Earth Language 地球語 Homepage

From [Rivalry] To [Concerto of Happiness] ... For The New Base of Global Society
** learning through Kotodama/Word Spirit in ancient Japan **

「競争」から[幸せの協奏」へ・・世界の新基盤
**日本の言霊から学ぶ**


Yoshiko McFarland's Annual Letter (Jan. 2018)


If it's possible to create a world that one feels is like an orchestra, and enjoys joining it with his or her ability to listen to and to play all together, what kind of system would that be?

This is a proposal for a concrete method to do that.


[Contents]

1 From [Rivalry] to [Concerto of Happiness]
2 What is "Kotodama?"
3 The world view of the ancient Japanese
4 Emptiness for the pivot of the world, and the auxiliary language for the thread to unite everything
5 The auxiliary language is to supplement the traditional language
6 What Earth Language assists with and how
7 Current state of the Earth Language website

1 From [Rivalry] to [Concerto of Happiness

The world is now rapidly advancing differences and fragmentation, and running in an unstable direction.

A nation pursues security and the national interest of its own country. It's not a matter of whether it's true or a lie, or good or evil, victory or defeat is the point for a nation. So the country works out a strategy to beat the others. In the real world, is it the only the way to seek a stronger force to make an alliance for the defense of the country? Escalation of the nuclear armament competition is too dangerous.

Such society was thought out from the basic principle of "rivalry/ competition for victory." Wars never can be swept away, as long as the world continues rotating with this competition base.

Regardless of the era, it is true that humans want to be happy. However, when a person and a society faces reality, he chooses convenience for himself at that point. The truth is apt to be just forgotten.

Even being forgotten, the truth never goes away, but the joy of victory passes away tomorrow.

The human is a creature which lives linked with each other. Happiness is a sort of joy through sharing it with others. It wells up between persons or a human and nature.

Ancient people were living with happily together. Isn't it possible to bring the future society into that way? Can't we revolutionize the social infrastructure, from the system of divide-and-fight to the system of the basic foundation of the world of living happily together?

Even if being told that it's just a dream and a stupid idea, somebody should prepare and show a concrete method to change the social infrastructure into "Harmony" from "Rivalry" for the next generation ...

I was born on Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day that US calendars say; and lost my father and my birthplace in that war. Therefore since I immigrated to the US nearly 30 years ago, I continue having the huge theme of, "a new common ground to bring the world to a peaceful way of living."

I got the idea of a new auxiliary common language with many functions named "Earth Language," and have brought up a proposal to build it worldwide together to help thinking based on "nature" but not a culture, as another thinking method for everybody.

The language is the most peculiar treasure of humankind. It links one's memory of his past experiences and historical wisdom to the present, and also links people together. Rebinding the divided societies together also must be done by exploiting this human peculiarity. Isn't that real wisdom?"

Earth Language came out from my intuition, but, in realization of that, I reconsidered the functions and the system overall through reality of what is lacking in the communication ways of the contemporary world.

Reality is countable, but the connections of nature are countless. A feeling of happiness is a sense of being connected to "countless infinities" unlike the joy of winning or accomplishments.

When using a language, isn't it possible to let the user feel the hidden infinity at the core of the universe, and the links between all that exists?

Last year, I talked with ancient ancestors after a long absence. At that time, the word called "Kotodama (the soul of words) " came out through my heart.

.... When a language was alive with Kotodama, there was no war.....
.... Why?

2 What is "Kotodama?"

Generally they say that it is the ability to realize the power of words. Kotodama was alive in not only ancient Japan but also the North American continent and the old area that did not have a war for hundreds of years. In such a place, they didn't tell a lie, because they respected of others Kotodama power, and that could keep a society free from war.

In Japan, they had almost no war for several thousand years of the Jomon era, for 400 years of the Heian era and for 265 years of the Edo era, and created the unique beautiful culture.
Roughly saying, Japan had wars in the periods when Chinese kanji and their culture came into Japan, and when they accepted western culture and languages. These languages influenced a lot of their thinking.

Then they lost WW2. GHQ tried to clean up traditional Japanese spirit to not stand up with arms again and to democratize Japan, particularly old Shinto traditions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto) were taken out or rearranged in a negative way. Letters from my aunt and our textbooks were painted with black ink here and there by GHQ in my childhood. After such time, even the word "Kotodama" was about to be forgotten by the society.

However, interest in old Japanese culture has been recently renewed, and Kotodama power seems to be used for the purpose of achievement among Japanese youths.  Is Kotodama a magical power by religious faith to grant a wish?

I don't think so, I interpret it in the following way.
The origin of the world was only the emptiness where everything is underlying. Things separated from the emptiness, and humans made words to distinguish the existing things. A language allows people to differentiate between things, and words naturally increase.

Any universe is one. So when it is divided and expanding, it is still connected to everything that came from within it. Otherwise everything could disperse and nothing could exist. The thing which differentiated from the original emptiness must be tied with the origin.

I noticed that the ancients had to feel the power tied onto the original source of all, and they sensed that Kotodama is the power of a spoken word. When a word goes, its Kotodama power connects with the origin to give energy from there. The humans of the genesis might intuitionally feel like this, while they developed their language.

In other words, ff you call God for the potential source of all, the words you speak out would be linked to God by the power of Kotodama. However, that God is not such an existence shown as a human figure. While hidden in the macrocosm, also in the microcosm in your body, God is the origin of all existences and creatures. Also it's the true principle that supports all existences.

Sometimes one's wish might come true by purifying the body and mind, to speak out one's words. It might be because the Kotodama's linking power works when one concentrates on words of one's desire, I suppose.

Japanese is said to be a very old mysterious language. Ancient Japanese people were a multiracial drift which drifted to an eastern land. Also Japan later swallowed large quantities of kanji and the alphabet. Yet old Japanese words and the structure is still alive in its root and trunk until now. Also even among modern people who are unconscious about Kotodama, as long as they grew up using Japanese, sometime they have a chance to feel Kotodama power.

Why could Japanese ancients imagine that Kotodama power worked with the words? The system should be common with their world view through their intuition.

3 The world view of the ancient Japanese

Their world view is shown in the opening statement of "Kojiki"(one of the oldest Japanese official history books written in 712AD) : There enumeration of god names are lined up, and the names are not only for just name sounds, but also each has its meaning, probably handed down from the oldest philosophy. 

The first god name, Amenominakanushi, means "the center master of the emptiness," and it doesn't do anything in the story. However the emptiness has the potentiality to produce everything into the physical world and to provide energy to it; we know about it through the next two gods' names.

