Chapter 4 Language: A Balance Of Yang And Yin

English has a primary orientation to '4' dimensions, and therefore recognizes '4' great centers of civilization around the ancient world, in China, India, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. In order to develop a '5' dimensional, integrated understanding of language evolution, it is necessary to recognize that there are '5' great centers of civilization, and not '4'. The '5'th great center of civilization is located in the homeland of mankind, in the homeland of the speakers of the Bantu family of languages, which includes Swahili. (Swahili is the most well known Bantu language, although the language has been greatly influence by Arabic.) Africa was the source of the original genes of Homo Sapiens. Genes continued to evolve in Africa more rapidly (greater time) than they did in the small homogenous groups that departed over time to go in motion through space.

The Chinese civilization has traveled more through space than the civilization of Swahili. Therefore, at this point in time, the Chinese civilization has traveled less through time than that of Swahili, and so is 'younger'.

Changes in space (Yin) have form (Yin) and can be 'seen', unlike the formless (Yang) changes in time (Yang). An example is the tremendous change (change in space) in the body of children throughout their early years, which slows as they age (change in time).

The more the change that occurs in the body (space) during its life, the less that that life will age in time relative to other related forms of life. Therefore, a person who has greater motion through space over his life will age more slowly than people with less motion through space. This is why some people seem very young for their age, and some people seem very old, even through they have both passed through the same number of society's years. This is also one reason why physical exercise (change in space) tends to slow aging (change in time).

As the Chinese civilization has as a whole invested much more of its collective energy into motion through space than Swahili, in other words they have moved through space from Africa all the way to China, they have invested less energy into motion through time. The Chinese language, civilization, etc. are genetically 'younger' than those in Africa.

What is the effect of youth on a civilization compared with age, as between the language of Chinese and that of Swahili? To understand this, consider the changes in the life of mankind from youth to old age.

When children are first born, their minds and bodies change at a tremendous rate (change in space). As children age (change in time), the rate of change in their bodies and minds decrease. The metabolism of children is high (energy = Yang), and decreases (decrease in energy = decrease in motion = increase in stillness = increase in Yin) as they age.

Because of the difficulty in finding words that adequately express the ideas of 'awareness of space' and 'awareness of time', the words that will be used in this section will be defined here in an attempt to make them more meaningful. The words that will be used are 'sensory based', 'motor based', 'perceptive', and 'organized'. The nerves of the body can be subdivided into '2' types of nerves, sensory nerves and motor nerves. The sensory nerves transport information from the organs of sense (such as the eyes) to the brain. The motor nerves transport information from the brain to the organs of sense. To be more 'aware of space' will be considered herein to be more 'sensory based', as the senses are what enable the brain to be aware of space. To be more 'aware of time' will be considered herein to be more 'motor based', because when the eyes see something the motor nerves can be thought of as projecting on the object what the brain has previously learned about space in its experience with space over time. The words 'perceptive', 'perception', etc. will be used to refer to awareness that comes from observing the behavior of an object that is right here right now in space. The words 'organized', 'organization', etc. will be used to refer to awareness that comes from having observed the behavior of objects in space over time.

When children are born, they have no idea about the organization of nature, and they have no language that will help them to organize nature. Children are at their maximum rate of motion through space (change in space) of their lives, and they are also at their maximum awareness of space (as they have evolved through so little time). At each new experience, a child is inquisitive (wants to learn) and perceptive (naturally recognizes how new experiences of things in space follow the same patterns as previous experiences of things in space). Children perceptively (Yang) recognize patterns in words and recognize relationships in the grammar of language, even without knowledge of the 'rules' or other aspects of grammatical organization (Yin) which require time (Yin).

As people age (motion in time = stillness in space = Yin), they evolve to a better understanding of the organization (Yin) of nature. They learn a language, which helps them to organize (Yin) their understanding of nature. As children age (Yang evolves into Yin), as their metabolism slows (Yang evolves into Yin), and as they learn more about the organization (Yin) of nature, they have less sensory based awareness (less Yang) of changes in space. The Yang of perception and sensory based awareness of space evolves into the Yin of organization and motor based awareness of time.

