August
26, 2017 Saturday
Bedtime
Story
Developing Semantically Restricted Language
As
we concluded last night, depriving natural languages of names of its linguistic
objects would restrain it from becoming semantically universal.
In
short, limiting its vocabulary can safeguard a natural language from generating
paradoxes.
But
there is one hitch or glitch.
What
about the science of linguistics?
Linguistic
is a science that studies languages.
So
how can one possibly deprive the language of linguistics with the names of
linguistic objects?
Surely
that can’t be done.
The
language of linguistics got to contain all the names of linguistic objects.
Yet
there is a way out.
We
need not identify the language of linguistics with the universal language and
that can be done by excluding the names of its own components.
In
each specific discussion on the subject of linguistics, certain section of the
names of certain linguistic objects has to be curtailed.
This
will prevent it, at least temporarily at each discussion, from becoming
semantically universal.
We
can play it the same way as with metalogic and metamathematics.
Thus
we seem to have managed to have developed semantically restricted languages at
least in the arena of various scientific disciplines.
Now
the question that arises is whether in such languages we can precisely define
the notion of truth such that it is both consistent and adequate?
Tarski
says that under certain conditions it would be possible to do so.
It
will come with certain conditions though.
The
syntactical rules that determine the formation of sentences and meaning from
the words has to be very precisely formulated.
Another
very important condition is that the syntactical rules have to very formal.
In
the case of language here, formality has a different meaning.
The
syntactical rules should explicitly define the form or the shape of expressions
that can form sentences.
The
rules should be so rigid that it should not allow an expression should behave
like a sentence at one place but not the other.
Similarly,
it must not allow an expression to be a sentence in one context but not the
other.
Looking
at an expression, one should instantaneously be able to say if that particular
expression is a sentence or not.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night mon ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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