God names continue as invisible existences, and the names are symbolized for each very basic profound system which gives support for a clear existence of this world, as gravity, force, energy, function of gathering and dispersion etc. and even including a name recalling the explanation about the theory of the Higgs boson, according to my interpreting from old words to modern thoughts. It is like talking about both the Newton dynamics and quantum-mechanical principles spelled by simple ancient words.

Anywhere in the world, a word started as one syllable at the beginning. Most places have used many basic syllables including plural consonants and a diphthong, and each sound corresponded to the basic element of a thing or phenomenon in nature or related to a human society.

In contrast to that, Japanese and Polynesian languages have used a small amount of basic syllables, so the basic elements to correspond to them were not many. As the Earth Language founder, I was curious how the ancient Japanese founders distinguished their basic concepts with the sounds. By researching the old Japanese dictionary, I checked the relation between a sound and its concept to feel their mind.

In ancient or present Japanese, the syllable [hi](pronounce hi of history) has been used for "one," "the sun" and "fire." Old Japanese [hidgi] meant "sludge/mud" that ancients thought was the former condition of this planet before water and earth got separated. What is common among these things expressed by [hi]?

When getting the meaning of [hi] as "the first" instead of numeral "one," I can imagine the common thought among the meanings as the first stage of the world. Other plural syllable words with [hi] are also relating to the condition of the beginning energy.

In the same way, the sound [fu] has been used for "the second," and the common thought among the ancient word with plural syllables following [fu] is generally relating to the energized condition to start increasing or expanding in the second stage of the world.

Like this, ancients were sharing the profound constitution of the universe: how the universe began and had been existing, as the basis of their language. When they started to use this language with such feelings, the user had to always connect to the root of the universe through speaking. That power which one felt in the basic syllable was called Kotodama.

By using words in such way, they could hold the social base with the sense to feel everyone is connected in the circulation of nature, and their cooperativeness was kept even when any kind of a disaster happened. Cooperation was very important for the human being to survive and to create peace. They wanted to sustain this social base,
so they sent down the traditional image that everyone connected through the emptiness with the hidden original energy as the relation between the vocal word and its Kotodama, I think.

Their view of the world also can be seen through the structure of ancient Japanese language as below. The same structures are still alive in modern Japanese as the thinking roots among the people who grew up with it.

# Japanese sentences do not need to have a subject. The subject of a sentence is like a modifier.

It is a big factor to confuse the machine translation from Japanese to a foreign language. I tried to put my writing into a website translator. When a sentence has no subject, it automatically supplies mostly "I" as the subject. A terrible translation comes out. Imagine when AI uses this kind of mistranslated English data for an important decision!  How scary it could be.

# There are a lot of pronouns for the first and second person. (English uses basically only I and You)
# In many cases, a title, a direction and a place name are substituted as a personal pronoun or name.
# Some pronouns are used for both I and You.
# There are words to express completely opposite meanings.

For practicing Tai Chi, when I gently push air with my hands using the power from the center of my body, I feel reverse power flows from the hands into the entire body with a sense of infinite energy, and all the cells feel happy harmonizing with my whole body.

I imagine that our ancestors also might have experienced such a bodily sensation, and they might think there was a hidden infinite energy system in their background; and its power replies to a human's power in the gentle and right way for harmony. Also they might perceive with their intuition that the words they solemnly pushed out could connect to the hidden infinite system from which everything had been produced, to bring back energy as Kotodama power.
 
As the result of getting the common sense to feel the potential origin of all, I imagine the ancients could feel that everybody in the world is connected; and could see things from the other side or heaven, not only through their own eyes.

On such a base, people must want to get contented joy welling up from inside themselves by acting in the best interests of others, rather than seeking self-centered interests; also they won't rush into a war.

It sounds very illogical that a personal pronoun is used for both I and you. On the other hand, it matches for quantum mechanic theory, "the one watching is watched." Ancient people might have the idea that the entire world is linked by the principle of invisible waves or quantum energy through their intuitions more than we know now.

4 Emptiness for the pivot of the world, and the auxiliary language for the thread to unite everything

To bring up the society as written above, I suppose at least someone who represented the society had to connect to the origin of all and to see things through the eyes of the origin or heaven, seeking the true way in the real world to lead the people.

That being has been the Tennou in Japan. Here I prefer to use the original Japanese word, Tennou, instead of the Emperor usually used for its English translation. In other countries, before democracy, imperial thrones were competed for by the force of arms, so they were quickly changeable and wars could never be stopped.

Contrary to that, the Japanese imperial family keeps an unbroken line of the reign: having been constant for more than 2,600 years including the mythical era, officially the Tennou must not be a military or economic leader. Although there were uncertain times, basically and originally the Tennou has lived along with nature, being as a sort of medium between the real world and the hidden infinite origin, to pray for the nation's security and peace binding them all together, keeping and passing down very old traditions.

Despite that, since there was no such word for the person in other places, they just translated it as Emperor. So it caused misunderstanding at home and abroad as the top power of Japan.

Maybe Tennou could be spelled "TenKnow." (my joke)
Because in ancient days, the Tennou was called Amenoshita-Shiroshimesu-Sumeragi. These words can be understood  as "holy leader who knows the whole world connected to the hidden origin."  Through the traditional rituals that Tennous inherited, I feel that they have worked together for passing down Japanese language to communicate with the infinite world and its sense of beauty linking from the origin.

The Imperial crest of the chrysanthemum is surely simple and beautiful, with the shape of 32 petals opening powerfully from the central pivot. It symbolizes that the entire nation vigorously spreads connecting together through the Tennou at the center.

This simple beauty only can be with the healthy petals. According to the description in "Kojiki," when the sun goddess hid in a rock cave, all people gathered together to hold a great meeting and worked out a plan collecting each special ability and skill into one, and all the members together succeeded to draw the sun goddess outside. The poem book, "Man-yoshu" collected Waka, the 31-syllable Japanese poems that were written between roughly the seventh century AD and the ninth century AD of the different classes of people from Tennous and nobles to the low-class public servants and common people widely, and has showed the fertile imagination of these people.

Such a peaceful culture made of individual talent and ability in equal parts grew up with Japanese language through the Tennou at the pivot. And the Tennou wasn't the power, but the person to hold "the emptiness" that everyone's root connected to.

At the big turning point of world history, a strong leader stood at the center. But when thinking of the future global world for seeking true peace, the one standing there must not be a power, must be "the emptiness" itself that the Tennou had contacted with as a role. Only by this way, the pivot and the 7 billion colorful petals can be connected for a big bloom.

The reason why a wheel turns around smoothly is that the wheel has "emptiness" in the center. Even if the space of the pivot is small, it is connected to the infinite sky. Even if civilization developed so much, the actual existing world can not be compared with the underlying infinity. If we all communicate with others through the pivot of infinite emptiness, I think even the complicated global community could begin to turn around.

Realization of this structure needs the thread which links each individual to "the pivot."

