Klarinet Archive - Posting 000466.txt from 2004/06

From: ormondtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: Re: [kl] "Tunes create context like language"
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 13:10:33 -0400

Joseph=A0Wakeling wrote:

> But it's not at all obvious how the frequency
> should decrease as rank increases. Zipf's
> Law is a precise mathematical function
> relating the two, and it's interesting because it
> indicates a wider "spread" in the language
> than if the words were just distributed
> randomly. Basically it's a sign of structure in
> language---the most likely interpretation being
> that words are used relative to words that
> have already been used.

Okay, I understand now. Thanks.

My next question (since WebTV can't access the actual text) is whether
the author claims that "musical context" is unique to just language and
music, or is it an example of how "context" influences **all** sorts of
perception and thought?

For example, I don't enjoy dill pickles when eaten in the "context" of a
hot fundge sundae, even though I enjoy both separately. Does this mean
that the sense of taste is a language also, or does it mean only that
both taste and language are based on basic human behaviors --- namely,
that we respond to similarities (sometimes positively, sometimes
negatively) during every sort of thought and perception?

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org