Once children reach puberty, they greatly reduce their perceptivity and their sensory based awareness. As they age, they come to understand nature better, they organize their understanding of nature better, and less is 'new' to them. Rather than high energy (Yang) sensory based (Yang) reactions to the things (space) that they encounter in each new situation, people evolve throughout life to lower energy (Yin) motor based (Yin) responses, where they learn to behave in standardized patterns according to their personal organization (Yin) of nature. Rather than high energy (Yang) perceptive (Yang) understanding of each new situation, people evolve to lower energy (Yin) reliance on their understanding of the organization (Yin) of nature.

Each language of the world, each civilization, and each person is a unique balance of Yang and Yin. The younger that a person, language, civilization, etc. is, the more perceptive, the more sensory based, the less organized, the less motor based, etc. that that life will be compared with how it will evolve to be later. As each form of 'life' evolves with time, it becomes less perceptive, less sensory based, more organized, more motor based, etc.

Of the '5' great ancient centers of civilization, that which evolved in China has had the greatest collective motion through space (they migrated to the continent of Asia), and so the least evolution through time (they are the youngest). On the other hand, the civilization that evolved in Africa has had the least collective motion through space (they are still on the continent of Africa), and so the greatest evolution through time (they are the oldest). The Chinese civilization, the youngest civilization, is therefore the most Yang. Africa has evolved more through time, it has aged more, and so more of this energy has evolved into Yin. The other three centers of civilization represent a more even balance of Yang and Yin, and so are intermediately aged.

Chinese is the youngest language in the world; it is the most perceptive, the most sensory based, the least organized, and the least motor based. Swahili is the most organized language in the world, and the most motor based, but with age it has evolved away from some of its perceptivity and its sensory based awareness. Just as children tend to enjoy the benefits of being young and adults tend to enjoy the benefits of being older, youth and age each has wonderful advantages, and certain disadvantages.

The more perceptive (Yang) a language, the more sensory based (Yang) a language, and the more that a language has traveled in motion through space (motion through space = Yang), the greater will be the collective tendency of its speakers to explore and learn about changes in space (Yang). This is the basis for the development of culture using space, and so, of all of the '5' centers of civilization, Chinese has enabled the highest development of culture using space.

The more organized (Yin) a language, the more motor based (Yin) a language, and the more that a language has traveled in motion through time (motion through space = stillness in time = Yin), the greater will be the collective tendency of its speakers to explore and learn about changes in time (Yin). This is the basis for the development of culture using time, and so, of all of the '5' centers of civilization, the African languages have enabled the highest development of culture using time.

The more organized and the more motor based a language, the more powerful a model that it presents for the development of 'science', and so Swahili provides the most powerful model for science. Science has not developed to the level that it surely will in the future on the basis of the pattern of Swahili. English orients to four dimensions, which while much less organized than Swahili is much more so than Chinese, and so it is natural that the Chinese now rely heavily on western 'science', as it is more evolved than Chinese science.

It is important to understand that the tendencies of language are just that, tendencies. There will be great diversity among individuals. The speakers of Chinese tend to rely more on sensory awareness in analyzing a situation, just as the younger a person is the greater the tendency to relate to what is right there in front of him right then. The speakers of Swahili tend to rely more on motor awareness in analyzing a situation, just as the older a person becomes the less the tendency to relate to what is right there right then and instead rely on how such situations have played themselves out previously.

Let's take a brief look at the Chinese and Swahili languages, as they are the extremes of Yang and Yin, to recognize how the perceptivity (Yang) of a language evolves to organization (Yin) as language evolves over time. English and the other languages of the world have a more even balance of Yang and Yin, and have evolved to a position between these two extremes.

When the ancestors of the Chinese left Africa, mankind was aware of only the first dimension. The first dimension is symbolized by the 'point'. Chinese grammar is organized in such a way that as the speakers of Chinese became aware of each subsequent dimension, that awareness became superimposed in a consistent manner over the preceding dimensions. Each dimension is therefore completely distinct from each of the others, and Chinese speakers perceptively recognize the distinct pattern of each dimension. For example, the Chinese subdivision of the unity of the point into Yang and Yin permeates all aspects of the Chinese language, and it is not possible not to be aware of it. The Chinese do not need to analyze their language to be aware of the subdivision of nature into Yang and Yin, as they are perceptively very aware of it. The Chinese cannot not be aware that the world exists in '5' dimensions.