Will there be the thread other than a new auxiliary language that any person feels value to use it together? Will there be a better method for systematically changing the base of the global society from "Rivalry" to "Concert of Happiness" unless bringing up a new common auxiliary language with a sort of Kotodama system together in the global community?

5 [The auxiliary language is to supplement the traditional language]

Globalization of IT quickly has developed English as the common language. Other old language users came to speak more logically to win an argument by learning English, and countries became more competitive for economics and military power, working out tactics and strategy, and "the competition base to win" spread out to the globe.

The language is a container of thoughts. The English language grew up through the conflicts between various cultures since its history began, so it became a strong language trained in absorbing each other. That power of language could bring up science. On the other hand, the competition would continuously escalate as far as English is used as the common language.

If the new language that is fair for everyone would not support a social base as another foot with each traditional language, we can't continuously expect true peace with vigorous harmony.

As well as English, every traditional language is not good for a future common language. Opposition between the majority and minority always happens if based on religion and culture, and it becomes the cause of a war.

Also the spread of English and Spanish cut off thousands of small and weak languages. It is painful for anyone that the language of their own people is hurt or is put out.

The future auxiliary language must be expected to assist your communications, while protecting your traditional language at the same time. When the future common auxiliary language has the same structure as a traditional language, as Esperanto, it doesn't have enough meaning. It must assist transmission which is not possible by a traditional language, and should make every kind of future communication available, and tie the world into a circle, without losing individual colors.

Humans are born with two eyes and two ears and get information by integration of two different materials. Why can't every person on the earth think and judge by integration of each local language and the auxiliary language?

Then, what kind of function should the auxiliary language perform? And what kind of system will grant the ideal?

I named "Earth Language (EL)" for the future common auxiliary language and, in fact, this autumn will be the 30th year since I began to work out a concrete plan for this to happen.

I made the concrete plan using the actual symbols of EL to show it in the EL website since 1997; and I've pursued it while listening to the opinions of readers from many countries.

My proposal is still in the stage of a tentative plan, and needs to elaborate for the details among all kinds of people. Even though EL already has the systems to satisfy the following demands; and all of them are impossible with a traditional language.

6 What Earth Language assists with and how

# Improves the ability to process information, reducing memory problems

The 21st century is the busiest time in human history with IT and AI, snowballing information, and things move and flow fast. There the individual needs to keep perspective of the world under control and to keep the sense of holistic harmony as a human being, not to be handled by a machine.

Also it is necessary to reduce the burden of individuals to keep a lot of memory to connect to the global world with a wider view.

For this purpose, EL should transmit messages while arranging information flexibly and freely without being particular about culture.

 Reducing the volume and simplifying the means of expression is necessary, too, to help make it easier to look around the relations of every thing in the entire universe.

In addition, EL should help not for a momentary way of thinking, but for polishing a thought for the possibility of using it for a long time to come.

What types of systems are needed for these demands:
* Things are expressed by differentiation and combination of the element of "nature," not "a particular culture," and the structure can be developed freely and rationally in a flexible way to show the relationship of elemental meanings.
* More right brain use for higher efficiency of understanding
* The abridgment method that works rationally, and is easy to distinguish contents
* Keeping the bottom base and the basic structure permanently, and developing flexibly by the combination of them

It is impossible to satisfy these items as long as we are using a vocal language, but is entirely possible if using a visual and sign language of a simple form as the basis.

A base is set up with a simple shape as a sign of hieroglyphic formation or an abstract form, and an overlay of some bases put on top of one another on an equivalence plane shows another sign for a different hieroglyph by the total shape or for an abstract sign of the combination meaning of these elements.

In this way, innumerable new signs (ideographs) can be made out of a small amount of bases, and you need not to memorize a lot of signs and words.

Various parenthesis work for clarification of usage, classifications of names or information, making short forms, logos, or your own unique signs distinguished from official ones, etc.

Word order is varied in the world. EL is free from word order, by using grammatical small marks to indicate the punctuation, the function of a phrase in a sentence and verb-marks to distinguish its type. So even if everyone uses EL along with each native spoken language, the other can get the right flowing easily by looking over the sentence.

# Spreading without disturbing a traditional language and make communication equality

The letter or the ideograph is good for speed reading in long silence unlike vocal words. In the EL case, if you learn and use it by directly reading in your own mother tongue, you need not lose your native language. In addition, the picture-like formation signs help an infant learn the words of his/her mother country.

The basis is for scientific terms: main natural elements and a human common abstract notion. The terms related to a culture are expressed by combinations of them. By that way, the world goes equally without making the majority minority difference of the language.

As an example, they pronounce [god] or write [神] for the object of their faith in any religion. That is a cause of the conflict by recognizing it as the same word without understanding the difference between their cultures. In EL, each culture makes up an appropriate ideograph for its God or god by compounding natural element bases, so they can evenly know the difference between each other.

# The system to stimulate a new idea

The new idea always springs out from a certain combination of elements that already exist. Even without any intention, even an accidentally typed overlay-symbol sometimes could call an image for a new idea through its total shape or the combination of basic meanings.

The process to develop such language between countries in the Internet together must be a good chance to recognize differences between each other's thinking way, and to open our eyes for a new idea. I could learn a lot from the conversations with the readers of the EL website.

# Eternally functional EL Phonetics

A language has to introduce a proper noun and the simple sound as onomatopoeia. The pronunciations of current alphabets and kanji are varied depending on time and place, since they've been changed in their history. So frequently a proper noun is not transmitted by pronouncing it.

To prevent change, it is necessary to set the phonetics scientifically.  The phonetic signs to symbolize a vocal organ shape, to symbolize shifting from the standard condition, and the signs to show how the breath passes through are needed.

A sound is expressed by lining phonetic bases or base-overlays in time order, and for the detail of the pronunciation, you choose how many details you need.

If creating phonetic bases separately from the ideograph, the number of the bases becomes bulky. So EL bases are used for both definition and phonetics, but distinguishing the way to use them with a sign. That is to prevent a phonetic representation function from collapsing.

Alphabets and kanji let both work at the same time and a vocal word can be changed easily so these phonetic representation functions are out of order. EL switches the work. So EL uses fewer bases including numerals and brackets than the amount of ordinary English keyboard keys, and only 50 for phonetics, but with the same or more distinction ability than the International Phonetic Alphabet, by the overlay system.

An ideograph for "the classification indication" can be attached to the proper noun, such as a person's name, a place name, a name of a country. It would help for quick understanding.

Unlike the Alphabet or International Phonetic Alphabet, a deaf person can feel a vocal sound as a somatic sensation of how to use the form and breath of the organ of speech with the help of the picture-like phonetic signs, after trying the method for themselves. They might want to try to read the other's mouth and also to talk.

