The Autumn evening is fast. 路面電車のヘッドランプがまぶしいくらいだ。The headlight of streetcar is dazzling. 黄褐色の窓に少ない乗客が照らし出され、古本屋街の方へ消えて行った。In the yellow-lighten window the passengers are picked out by the light. The car disappeared to the book streets. 駅の売店がにぎやかな橙の光に包まれている。The station shop is also lighted up by the yard's busy orange light.
Tokyo
26 November 2014
SIL