As Swahili evolved through its greater time, it became increasingly aware of the organization of the patterns of nature. Swahili was able to integrate each of the dimensions into one unified pattern of nature. However, the powerful act of organizing the integration of all of the '5' dimensions into '1' unified pattern of nature caused each of the dimensions to become indistinct from each of the others, as there is no distinction within unity. Therefore, the perceptive understanding of the nature of each distinct dimension does not at all permeate Swahili as it does Chinese.

Whereas Chinese orients to the point, Swahili orients to the 'volume' of space-time. Languages that orient to the point require their speakers to reorient each time they think about a different point in space-time. Languages that orient to the volume enable their speakers to be aware of all points in a volume of space-time without the need to reorient in order to avoid becoming 'disoriented' in space-time.

How does each language grammar express its perceptivity and its organization? Why does more of one necessarily imply less of the other, such that there is always a balance of Yang and Yin? Just as in the case of the birth of a 'shot', when a bullet leaves a gun, and just as when the universe began in the 'shot' known as the 'Big Bang', space-time is born at its maximum rate of motion through space (Yang), and at its minimum rate of motion through time (Yin). As there is more initial motion through space than through time, mankind was initially more aware of space than of time. The first type of word in language was the noun. The noun is Yin, as it expresses awareness of space.

When the ancestors of the Chinese left Africa, at the stage of awareness of one dimension, there was only the noun in their language. The noun is the one dimensional unit of meaning in language. All subsequent words in Chinese evolved out of what were originally nouns. These nouns were randomly created, and were poorly organized, as youth has little understanding of the organization of nature.

As mankind evolved, he passed through more time, and so became more aware of time, and of the changes that space undergoes over time. This gave rise to verbs and their tenses ('tense' is Latin for 'time'). Verbs (time) are the Yang to the Yin of nouns (space). Verbs express awareness of time in the same way that nouns express awareness of space. As language evolved over time, verbs became increasingly prevalent.

By the time that Swahili was 'born', the speakers were aware of all five dimensions. They were aware of an extremely powerful integrated five dimensional organization of nature. Swahili is so well organized that all words in Swahili evolved out of what originally were verbs. All nouns, adjectives, etc. in Swahili evolved out of verbs in an extremely organized manner.

Another way to understand the evolution of nouns into verbs is from the pattern of Yang and Yin. Verbs symbolize time, and so are Yang. Nouns symbolize space, and so are Yin. The pattern of nature is that Yang evolves into Yin and that Yin evolves into Yang. In the beginning, in Chinese, the nouns are Yang and the verbs are Yin, and only with Swahili have the Yang nouns completely evolved into Yin and the Yin verbs completely evolved into Yang. In Chinese, nouns are Yang, as they were created '1'st (Yang), and verbs were created '2'nd (Yin). In Swahili, the verbs are Yang, and were created '1'st, and the nouns are Yin, and were created '2'nd.

Swahili has an incredibly powerful organization of grammar, and could be used as the model for mankind's most powerful 'science'. Just as an adult is more prone to recognize the 'big picture' of the different factors in an interaction, speakers of Swahili have the most evolved, and the most organized, understanding of nature.

Chinese, on the other hand, has the least evolved grammar of organization (Yin) of time (Yin), and so has the grammar that enables the greatest degree of perception (Yang) of space (Yang).

In order to understand more clearly the difference in grammatical organization between Swahili and Chinese, consider the organization of 'cities'. Cities that have been established relatively recently tend to be better organized than cities that were established long ago. Newer cities tend to be laid out on north-south and east-west grids. Older cities tend to have been laid out more haphazardly; they start with a central core and just build as necessary around it. In older cities, there is often no direct road 'from here to there', as there was no 'there' when the city was first built. In the same way, Swahili was born after mankind was aware of the different types of interactions that occur in space (nouns), and of the different types of interactions that occur in time (verbs). Speakers of Swahili think in a language that organizes very clearly all of nature into one pattern. Of course, as powerful as Swahili is, it is still much younger than we are now. If a new language were constructed now, it could be much more organized and powerful, as awareness has evolved much since the birth of Swahili.

