Fwd: RE: [humanmarkup-comment] Speech and Melody: How DifferentParts of the Brain are Used Dep ending on the Language

[Rex Brooks <rexb@starbourne.com>]

Title: Fwd: RE: [humanmarkup-comment] Speech and Melody: How

Hi Folks,

I'm forwarding this to the huml list and to Amir, with this note to Len:

The TC list address is huml@lists.oasis-open.org even though the public comment list is humanmarkup-comment@lists.oasis-open.org.

We asked OASIS to change them both but only one got done during the big transition, and though Ranjeeth has asked that it be changed for the public comment list, it hasn't happened yet, and probably won't, given that it hasn't happened yet.

So much for consistency.

This article yields some fascinating conclusions. Perhaps the most far-reaching is the fact that this pretty much tells us that culture as language-dependent affects brain structure development as well as usage.

Ciao,

Rex

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From: "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@ingr.com>
To: humanmarkup-comment@lists.oasis-open.org
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 12:43:21 -0500
Subject: RE: [humanmarkup-comment] Speech and Melody:  How Different Parts
      of the Brain are Used Dep ending on the Language
X-Rcpt-To: <rexb@starbourne.com>
X-DPOP: Version number supressed
Status: U

> 6.  What greater competencies does the
> requirements for melodic control and
> processing require that can affect miscommunication
> and are these classifiable
> into contextual categories?  For example, a
> skilled English speaker can succeed
> based on clarity of the voice, such as the competence
> of a news broadcaster,
> without understanding the text.  On the other
> hand, interpretation and composition
> require text
> understanding.  
>  
> Are there domains that are harder to express in
> mandarin?
> Is the language modified such as relaxation of the
> melodic requirements to
> make it easier to understand conceptually complex
> utterances?  For example,
> we sing popular songs, musicals, and so on, but we
> simplify the texts and
> we tend to rely on indexical forms, etc., to get
> greater meaning and still make
> the melody/timing palatable? 
>  
> How much are the contemporary and
> historical
> sets of signs in fashion (eg, argot, popular phrases)
> affected by the melodic
> component?  Could we tell from such styles when
> and where a concept
> originated ? (Think of pottery analysis.)  Do
> these simplifications affect the
> complexity of artifacts, acts, etc., the culture is
> capable of?  Is this also
> domain dependent (eg, do melodic language cultures
> exhibit competence
> and lack of competence depending on the tasks, for
> example, animal
> husbandry vs road or bridge
> engineering?)
>  
> len
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Bullard, Claude L (Len)
> > http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/06/30/brain.language.reut/index.html
> > > This story is a fascinating tidbit
> > > relating the parts of the brain used to process
> > > speech and the dependency on the artifacts
> > > of the particular language, in this
> > > case, Mandarin.  One could ask some
> > > questions:
> > >  
> > > 1.  How does such a language evolve
> > > given the greater resource requirements
> > > for processing the
> > > language?
> > >  
> > > 2.  Do any unique capabilities emerge
> > > as a result of this extra use of both
> > > hemispheres of the brain?  For
> > > example, parallel capabilities such as easy
> > > of musical training?
> > >  
> > > 3. Do musicians, particularly
> > > singers, rate higher than the average westerner
> > > when learning Mandarin?  Does
> > > learning Mandarin increase one's musical skills?
> > >  
> > > 4. While it is stated that
> > > English-speakers have greater difficulty learning
> > > Mandarin, are there miscommunications that
> > > emerge more often when
> > > an English speaker and a Mandarin speaker
> > > interact that could be attributed
> > > to this difference in the way the brain
> > > processes the language?
> > >  
> > > 5.  Would any capabilities of HumanML
> > > help with these problems of communication
> > > beyond noting the fact of the melodic
> > > dependencies of the presentation of the
> > > Mandain sign sets?  Are some sign
> > > sets more or less melodically dependent?
> > >  
> > > Fascinating stuff.  Beyond us here,
> > > but the sorts of problems one might conceivably
> > > bring to HumanML.  For example,
> > > representation of the vocal utterance given a
> > > library based on Rex's work is certainly
> > > possible. 
> > >  
> > > len

-- 

Rex Brooks
GeoAddress: 1361-A Addison, Berkeley, CA, 94702 USA, Earth
W3Address: http://www.starbourne.com
Email: rexb@starbourne.com

Tel: 510-849-2309

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