This system might stimulate the creation of a vocal art including a Capella, too, using the ability to help remake a strange voice by recording it.


# Many methods for the transmission to respond to the situation

In the EL society, foreigners usually speak their own mother tongue with each other, while showing the contents by EL hand-signs or EL writings for their face to face communication.

In this way, both can exchange messages by equal relations, while feeling the difference in vocal words and the structure of the sentence/flow of the thought at the same time.

To be usable along with each local language, the EL grammar is set free from the word order. Instead, it is easy to distinguish the part of a word or a phrase of the sentence, and the kind of sentence. So the flow of the sentence is rightly understandable by anyone.

Also, one ideograph answers are welcomed, to facilitate hand-sign language easier, and unlike English, the manner is not recognized as impolite.

Current sign language or Braille is not globally the same since every country has made one to fit its own language. Also if you want to use one, you have to learn it separately from spoken language and the writing system. Therefore the interchange range of deaf people is limited, and there are not many Braille books and messages which the blind person can read.

If they can make more equal communications with everybody, their ability in the society could be raised, and their unique ideas only through their nature and sensitivity could be brought up alive in this world.

In the mechanized society, whenever and wherever, you might get a sudden obstacle, too. In such a case, as long as your brain and some part of your body are all right, you must want to communicate with someone there. Don't you want the future society where mutual understanding meets somehow?

Once you learned the basic language, it can be effortlessly applicable with many methods. Such a system is desirable for Earth Language. 

Each base shape is simple, so it can be expressed by the form or the movement of a hand or the whole body, or even by the movement of the eyeball. As a replacement for Braille, the special print of EL bases to stand out might work for blind people. It can be understandable for a normal person with eyes. So anybody can exchange messages with blind people. Drawing EL bases on the other's palm works as well through the sense of touch with writing it under the keeping silent situation in darkness.

These methods are all applications from the visual base. What you need to memorize to use them is just a little.

Also each base has a one syllable name, number and ASCII.
When only the hearing is usable, such as phone calling, you can use the name or the number as a substitute for the vocal word.
ASCII is usable on E-mail communication when you don't have the EL font typing software. (it's free to download from the EL homepage)

But because the hieroglyph effect doesn't work in them, it is hard to take the meaning unless being used a lot. These are for emergency methods. Someday in the far future, the names of the base might work as an international vocal language, though.

Too complicated!? But our brain memorizes much better with many clues, and can keep the memory longer with them.

When you move your hands and body to learn the base with friends or family while imagining the meaning, not only is it hard to forget, but also can be used to help each other with an extra method in the case of emergency.

In addition, the language to affect a whole body stimulates the brain to work holistically and will help the personality to be harmonized.

The EL body signs that a meaning reaches will stimulate performance art such as new dance dramas.


For most of these, I have been thinking about them since I started to build EL. I was seeking convenience based on reality, but I received stimulation from "Kotodama" at this time, and thought to add the next item to EL.


*#* Raising the image to be all connected and bring up intuitive mind

The shore and the beach have both the sea and the land factors. Also when a certain power acts, its resistance power acts, too. "Nature" does not have a border essentially and is united into one in full contradiction.

We understand a thing in a language, while dividing the meaning and rearranging them. But we should not forget that we somehow feel that they all were from the infinite chaos, and all existences are connected in the invisible back root.

The importance to humans in the forthcoming AI era is the intuitive faculty. A machine works better at the analysis, but the AI quantitatively calculates an answer from clearly existing large quantities of data. It is very convenient, but if humans rely too much upon AI, they may fall into a horrible situation. Because something which science has never explained yet could be hiding deep within the real world. I think the intuitive faculty to feel from the depth before the calculation is important for the coming era.

Most of the ideas of Earth Language mentioned above, struck me as a sudden chaotic inspiration in the autumn of 1988. The power of the intuition is great. I've resisted and tried to escape from the work, even if people objected, but it did not let me run away for nearly 30 years right up to the present time.

I noticed that was because the intuition came over from the emptiness of the infinite origin.

The true intuition/inspiration is connected with "infinity" that is beyond calculation by humans or a machine. It could pop into one's mind from the infinite distance, while he or she pursues something and when it is incidentally blown off into emptiness.

I believe ancient Japanese people were able to build the harmonious world. That was because they valued intuition, and polished it with the relation of the Japanese word and Kotodama.

I wish to hold the structure for being aware of "the emptiness of the infinite origin," in the future common language, and it would be shared with the global society. Because only the emptiness can be the pivot to connect all the ways of thinking in the world.

I notice that it is possible to use EL as it currently is, just adding a new perspective to see the bases.

For example, the basis to indicate "Nature" is an upper half part of a large circle symbolizing the surrounding environment over us. The lower half of the back square is just blank as well as around the basis line. The blank can tell us that we've known only a little part of nature. I originally set up this ideograph while realizing the value of empty space.

The line of basis expresses the direct meaning. And yet, we can see the back blank with another meaning: as the emptiness where potential everything is hiding. All other bases are within the same size square, too. So all symbols have its image holding the potential world in the back. Symbols can be compounded into a new overlay for a new shape or a meaning, and still it's in the invisible square.  Don't you feel that every symbol and everything is from the endless emptiness in the depths, and connected in the origin there?

When seeing a basis with your widened consciousness to see the blank space where the sign is in, you must feel the sense that all elements have chances involved in there.

When you use the ideogram, your body might feel the difference in ways of working energy around the reversely-shaped bases. Also you might start to think from the opposite side, by turning a sign 180 degrees in your mind. Your faculty to feel the potential world might deepen with use.

If people become conscious of the potential principle of the existing root in the blank/the emptiness, while conveying content of the real world with the EL system, the emptiness might work as the pivot to turn the world in peace colorfully connecting all. Don't you think so, too?


What a greedy auxiliary language EL is!?
If there is such a language, Don't you want to use it for intercultural communication? 

In the reality, even if our generation started the development of EL right now,  I suppose we may not get rid of war immediately.
However, if parents and children would play with EL and develop it together, the thought in the EL base and the structure might change  the thinking base of the next generation's society.

When they became the center of maintaining EL, their basic thoughts might be naturally influenced by the EL way, and might forget about a war. Wouldn't they enjoy beauty and peace like people in Edo era (1603-1867) when they had fun by changing the gunpowder into fireworks and handling shears and clippers instead of their swords, for raising Bonsai trees and flowers?

7. The current state of the Earth Language website

The website is being updated and improved as soon as possible, but there are still some places where some EL ideographs don't correctly show and remnants of old writings are.

But a Lithuanian linguist, Mindey and his team are developing Mugen (Infinite) project in which online multilingual discussion is available, and under there, the place for expanding the EL dictionary by the Wiki method seems to advance.

