Sekinan Table: Perhaps Return to Physics

Monday, 13 June 2022

Perhaps Return to Physics

Recently my situation for language research has changed rather drastically.
I have loved mathematics ever since I understood that mathematics was the only fantastic way for solving the problems of the nature through absolute clear description.

When I was at the third grade of the high school, I remained in the class room for solving the swing state of a pendulum movement. It was the simple differential equation. But at that time I realised that one short equation contained the whole universe of a tiny pendulum. it was a real meeting with the mathematics and the our world.

At high school, I thought that the most fantastic way of life was in physics, especially in theoretical physics. In the autumn 1965, the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to TOMONAGA Shin-ichiro. In the next morning of announcement, at our mathematics-science class was full of the prize about his award.

In those days I already determined my university's speciality to theoretical physics. TOMONAGA's award was the splendid delight for me and the other science- course class mates. But various reasons led me to philology at the university life.

Since then nearly half a century passed by. My study on language was dimmed in the vast historical heritage of linguistics that had surely shown the many results for language. But my mind was not fine on my road up to that time. My object gradually became to the one that was clear and understandable whoever desire to participate to talk with language. At the result after long winding road I reached at the concrete place for study. It was the description by mathematics. It was the days of my mid 30s in 1980s.

From those days some 20 years passed by. I became at 50s. I had written the short papers little by little. Mathematics was really free to approach. I freely thought and imagined on language's essential parts. Several models were made for the situation of language's particular phases. But I recognised that mathematics starts at the some axioms and theorems and reached a curtain high place' situation, which road is absolutely strict and exact and there is perfectly nothing related with real our world's phenomena, in my part on natural language.

So recently I began to think that no relation with models and natural phenomena on language was easily overcome by adopting the physical method using mathematics' various results. perhaps I return to physics which was my favourite in the high school days. Physics connects world and model freely. All the explanations are approximate values for world' phenomena. At this place I can freely adopt the models not thinking the theoretical consistency.

Now I am standing at the physical based place that was dreamt in my high school days.

References

Tokyo
7 June 2016
Reprint from Sekinan Essay