Under the Dim Light

Under the Dim Light 

TANAKA Akio  

                                        

I frequently talked with CHINO Eiichi at the coffee shop near the station we used to get on. The shop was at the second floor and the steps upstairs always sounded squeaking. Under the dim light the topics of conversation was on language or linguistics after all. He was already the university professor but I was a poor research student. But he was always showed me the general tenderness. 

The subject he gave me were impressive and useful for me, in which the most important is the history of the Linguistic Circle of Prague and the excellent pioneers of language study. He had of course the unique approach to the study but I had never any conspicuous one except boundless interest on the study.

In his wide and precious telling for me I gradually determined my course to proceed. It was the making of basic and radical foundation on natural language by searching the structure of language through simple and clear description. For keeping this difficult aim I had a decision that there was only way to use mathematics that I had abandoned at the past for its hardness.

In my age 20s, I had read Ludwig Wittgenstein and Nicolas Bourbaki in concentrating. I did not clearly understand  Wittgenstein’s approach. But I borrowed his writing style that was simple and clear. So my early work’s descriptions were nearly at him. But I decided that I never adopted strongly-intuitive thinking.

I always considered mathematical basis or analogy. My aim was the independence from the intuitive description. Keeping on this course, there was seen the mathematical basis that I must adopt the model in which language universals are clearly described. I entered to the mathematical description of study that was confirmed premises of my way.

 

 

At the North Alps of Japan
The flowers are alike the time
They were receiving the hard cold winds at the mountains.

На севере Альп Японии.

В альпийских растений,
 которые получают жесткие холодные ветры в горах.

Tokyo
1 August 2012
Sekinan Research Field of Language

Linguistic Circle of Prague

Linguistic Circle of Prague 

TANAKA Akio  

                                        

The Linguistic Circle of Prague was taught from CHINO Eiichi in his class of Structural Linguistics in the late 1970s. We first met at the university in 1969. He was young, probably the age 30s. I was 21 years old.

Now referring his chronological record, CHINO was born in 1932, graduated Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in 1955, entered Carrel University at Czechoslovakia in 1958 and returned to Japan in 1964. So we met after 5 years from his returning. 

Sometimes we conversed at the coffee shop near the station we used. California, it was the name of the shop, up the rattled stairs, under the dim light. It was the youth time of mine and probably with him.

The greatest thing he gave me was teaching me the existence of KARCEVSKIJ Sergei in the Linguistic Circle of Prague. My latter half life was almost determined by KARCEVSLIJ’s one paper, ” Du dualisme asymetrique du signe linguistique” .

One day on the train after school, he calmly but definitely said to me that he never was linguist because he never discovered any new language or law and he only was the introducer to general linguistics.  

Now I really think that I am also never linguist nor introducer. I only love language, so have written on language or its around  till now. CHINO taught me the the study or rather more deep attitude  to the life itself.
Regretfully he died in 2002, age 70.

He wrote several books on linguistics. The masterpiece that I confirmed isJanua Linguisticae reserata 1994, that is the general invitation to linguistics for further studying of wide and deep view.

The title was determined by the famous book of Jan Amos Komensky 1592-1670, Janua Linguarum reserata 1632. Here I feel CHINO’s deep love to the history and culture to Czechoslovakia where he studied for Czech in 7 years. 

[Note added]
I frequently heard on Linguistic Circle of Prague (LCP) from CHINO. But now standing in the twilight of my learning, I have not understood anything about it essentially, that had probably much more heritage for contemporary language study than my thinking. I already old and  can never start to cultivate the new frontier on LCP  or its successive study. Only saying is what I really recognise that LCP and Russian philology is the heimat of my language study. It is and will be  the heimat of my soul evermore. 19 July 2012

Tokyo
13 July 2012
19 July 2012 Added
Sekinan Research Field of Language

Road to Language Universals

TANAKA Akio 

Sekinan Research Field of Language was established in 2003 for the study on language universals, that was the core theme since my youth time some 40 years ago in the 1970s. But real start was much later in the late 1980s.In 1986 I established the Sekinan Library for the bace of study at Tachikawa, Tokyo. At that time my main theme was declined to the study of old Chinese character’s classical semantics using the traditional study of the form of characters reading Qing Dynasty’s WANG Guowei. The study from the direction had not given me so rich results. I at the same time read some mathematical books influenced from Bourbaki that was the big stream in 1970s in Japan. Set theory represented by Godel was also the favourite at the time.

In 1990s I determined the direction of study only to language universals taught from CHINO Eiichi, one of the modern typical philologists of Japan. He taught me almost alls WANG Guowei the aspects of European philology that were unkown for me. In the various themes he gave me, the most impressive was the existence of the Linguistic Circle of Prague. Above all Sergej Karcevskij was overwhelmingly deep and moving. But Karcevskij’s  approach was seemed to be intuitive and far from clear descriptiveness.

I began to learn the theme hinted by Karcevskij while learning Godel, Bourbaki and Wittgenstein that was also gave me the big influence form the age 20s. I had freuently read Wittgenstein’s TRACTATUS. But my base of math was so poor and never became the descriptive use for language’s delicate phases. So I again restarted math from geomatry that gave the most familiar and clear image for me. My intuitive image and basic math description were seemed to be able offer in nearly milleium days.

In spring 2003 I knew the application paper for the international symposium held  by a certain institute. I arranged the short paper for it till early summer and sent it. The paper was happily adopted  as one of the language and literature section of the symposium. The paper’s title was Quantum Theory for Language. It was again arranged next year 2004 as the title Quantum Theory for Language synopsis.

The establish date of Sekinan Research Field of Language  was 23 August 2003, that was the date of completion of proto-conceptive paper of Quantum Theory for Language at the hutte in Hakuba, Nagano. Now the time passed rapidly 10 years. The home site, sekinan, has become full by the papers accumulation. So the new site has become indispensible.

Tokyo
31 December 2012