You can freely download the EL font overlay typing tool which an anonymous German person made. EL Homepage: http://earthlanguage.org/

Please try it. You might find a lot of fun spills out from the typing of the EL font.  And, please participate to build the EL dictionary, when the Wiki dictionary site is ready to go.

Through the developing of EL, I recognized my lack of knowledge and ability. Then since moving to a little forest in WA, I've been learning nature while communicating with the forest and garden and also with myself, as well as learning through books. I wrote a lot for the Book of EL, but it's not complete yet.

I now think that my suffering with harsh pain caused the spine fractures for the last year and half is a warning from heaven to say "Hurry up! Don't miss the time of seeding of EL! Your life time is limited."

Therefore this annual newsletter became very long to introduce EL to the people who are unfamiliar with it.

I still work very slow, but I'm going to update the bases explanations in the EL dictionary reflected by the content of this letter little by little.

Thank you very much for reading until the end. If you got interested in this proposal, please spread it to your friends and family for a topic to discuss. Let us share your opinion in the Earth Language Page of Facebook.

I'd appreciate your future cooperation in the creation to exchange the world base with the "Concert of the Happiness."


January 2018     Yoshiko McFarland



も しも人類がみんなでオーケストラを演奏するように、全体の音に耳を澄ましながら誰もが自分の持ち味を生かして参加を楽しむ社会が可能だとすれ ば、それはどんなしくみによって成り立つでしょうか?

これは、その具体的な提案です。


  [もくじ]
1 「競争」から 「幸せの協奏」へ
2 「言霊」とは?
3 古代日本人の宇宙観
4 世界の要(かなめ)は「空っぽ」、結ぶ糸は共通補助言語
5 補助言語は伝統言語の不足を補うもの
6 地球語の役目としくみ
7 地球語ウェブサイトの現状
 

1、「競争」から「幸せの協奏」へ


世界は今、格差と分断化を急速に進め、不安定な方向に走っています。

国家は自国の安全と国益を追求するのが務め。真実か嘘か、善か悪かではなく、勝ち負けが問われ、国は勝つための戦略を練ります。現実世界に は、 同盟を組み、より強い武をもって武を制すしかないのでしょうか?核武装競争のエスカレートは物騒すぎます。

こんな社会は、「競争」を 根本原理として編み出されました。競争基盤で世界が回りつづける限り、戦争は決してなくならないでしょう。

幸せでありたいと願うのは、ヒトにとって時代を問わず真実です。けれども現実に直面すると、人や社会はその時点で自分に好都合な方を選択して 行動し、真実は、つい忘れ去られがちです。

真実は忘れられても変わることはありませんが、競争に勝った喜びは明日には消え去ります。

ヒトは、つながって暮らす生き物。幸せは、他と分かち合いつながってこそ感じられる感謝の喜び。人間と自然、人と人の間に湧き上がります。

原始のヒトが力を合わせて幸せをともに奏でていたときのような社会を、未来形にできないものでしょうか?分かれて争うのではなく、分かれても 底でつながっている意識を保つ社会基盤に改革できないでしょうか?

夢だ、馬鹿だといわれても、次世代のために誰かが「勝つ競争」から「幸せの協奏」に社会基盤を変える方法を具体的に提示し、準備しなけれ ば・・・

私は、USのカレンダーに Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day と印刷される日に生まれ、その戦争で父と生家を失くしました。そこで30年近く前に渡米して以来、「戦争のない世界を招く新しい共通基盤」という身にあまるテーマを抱え続 けています。

そして「地球語」と名づけた多機能をもつ新共通補助言語の計画を提案してきました。「地球語」は、「文化」ではなく「自然」に基づいて考え る、誰にとってもの第2の思考手段のことです。これを使うことで、持続可能な共通の社会基盤が育つと考えました。

言語は、太古以来の人類の知恵や自分の体験記憶を今に結び、人と人を結んできた、ヒト特有の宝です。分断社会を結び直すことも、人間が持つこ の宝の能力をみんなで発揮して解決することこそ、ヒ トの英知ではないでしょうか。

「地球語」を、私は直感からスタートしましたが、具体化に当たっては、現行の言語に不足する機能や手段を全面的に洗いなおし、それらを現実に 補足できるようトータルにつなぎました。

現実に考えられることは計算できますが、自然は無限につながっています。幸せ感も、現実の達成感や勝利の喜びとは違い、「無限」とつながる感 覚です。

言語を用いて内容を区別しながらも、底に隠れた無限のつながりを感じるようにはできないだろうか・・・

昨年私は、久しぶりに大昔の祖先たちと対話しました。

すると「ことだま(言霊)」ということばが心に響きまし た。

・・・言語が「言霊」を伴って活きていた間、そこに戦争はなかった・・・

・・・なぜ?

2、 「言霊」とは?

「言霊」とは、発したことばを実現させる霊力だと一般にいわれます。古代日本語だけでなく、北アメリカ大陸や永年戦争をしな かった古い地域にも、かつて「言霊」が活きていました。そんな地方では、互いに「言霊」を畏れ敬うゆえに嘘をつかず、喧嘩しても戦争し ない社会を保ちました。

日本でも縄文時代の数千年、平安時代の400年、江戸時代の260年、ほとんど戦をすることなく独特の文化を築きました。大雑把にいうと、日 本が戦争をしたのは、漢字と中国文化や、欧米の言語と文化を取り込んで活用の努力をした時代、どちらも、言語の影響で思考法が大変化したとき でした。

そしてWW2に敗戦。GHQは、日本を民主化し、人々が二度と武器をもって立ち上がれないよう、伝統の大和魂を抜き去ろうとし、特に神道系の 伝えは消されたり悪い印象に置き換えられたりしました。私が子供の頃、彼らの手で教科書や叔母からの手紙があちこち墨を塗られて読めなかった ものです。そんな時代を経て、「言霊」ということばさえ、社会から忘れ去られかけました。

しかし最近では日本古来の文化が見直され、日本の知識人の間で目的達成などのために意識的に「言霊力」を使う動きも復活し始めているようで す。 「言霊」とは、願いを叶える宗教的な信仰による魔力なのでしょうか?

