To install, download the tgz file (the below code assumes you’ve downloaded it to the desktop), double click it to expand, then open a terminal and type:

cd ~/Desktop/sndpeek-1.3-exe

sudo cp bin/sndpeek /bin/

Once you hit enter after typing the above command, OS X will then ask for your OS X administrator password (to copy the file deep into the filesystem), and once you’ve done that, at any point in the future, you’ll be able to just type “sndpeek” into a terminal and it’ll pop up a window displaying whatever sound source is selected in your Sound input preference pane. I usually give a more complex command to produce a prettier output, “sndpeek –logfactor:0.5 –lissajous:OFF –features:OFF –depth:150′”

I encourage you to play with the software as there are few better tools to help understand what a spectral slice is, how it works, and how spectrograms can be made. Enjoy!

For what it’s worth, Praat (5.2.29) works just fine as well. :)

So, go forth and Lionize your Mac without phonetic phear.

EDIT: But Lion does hide the library folder. In order to install the keyboard layout, you’ll need to unhide the ~/Library folder or to access it using the Finder’s “Go to folder” option.

As you can all doubtless tell, I’ve been quite busy. I’m delighted to report that I was accepted into a Ph.D Program in Linguistics, and am now continuing my studies of Phonetics and Speech Perception at the Doctoral level. Although this is a wonderful thing for 98% of my life, it does mean that I’ve little time left over to update this site, and that alone accounts for the more than one year that has passed since my last post.

However, even despite my prolonged absence, the site is still shockingly popular. In fact, it’s getting upwards of 2000 unique visits a week, and has attracted more than 150,000 visitors in the last year alone.

I’d like to thank all the readers who have emailed in to ask whether the site will be updated again soon, and all the people who continue to contribute interesting comments to existing articles. In addition, I’d like to make sure that people know that although I’ve not had the time to make new posts, I’m still accepting comments on all older posts, and in many cases, I’m responding to them as well.

Also, if you have any questions about anything you read on the site, about life in Linguistics, or about any housekeeping issues (broken links and whatnot), please always feel free to leave a comment or Contact me. I’m always happy to hear from readers, and usually am even happier to help answer questions people may have about the content here.

Is Notes from a Linguistic Mystic dead? Of course not! I hope to be able to start posting again once I’ve progressed a bit more within the Ph.D program. For now, it’s dormant, but rest assured, the heart of the site is still here and beating strong.

The Linguistic Mystic

PS: If you’re stumbling upon this site for the first time, here are some of my favorite posts that should give you a taste for the sorts of things discussed here. Take a look, and enjoy!

- Using IPA fonts with Mac OS X: The Comprehensive Guide (recently updated with new information)
- Cryptorthography: Hiding your writings in plain sight
- What can computer image processing teach us about language?
- im in mai blog, postin’ bout cats: The Cuteness of Grammatical errors
- im in ur programmz, codin in ur dialect: LOLCode and Feline Dialectology
- The glottal stop: your new Phonetic Phriend
- You can’t say “Phonetics” quickly without saying “fun”

Although I’m still up in the air about the form of the contest, I’ve got a few ideas, but I’m open to suggestions for rules. Consider the comments thread to be a sounding board for format ideas.

So, start working on your systems, it’ll be only a matter of time before they’re put to the test!

Hermes Trismegistus (‘Hermes the Thrice Majestic’) was the Mythical founder of both alchemy and astrology, and a God of Ancient Greece. Several very important alchemical texts are attributed to him (including the Emerald Tablet), and for some Greeks, he took the place of both the Greek God Hermes and of Thoth, the Egyptian God of writing and science.

As you may have figured out, origin of “hermetically” comes from the Latin form of Hermes’ name (‘Hermeticus’). Hermes’ name is associated with this concept because he was purported to be able to magically seal a box or chest in such a way that it could never be opened. [Thanks, Wikipedia] Later on, in the 17th century, Hermes’ name became linked to secrets and seals. The term “Hermetically Sealed” was then popularized by an invention called the Magdeburg Hemispheres, which used a vacuum to remain sealed no matter the force applied to take them apart.

So, what sounds like a nice, scientific Latin term is really a relic of Ancient Alchemy. Aren’t word origins awesome?

Some site news

A few major things are happening in the world of Linguistic Mysticism, most of which involve some form of bragging.

I’m proud to report that this site has now surpassed 21,000 unique hits. Thanks to all of you who read the site and link to me in all sorts of different ways. It really does my heart good to know that people enjoy the site.

I’m even more proud to report that I’ve gotten a flurry of publicity and links over yesterday’s post about LOLCode, including (I’m quite proud to say), a link from the Language Log. I’m just bragging, really, but it’s very neat to see that the world’s most famous language bloggers have noticed me.

