Talk:Dynamic antisymmetry

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"The crux of this theory is that hierarchical structure in natural language maps universally onto a particular surface linearization"

could you please translate this? I am an associate professor of economics at a reputable institution, I believe if I don't understand this, chances are most wp readers don't either.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.59.250.79 (talk) 23:10, 27 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, this article is in desperate need of an overhaul.

If you actually want to know: The basic theory is that the human language faculty is the ability to construct an infinite array of structured expressions, each of which maps to (a) a semantic interpretation and (b) a string of words that can be expressed phonetically. The structured (but unordered) expressions of the syntax must be mapped to a linearly ordered string of sounds in a process called "linearization". Previous theories of linearization said that part of "knowing" a language (English, Japanese, Tlingit, etc) was knowing a set of linearization rules specific to that language (e.g. [the, [red, dog]] -> "The red dog" vs "The dog red"). Antisymmetry proposes that there is a set algorithm for linearization that does not vary between languages. Thrilway (talk) 04:51, 4 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]