そうではなく、私はこう解釈します。
原初、なにもかもが混沌の中に潜在する「空っぽ」のみがありました。やがて「空」から分かれて次々できた「有」をヒトが区別して表現したのが 「言語」です。分けて認識させる「言語」は、当然時とともに増加しました。

元来一つである宇宙は、拡張するとき同時に、離れるものを元へとつなぎとめる力も働かすはずです。でなければすべて霧散して宇宙は存在し得な いからです。

分化し広がる「言語」を元に結びとめる力を「言霊」として古代人は感じたにちがいないと、私は気づきました。「言語」の分ける力に対 し、ことばのそれぞれを始原の潜在世界とつないで生かす力が「言霊」。宇宙をまとめる根本の原理にはずれては、どの存在も持続し ません。原初のヒトは、このことを直感しながら言語を育てたのではないでしょうか。

仮に森羅万象すべての存在の元を「神」というなら、あなたが発することばが言霊によって「神」とつながるともいい換えられます。けれどその神 は、ヒトの姿で表現されるような存在ではなく、大宇宙にも、あなたの体という小宇宙にも潜んで存在を支える本源であり、すべての 「有」 を産んだ大原理のことです。

心身を清めてことばを唱えると願いがかなうことがあるのは、本源に耳を傾け、ことばに集中することによって、その言霊の 「本源に結ぶ力」が働くからではないでしょうか。

日本語は、非常に古い神秘的な言語といわれます。古代日本は、東の果てに流れ着いた多民族の吹き溜まりでした。にもかかわらず、 他から多くを受け入れながらも不思議に元からあった古いことばが生き残り、漢字やアルファベットを大量に吞み込みながらも、根幹には今も太古と同じことばとしくみが生きて います。そして、言霊について無知な現代人にさえ、日本語で暮らすうちに無意識に言霊の力が働くこともあります。

日本の古代人は、なぜ言霊がことばに寄り添うとイメージできたのでしょう?そのしくみは、彼らが直感した宇宙観に通じているはずです。

3、 古代日本人の宇宙観

彼らの宇宙観は、『古事記』の冒頭の、おそらく最も古い伝えを引きずったと考えられる神名の羅列から窺えます。それらはただ名前ではなく、意 味を持ちます。

最初の神アメノミナカヌシは、何の主張も行動や機能もしない「空っぽ」。そこにタカミムスビとカミムスビ:「無限を秘めた空っぽ」から分けて 有を産む備えと、 始原世界のエネルギーを有につなぐ備えが整います。

その後も、この世が成り立つための目には見えないさまざまな働きが神名として並びます。まるで ニュートン力学と量子力学の両原理が原始のことばでシンプルに綴られているかのようです。

どこの言語圏でも、最初は1音節の短いことばから始まりました。多数の音節を区別する地域では、五感で受け止められる要素やヒト社会の要素に それらを対応させました。

比べて日本語やポリネシア語は、ことばの基礎音節数が少なく、わずかな要素にしか対応できません。地球語を創始した体験者としては、日本語を 生んだ祖先が何によって世界を分けたのかを感じたく、古語辞典を頼りに、音節と意味の関係を見、彼らの心を想像しました。

古語でも現代語でも「ヒ」の音声は、一・日・火の異なる意味に使われます。(非・否・悲は漢字からのイメージ) 古語の「ヒヂ」は泥の意味 で、 泥には、伝統的に水と土が未分化だった原始状態のイメージがありました。

「ヒ」のイメージの共通項は何?

一をただ数字ではなく、最初と受け取れば、「ヒ」は、この世の受け皿となる最初の存在と理解できます。「ヒ」の付くことば:ヒカリ・ヒク・ ヒラクなども原初のエネルギーの在り方です。

同様に「フ」は、2番目で、フル(振、震、降)、フフム(蕾状態)、フエ(増)、フトシ(太)、フクル(膨)など、ものが増殖しはじめる様子 やエネルギーにかかわっています。

このように見てゆくと、ことばを使い始めた彼らにとっての音声は、宇宙成り立ちの根本イメージの想起に直結していたように感じられます。こん な感覚とともに話し始めた彼らは、ことばを通じて宇宙の根っこと常につながったことでしょう。そうさせることばの力のことが言霊と呼ばれたの だと思います。

そんなことばの使用によって、ヒトみなが互いにつながり、自然とつながる循環の中で生きている感覚が社会ベースとなり、どんな災害にもめげず 協力する暮らしを保てたのでしょ う。ヒトが平和に生き抜くには、協力は欠かせないものです。この社会ベースを永く維持するため、宇宙の根っこにつなぐ言霊とことばの音声の関係としてことばが大事に伝えら れたのだと、私は想像します。

彼らの世界観は、英語に比べて誠に不合理な日本語の以下のしくみにもいまだに生きています。

・文中の主語や目的語は、修飾語の扱い

機械による外国語への翻訳を混乱させる大きな要因です。試しに主語抜きが多い私の文章をウェブ上の翻訳機に入れてみました。すると、 ほとんどが自動的に I (私)を主語として補い、とんでもない訳文のできあがり。こんな訳の英語データをAIが使ったらと想うと、うーん、恐ろ しい!

・英語の I と You に当たる人称代名詞が多数ある

・社会的地位や方角や場所名を人称代名詞として代用する
例:ソチ(そちら・お前)、コチ(こちら・私)
・一つの代名詞を I と You の両義に使用
例:ヌシ、ワレ、ア、アレなどは、自称(私)と対称(あなた)の両代名詞
現代語のジブン・テメ エ・ワレなども同様
・一つの音声が正反対の意味を表す
例:ヒク(引く):自動詞としては、(引きつけられる)と(退く)の意味、他動詞としては、(引っ張る)と(抜き去る)

始原を通じて世界がつながる感覚を持った結果、自分の目だけでなく、相手や天の目になってものを見、自称代名詞を相手に使うセ ンスも育ったのでしょう。

こんな基盤上では、利己的に働くよりも、他のために施す行為によって始原世界から湧き上がる満ち足りた喜びを得たいと感じます。互いの命を奪 い合う戦争をしようとは思わないでしょう。
人称代名詞の I と You 両義使用は、合理性にそぐわない一方、量子力学的な観方:「観るものは観られるもの」に一致します。太古の人々は、物質的・直線的な法則性を使って主張し始める前に、 全体がつながる量子的、波動的な原理を、現代の私たちより体で感じることができたのかもしれません。

4、世界の要は「空っぽ」、結ぶ糸は共通補助言語

上記の習慣が、社会が大きくなっても定着し続けるには、少なくとも世を代表する誰かが、ことばと言霊によってすべての大元とつなが り、 大元からの目で真のあり方を問いながら、現実の対処にかかわったにちがいありません。

天皇は昔アメノシタ シロシメススメラギと呼ばれましたが、このことばは、「元の潜界につながる宇宙全体を知っておられる尊い存在」と理解できます。代々の天皇が受け継いだ伝統儀式や神 道の祝詞からも、日本語の発音と美意識を大元の根につなぎ続けた天皇の役割が感じられます。

他世界では、王や皇帝の座を力で争い、戦の絶え間がなかったのに対し、天皇家は、神話時代も含めれば2600年以上も万世一系を保ってい ます。天皇は元来、武力・金力による統率者ではありません。危うい時代もありましたが、自然に沿って暮らし、潜界と現実界を結ぶ要に居て 国の安泰と国民の平安を祈るのが天皇の役目で、その伝統は現在までも続いています。

