The Carleton Linguistics Department invites everyone to the next talk in the Carleton Linguistics Colloquium Series.
Writing as tool use– are there “practical universals” of writing?
Dr. Mark Hansell
Professor of Chinese and Director of East Asian Studies, Carleton College
Friday, 15 April 2011, Goodsell 03, 4:00 pm
The idea of language universals is based on the notion that humans have a biological predisposition toward language. Since writing is an invention rather than a biological inheritance, that notion of universals should not apply. However, if we view writing as one instance of tool-using behavior, we may be able to make generalizations that help explain common, widespread phenomena in the world’s writing systems. I will sketch out what a system of these “practical universals” might look like, and use them to try to explain some especially problematic data from Japanese.
All are invited to attend a reception following the talk.
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Please mark your calendars for the next colloquium in the series. Dr. Hooi Ling Soh of the University of Minnesota will speak on Friday, 6 May 2011, at 4:00. Details to follow.