Speaking of the site, I’m sure some of you have noticed the slightly tweaked layout, design and color scheme. I hope you like them, but I’m certainly open to suggestions, ideas and complaints. Comments and emails are welcome.

Finally, I’m going off to a conference for a few days, but I’ll be back and posting on Monday.

So, thanks again for reading, for linking, and for commenting. I appreciate it.

Now, off to bag up my shampoo and contact solution, hoping they don’t leak in my luggage on the plane. Where’s Hermes and his magical seal when you need him?

There, I describe my introduction to Linguistics as largely a question of fate and terrible Russian textbooks. That is all true, but only tonight have I realized and acknowledged the secondary (and at the same time, primary) reason why I am where I am: I thought the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was true, and wanted to use it to improve life. Let me explain.

Applied Linguistic Relativity and you

I’ve discussed this idea (also referred to as ‘Linguistic Relativity’) elsewhere on this site before (view them all here), and in the interest of time (and friendliness to people who’ve not read the past posts), I’m just going to quote my past explanation posted here. I encourage you to read that full post to get a better idea of the controversy and guesswork involved in any exploration of Linguistic relativity, but for a quick summary, I’ve quoted the most explanatory parts:

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is a blanket term for the idea that the grammar and lexicon of a person’s language subtly affects their thoughts and perspectives on the world. It’s a very hotly contested issue in modern Linguistics, and although the most extreme variations (the idea that language determines your thought) have been disproved through some pretty ingenious color studies, the more subtle varieties are still supported in some senses.

If the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is true, a speaker of the Hopi language (which has a very different system of tenses than English) will perceive time in a fundamentally different way than an English speaker. Similarly, a Spanish speaker will have a slightly different view of the world than an English speaker, simply due to the underlying differences between the two languages. If this is, in fact, the case, then there are huge ramifications in Linguistics, Cognitive Science, and the world in general.

Basically, I believed that one’s language can limit one’s thought. If you don’t have a word, you don’t have a concept, and your brain is bound. I believed that language was the fundamental chain that bound us all, so insidiously that we don’t even know it.

So, if language is the fundamental chain that binds our cognition, then what can we do to escape? Well, we have two options.

One would be to raise our children without language. This would certainly remove the binds of language, but cause them to be incapable of most of human interaction. Without language of some sort, there likely wouldn’t be civilization, society, or even basic human cooperation. This would clearly be, as the American idiom goes, throwing the baby out with the bathwater (getting rid of the good parts of something simply because there’s a small imperfection).

The second option, simply put, is to change language as we know it. This was my plan.

Not ambitious at all, why?

My plan was simple: If a person’s language puts limits on their cognition, then really, all you need to do is change the language in such a way that those limits are removed. If language is a dam on the vast cognitive river, then to get more flow, you make a less restrictive dam. Thus, my love of language creation was born.

My hope was to create a language through which anything was expressible. I still have between 30 and 50 pages of hastily scribbled blueprints for my language (‘evlit’ was the working title), ranging from the philosophical needs to the grammatical needs. That little strip of light that shows up on the wall because of the slight imperfection of the fitting of the metal pieces of the fluorescent fixture in my Russian classroom my Freshman year would be just as easy and quick to describe as, say, a gray cat. Regularity would abound, simplicity would be a constant, and ease of learning would be maximized. Ideas from computer science, philosophy, and more all bounced around in my head in an effort to come up with a language that would not just function, but would set our minds free.

Perhaps this all sounds strange to you all, and I’ll admit, it was strange. However, I’d like you to imagine for a second that language was really the invisible chain that binds us all. Imagine being able to do something that not only freed a single person from bondage, not only a single community or even state, but the entire human race. I felt that if I could actually create a language which was truly “better”, more versatile, and allowed true cognitive freedom, I could truly help the entire human race.

The Russian department pushed me away, sure. Languages intrigued me, no doubt. However, that’s not really why I’m here today. When I signed up for my Intro to Linguistics class, I wanted to learn the nature of the chains, so I could cast them off, then help other people do the same.

Realization

I still vividly remember one day, around three years ago, walking back towards the department with my Intro to Linguistics professor and talking to him about language creation. I explained my ideas for creating a new, improved language, as he listened quietly. We arrived back in his office, he sat down behind his desk, and he shared an insight that has affected me to this day. He turned to me and said: “Well, all you’re going to be doing is re-encoding how things work in your mind as an English speaker, just using different sounds and grammar”.

Pop. There went my plan. One offhand comment showed me the folly of my idea. I tried to fight the realization in my own mind for a few weeks, but really, it died right there. If language does fundamentally bind my thought, how the heck could I escape it long enough to loosen the chains. If I’m bound, I won’t be able to free myself, because I literally cannot exist outside of this bondage. By the time we’re old enough to understand and use language, then we’re old enough that we’re trapped. Soon after that, I realized that really, whether or not language affects our thought is irrelevant.