皇室の紋章は、16八重の菊花の花弁が中心の「要」(かなめ)から力強く広がる、美しい形です。天皇を中心に全国民が元気につながる象徴 と感じられます。

the Imperial crest

このシンプルな美は、健やかに伸びる花弁があってこそ成り立っています。『古事記』によれば、太陽、アマテラスノミコトがお隠れになった ときには、大集会を開いてプランを練り、皆それぞれの特技を生かし全員一致して太陽神を外に引き出しました。『万葉集』は、天皇や貴族か ら下級官人や庶民まで、 7−8 世紀の多層の人々の和歌を広く集め、国の心の豊かさを示しています。

対等に個々の能力を生かしたこんな和やかな文化は、天皇を要に日本語を介して国民がつながって、シンプルに力強く形造られたのです。そし てその天皇は、権力ではなく、すべての根っこがつながる「空っぽ」を抱える存在でした。

過去に歴史が大きく転換するとき、その中心には力強いリーダーが立ちました。けれども未来の地球社会が真の平和を求めてつながろうとする とき、要にあるべきは、覇者ではなく、すべての根っこがつながる「空っぽ」そのものではないでしょうか?それでこそ70億花弁の極彩色の 大輪の花が開くのではないでしょうか?

車輪がスムーズに回るのは、輪の中心に「空っぽ」を抱えているからです。「要」の空間が狭くても、それは無限の空とつながっています。ど んな に文明が発達しても、顕在世界は潜在する無限のほんの一部に過ぎません。みなが 「無限の空っぽ」を介して伝え合えば、複雑な国際社会も円く回りはじめるのではないでしょうか?
この構造の実現には、「要」と各個人を結ぶ糸が要ります。

その糸は、次の時代に地球人がともに価値を感じて2次的に使う新しい補助言語しかないと私は思います。言霊的な働きも寄り添う共通補助 言語を国際社会でともに新しく育て築くことこそ、勝つ競争のベースから協調と調和のベースに変える 手段だと思います。

5、補助言語は伝統ことばの不足を補うもの

ITのグローバル化につれて英語の共通語化が急に進みました。英語を使ううちに、旧い言語を使ってきた人々も議論に勝とうと論理的な話し方を 心掛けるようになり、国は経済力・武力を競って戦術・戦略を練るようになり、国際社会の「勝つための競争ベース」は、あれよあれよと広がって しまいました。

言語は思考の器です。歴史始まって以来異文化間の摩擦にもまれ、他言語を吸収しながら育った競い強い英語は、科学を進展させましたが、これを 共通語とする限り、競争はエスカレートし続けるでしょう。

誰にも公平な新しい言語が伝統言語とともにもう一方の足として社会のベースを支えなければ、活気のある調和のつづく真の平和は期待できませ ん。

英語のみでなく、あらゆる伝統語は未来の共通言語としてふさわしくありません。宗教や文化に基づけば、かならずマジョリティ・マイノリ ティの対立が起き、戦争の因となります。

また、英語やスペイン語の普及は何千もの弱小言語を切り捨てました。自身の血肉となった言語を傷つけられ消されることは、誰にも苦痛です。

未来の共通補助言語は、エスペラントのように伝統言語と同じしくみであっては意味がないのです。普及して伝統言語に取って代わろうとしてはい けません。

伝統言語にはできない伝達を助けて、あらゆる条件下での意思疎通を可能にし、伝統言語とその色彩を失くすことなく世界を円くつなぐこと が補助言語の役目です。

ヒトは、2つの目、2つの耳を持って生まれ、左右の違いを統合して情報を得ています。すべての民族が伝統ことばと共通補助言語の2つをもち、 違いを認識しながら統合して判断することが、未来人にはふさわしいのではないでしょうか?

具体的には、どんな機能を果たせばいいでしょう?そして、どんなしくみがその理想をかなえるでしょ う?

私が未来の共通補助言語に「地球語」と名づけて具体的に案を練りはじめて、実は今秋には、30年目を迎えます。
1997年からは、HPで実際に記号を使った具体案を公開し、多国の読者の意見を聴きながら練り進めてきました。

まだ「たたき台案」段階ですが、それは、次のような要求を満足させるしくみを持ちます。伝統語には不可能なことばかりです。

6、地球語の役目としくみ

●情報整理能力と暗記量の削減
21世紀は、ITやAIの利用が進み、情報量が加速度的に増え、物ごとが流動する多忙な世です。そんな中で個人は、機械に操られないように世 の全体像を把握し、人間として生きるための総合的な調和のセンスが求められます。

また、世界とつながって思考する中、個人の記憶を保つ重荷は軽減したいですね。

それらのため、文化にこだわらず自由に柔軟に情報整理しながら伝達できるしくみが求められます。

表現のコンパクト化によって、宇宙全体のものごとの関係を見渡しやすくする助けも必要です。

また、刹那的な考え方ではなく、永く伝わる可能性の中で思考を研ぐ助けもして欲しいですね。

そのためのしくみとして
・文化ではなく「自然に基づく要素」の「分け・つなぎ」を自由に、合理的に、柔軟に展開してものごとを表現

・理解の能率を上げるために右脳をもっと使うしくみ

・合理的で内容を判別しやすい「省略法」

変化しない基礎を維持しながら、柔軟にそれら組んで永続的に発展しつづける
などが求められます。

これらを満足させるには、音声を基とする言語ではまったく不可能ですが、「単純な形の視覚記号(文字)」を基とすれば全部 可能です。

単純な形を象形または抽象形のベース記号とし、いくつかを同一平面上で重ね合わせて、別の象形文字または ベースを組み合わせた内容の抽象文字とします。この方法で、少数の記号から無数に造字が可能となり、記憶の負担も減らせます。

情報の種分け・記号の使い分け・ロゴや独自の記号作成などの目的で、多様に識別する括弧も備えます。

文章の区切りや文節の働き方を直ちに見分ける小さめの文法記号や、さまざまなタイプを区別する動詞符を用います。これによって、それぞれ が母国語の順序で述べても意味の流れを容易に見渡せます。

伝統言語を護り、コミュニケーションを対等化

文字は、音声ことばと違って無音で速読できます。けれど地球語の場合、それぞれ直接母国語で読みながら学んで使えば、母国語を失わずに済みま す。また象形記号は、幼児が母国のことばを学ぶ助けにもなります。