4.1 English Is Yang To The Yin Of Swahili

The difference between a five dimensional orientation, such as Swahili, and a four dimensional orientation, such as English, is very great. A few examples of differences between English and Swahili will be introduced to offer an idea of the pervasiveness of these differences.

English is a powerful balance of Yang and Yin, a balance of perception (creativity using space) and organization (creativity using time). English is a younger (Yang) and more perceptive (Yang) language than Swahili, but it does not have the same dimension of organization (Yin) as the older Swahili (Yin).

All aspects of English grammar reflect its four dimensional orientation. For example, verbs in English do not have the same dimension of organization that Swahili has. English uses apparently unrelated verbs to express ideas such as 'open' and 'close', 'see' and 'show', and 'hear' and 'listen', and does not recognize that these are pairs of structurally (Yin) related concepts.

English words are long and complex (Yang), with complex consonant clusters in complex syllables (Yang), and with a very complex spelling system (Yang). Words in Swahili are much simpler (Yin), with no consonant clusters in simple syllables (Yin), and with a simple spelling system (Yin). English has a very large and complex vocabulary (Yang), with large numbers of words with seemingly 'different' shades of meaning, which represent a large number (Yang) of subdivisions of meaning based on '4' different patterns of nature. Swahili has been able to organize (Yin) its vocabulary into a very powerful yet simple (Yin) structure (Yin).

English word order is four dimensional, and does not reflect its speakers' five dimensional awareness. Five dimensional concepts are not integrated into the structure of the English grammar, as they are in Swahili, and so special 'markers' must be used. For example, in the four dimensional clause 'Joe hits Bill', the integrated nature of English means that 'Bill' is not marked in the way that 'Bill' must be marked with the word 'to' in 'Joe talks to Bill' to express a five dimensional 'indirect object'.

Swahili does not require conjunctions to create five dimensional clauses, as does English, and has almost no need for prepositions, etc.

English has a highly evolved system of position in time. In addition to 'this' and 'that' to localize something in space, English uses the article 'the' to localize something in time. For example, whereas 'this apple' and 'that apple' localize an 'apple' at a point in space, 'the apple' localizes an 'apple' at another point in time. Swahili has a more evolved integrated system of positioning in time and space.

The organization of sounds in syllables, the organization of syllables in words, the organization of words in phrases, the organization of phrases in clauses, and everything else about the organization of the grammar of the English language reflects its orientation to '4' dimensions.

4.2 Culture: A Balance Of Yang And Yin

Perception (Yang) and sensory based awareness (Yang) are the sources of culture using space (Yang), and so Chinese evolved the most developed culture using space in the ancient world, in contrast to the African civilization, which is often not even recognized to be a center of culture. In fact, the African civilization has evolved the most developed culture using time, but as time is formless it is a less 'visible' culture. Once the civilization of mankind became aware of the fifth dimension, the younger (Yang), more perceptive (Yang), more sensory based (Yang) Chinese applied more energy to the development of culture using space (Yang), and the older (Yin), more organized (Yin), more motor based (Yin) Swahili applied more energy to development of culture using time (Yin).

For example, art is a perceptive expression of meaning. As works of art occupy space (they are visible), art could be expected to flourish in a perceptive society, as it has in China.

Numbers are also very perceptive. The patterns of the numbers are identical with the patterns of nature, for which they were developed to count. Numbers were counted on the fingers, which occupy space. Therefore, math developed more in ancient China than in ancient Africa. Chinese developed a powerful, natural, perceptive base 60 counting system, which was superior to what developed in Africa.