As the Buddhist monk Shantideva once wrote, “If there is a problem and you are able to do something about it, why despair? And if there is a problem and you are not able to do anything about it, why despair?”. If language does, in fact, change how we think, well, we’re already bound and we can’t really escape, so there’s nothing we can do. If language doesn’t change how we think, then there’s no problem at all. Nobody’s bound, and there’s nothing we need to do. Either we’re bound, or we’re not, and we’ll never be able to tell the difference.

Even I were somehow able to create a truly better language, and even if it helped people, it would also likely result in a great linguistic genocide. Many of the remaining languages on Earth would gradually be abandoned in favor of a more useful and more powerful language, and the blood of all those grammars would be on my hands. So, I’ve realized that my goal, my dream, of changing and “improving” language to help the world is not only impossible, but probably not even a good idea. Yet, I’m still a linguist.

Now what?

Language is truly incredible. Next time you see a conversation taking place, sit back and watch. Patterns of air pressure, body language, and facial expressions are being used to express the millions of thoughts flying around inside our heads, and even more amazing, those things can be interpreted and understood by other people. The fact that we have a means of communication at all, let alone one so full of nuance and beauty, is simply miraculous.

I might have come to Linguistics because I wanted to improve language, and because I thought I could use it to help the world. The reason I’m still here is because I’ve realized that human language is not only sufficient for what we need, it’s truly miraculous. This may sound corny, but I am captivated by the complexity, the grace, and the sheer pragmatic beauty of grammar, sound, and the cognition required to get it there.

Nobody knows exactly where language came from, or when it developed. Heck, nobody knows exactly how language works in our minds, how we learn it, and how we understand it. We have described elements of it, have made lots of theories, and we’ve even made some progress on understanding how we go about making language. However, there are still many mysteries out there.

I might not set the world free with a single word, but language is a fundamental aspect of our everyday lives, if not the fundamental aspect. By studying language and the mysteries involved, I’m studying not only grammar, sound, or cognition, but human life itself.

If that’s not important, what is?

Well, I wanted to let you all know that the manager of Ruby’s Inn has chimed in in the comments, with a partial explanation and a partial apology. As a result, I’ve made a factual correction in the initial post (according to the manager, I’d misremembered the tax as 20% instead of 11%, and apparently the kiosks were 20 cents per minute), and replied to some of his assertions.

Although, as I say in the thread, I still can’t really recommend the hotel, I think it’s important to hear both sides, so I encourage you to check out the comments on the post and hear what Chris had to say.

As always, commenting is encouraged, and I appreciate when people do. Any reader feelings, whether they be praise, corrections, complaints or counterarguments are always welcome.

Just a few quick notes. Around a week ago, I wrote an article on the Typo defense which featured a comment from somebody posting as “Quikboy”.

Well, somebody claiming to be Quikboy (and I’ve no reason not to trust him) just posted a very courteous reply in the comments. I’ve since replied to his reply, and I wanted to let you all see his side of the argument.

This just highlights the fact that I consider everything on here a discussion. Comments are moderated (to avoid spam comments), but I’ve never once deleted a human-created comment. Rest assured, whatever you (as a human) post, it will get approved. If you don’t like what I have to say or want to defend another side, please do by posting a comment. I’ll reply, and I might even post something like this to make sure you get heard.

Find an error, get a link

In my Graduate Phonetics class, the professor carried a jar of candy. At the beginning of the first day of class, she explained that the candy is for anybody who corrects one of her mistakes in class. All throughout the semester, if somebody called her on an erroneous transcription or a misspeech, she happily handed over some candy and fixed the mistake. I like the idea, and want to try it here.

I’m just a student, and I’m often writing about things with which I’m by no means an expert. So, if anybody out there finds a mistake in my site, I’ll add a link to your blog (see the fine print below) in the sidebar in a “Found a mistake” section. If you find an issue, either email me or leave a comment, and if I think it’s one too, I’ll edit the mistake and give you your link. I really do want things on here to be fairly accurate, so if I mess up, I’d like to be called on it. So, let the games begin!

(The Fine Print: By “mistake”, I’m talking about misstatements, misrepresentations, and things that are fairly objectively wrong here. I’ll gladly discuss theoretical disputes or other such disagreements about opinions, but I’m not sure they qualify as mistakes. Also, I reserve the right to not post links to certain sites or types of sites. Sorry, but if your site has adult/not-safe-for-work content or is clearly an advertising-only or spam blog, I’ll offer to link to a different site, or at least give other recognition.)