As writing is 'visible' in space, Chinese developed writing very early. Chinese uses a large number (Yang) of symbols, each of which is an integrated (Yang) unit of meaning, or word. As each word in Chinese has evolved from a noun, there are no word endings, such as equivalents to 'ing', 'ed', etc., and so the system of Chinese 'characters' is a very suitable one. Chinese characters symbolize pictures (Yang) of space (Yang) that are seen by the eyes (Yang), and symbolize nouns (Yang).

Writing did not even develop in the civilization of Africa. An alphabet is the most appropriate writing system for Swahili, as the writing system of Swahili is naturally Yin to the Yang of Chinese; the Swahili alphabet uses a small number (Yin) of symbols, which are combined in a non-integrated, subdivided (Yin) manner to form words. In Swahili, every vowel and every consonant was originally selected, in a very organized (Yin) manner, as a unit of meaning, and so there are many word endings. Alphabets symbolize sounds (Yin), which symbolize changes in space over time (Yin) that are heard by the ears (Yin), and symbolize verbs (Yin).

Whereas the Chinese tend to excel at the cultural development of space (Yang), and of things that have form (space) and occupy space, such as art, metal work, etc., Swahili tends to excel at the cultural development of time (Yin), and of things that lack form (time) and occupy time, such as music. The eyes (Yang) see space (Yang), such as a painting, which does not change over time (Yang). The ears (Yin) hear sound (Yin), such as music, only as it passes through time (Yin), because if sound were frozen at a moment in time, such that there were no change in time, there could be no awareness of sound.

Music is a complex interaction of sound. Knowledge of the organization of sound and of sound interaction determines the difference between music and noise. The ability to make music is the ability to organize (Yin) sound (Yin). Therefore, the African civilization could be expected to tend to excel at music. (German, a highly structured language with a four dimensional orientation, also tends to excel at music. As well, the evolved Greek philosopher Pythagoras recognized that the structure of music is identical to the organization of nature.)

Yoruba is an example of an African language with a very highly evolved organization (Yin) of sound (Yin). Yoruba is an extremely melodic language that is pleasant to hear (Yin). Each syllable of each word conveys what are known as 'tones'. When words are compounded, the longer words can be shortened by deleting intermediate syllables. The presence of a deleted syllable is marked by retaining the tone of the deleted syllable and merging it with the tone of the following syllable. The sounds (Yin) of Yoruba are so highly organized (Yin) that speakers of Yoruba have evolved a system of music (Yin) whereby drums can be used to convey language (to communicate) only as tones, by deleting all of the syllables.

Chinese is the most 'creative' civilization using space. Naturally, this is only a 'tendency' of the individuals that make up the civilization. It does not mean that any given Chinese person is necessarily any more creative using space than any given non-Chinese person. The Chinese also devote more energy of creativity using space than other civilizations toward the creation of life (which occupies space). It is therefore understandable why the Chinese throughout history have followed a tendency toward the largest families, and so have the largest population in the world, as they 'create' the most children. As well, the Chinese have created the most complex agricultural system to create sufficient food to feed their larger population.

4.3 The Mind Is Yang To The Yin Of The Body

The mind of mankind is formless, it cannot be 'seen', and therefore is Yang. The body of mankind occupies space, it has form, and therefore is Yin. As youth evolves to adulthood, the body increases in space (Yin). Therefore, descendants of the African civilization will tend to be taller, larger, and more Yin than descendants of the Chinese civilization, who will tend to be shorter, smaller, and more Yang. Just as older youth tend to have a more well developed muscular system, and so are stronger than younger youth, descendants of the African civilization tend to be physically stronger and more well developed. This helps account for the much larger percentage of people of African descent who have become professional athletes in sports that require strength than people of Asian descent.

While the body (Yin) tends to be not as well developed in youth, the mind (Yang) in youth tends to be more perceptive, sensory based, etc. Youth adapts more quickly to the old ways of adults than adults adapt to the new ways of children. This helps account for the large percentage of people of Chinese descent, and the smaller percentage of people of African descent, that excel in American universities, which orient toward a '4' dimensional culture, which is older than the Chinese culture and younger than the African culture. Again, it must be stressed that these are cultural tendencies, which do not necessarily apply to any given person.