ベース記号は、自然要素またはヒト共通の抽象概念(上・形・多大など)に充てます。そして文化にかかわる内容は、それらを組み合わせて表現し ます。

それにより、言語のマジョリティ・マ イノリティ差を作らず、科学的・合理的に末永く伝達を図れます。

たとえば、絶対神も多神教の神々も、同じ音声の「God」や同じ文字:「神」で表すと、違いが感じられなくて文化摩擦の原因となります。 地球語では、各々が自分の 「神」にふさわしい文字を、自然要素で組み立てて表現し、違いを示します。

新しい発想の刺激

新しい発想は、既にある要素の結合から湧くものです。意図的にだけでなく、偶然に合体させた文字であっても、そのイメージが新アイデアを呼び 込む可能性が大いにあります。

こんな新言語をネット上の国際間でともに築く「プロセス」は、異なる立場を互いに理解し、新しい考え方に目を開くいいチャンス です。 私自身も、地球語ウェブサイトの読者との対話から非常に多く学びました。

永く機能し続ける発音記号

言語には、固有名詞や単なる音声や擬音も伝える必要があります。現行のアルファベットや漢字の読み方は、歴史の中で変転したので言語ごとに違 い、固有名詞が伝わらないことが多くあります。

変化を防ぐには、科学的な表示法でなければなりません。あらゆる発音器官やそれらに加える変化、息の出し方など、発音の要素記号を準備します。そして、それらの合体と並列 によって、発音の仕方を時間順に必要に応じた詳しさで表示します。

表意文字と別に造ると記号数が嵩張るので、表意・表音記号を兼用します。けれども表音機能の崩れを防ぐため、同時に両目的に使うことはな く、意味か音声か、使用目的を区別して用います。

アルファベットや漢字は、同時に両方を働かせたため、表音機能が狂ってしまいました。地球語では、区別サインで働きをスイッチします。

固有名詞には、人名・地名・国名などの「種別表示」も表意文字で添付して理解を助けます。

アルファベットと違い、このしくみでは、聾者にも発音器官の形や息の使い方の体性感覚で音声を感じることができます。彼らは、相手の口を読 み、自分で発声することにもチャレンジしたくなるでしょう。

奇妙な音声の記録も可能なので、アカペラなど音声パフォーマンスの創作も刺激されるでしょう。

●状況に応じ多手段から選択して伝達

地球語社会では、異言語者間の会話は、互いに自国語を話しながら地球語手話または文字でその内容を示して交流します。

この方法では、互いのことばや文の構成の「違い」を同時に感じながら、対等な関係でメッセージを交換できます。

ローカル言語とともに使えるよう、地球語の文法では、語順を自由にし、代わりに単語・文節の役目や文章の種類を見分けやすくし、文の流れが正しく理解できるよう図っていま す。

また、 英語とは違い、手話を容易にするため、1文字での受け答えを歓迎し、非礼とはしません。

現行の手話・点字などは、国ごとに異なるため、話し言葉や文字と別に習わなければ使えません。だから聾者たちの交流範囲は限られ、目の不自由 な人が読める点字本やメッセージもわずかです。

もし彼らが健常者の誰ともほぼ対等なコミュニケーションをとれるなら、彼らのなかに押さえ込まれていた社会性が育ち、彼らな らではの感性と発想が社会に活かされるでしょう。

機械化社会では、いつどこであなたも突然障害を得るかもしれません。そんなときにも、脳と体の一部さえ働けば意思疎通が何とかかなう社会で あってほしいでしょ?
基礎を学ぶだけで、労せずに多手段に応用展開できる伝達のしくみにしたいですね。

各ベース記号が単純な形なので、手や全身の形や動き、眼球の動きなどでも伝えられます。また、点字に代えて、記号線が浮き出る印刷をすれ ば、 目で理解するふつうの健常者にも分かり、手のひらに書くなどとともに触覚を介して伝えることも可能です。

これらの手段は、みな視覚記号からの応用で、新しい記憶の必要性はわずかです。

各ベースには、名前や番号、 ASCIIも付きます。
各1音節の名前や番号は、電話など聴覚しか使えない場合に音声ことばの代わりとして役立ちます。
ASCIIは、重ね文字入力ソフト(HP から無料入手可能)の無い場合のEメール通信で使えます。

ただしそれらには象形文字効果がないので、慣れないと意味を取りにくく、非常手段用です。でも、遠い未来に、記号の名前を連ねて共通こと ばとして使われる可能性がないとはいえません。

複雑すぎ!?でも私たちの脳は手がかりが多いほど良く憶えられ、記憶を保ちやすいのです。

手や体を動かし、意味をイメージしながら記号の形を友達や家族と 一緒に憶えると、忘れにくいだけでなく、いざというとき互いに助け合えます。

また、全身に響く言語は、ホリスティックに働く脳を刺激し、調和した人格形成にも役立つでしょう。

身ぶり語は、動きで意味が伝わり、新しいダンス劇などのパフォーマンス・アートも刺激するでしょう。

・・・ここまでのほとんどは、しくみを建設した当時から考えはじめていました。現実世界に基づいて利便性を追及していたのですが、そこに今 回、「言霊」 から刺激を受けて、次の項目も加えようと思います。

つながるイメージを養い、直観力を育てる

海と陸の境目の磯や浜は海陸両要素を抱えています。また、ある力が働けば返す力も働きます。「自然」は元来境目が無く、矛盾に満ちながら一つ ながりのものです。

要素の分け・結びは物事を整理して理解を進めますが、そのとき私たちは、その理解の奥の、分けられない矛盾に満ちた混沌によってそれらがつな がっていることを「何となく」感じることを忘れてはならないでしょう。

来るAI時代にヒトに重要なのは直観力です。分析は機械が得意ですが、AIは顕在する大量のデータから答えを量的に計算します。非常に便利で すが、これを頼ってそのままヒトが使うと、とんでもない事態に陥る可能性もあります。表面には出ない、科学的ではまだ表せない何かが現実の奥 に隠れていることがあるからです。計算以前にものごとの奥深くにある何かを直観することは、大切です。

上記の地球語案は、1988年の秋、突然混沌状態で私の脳裏に落雷しました。直感の力は凄いです。誰に反対されても、30年近くも経ても、私 をこの案から逃げ出させなかったのですから。

なぜなら、直感は、無限を抱える根源の空っぽからやって来るからだと気づきました。

信じて疑えない直感は、顕在世界のデータで計算した結果では追いつかない「無限」とつながっているのです。イメージを奥へ奥へとたどって、ふ と自分が空っぽになったとき、無限の彼方からそれは飛びこんできます。

古代日本人が調和世界を築けたのは、彼らが直観を大切にし、ことばと言霊の関係のしくみで直観力を磨いたからだと思います。

未来の共通語にも「すべての根源の空っぽ」を意識するしくみを世界共通に抱えることが望まれます。根源の空っぽこそが、世界中の考え方をつな ぐ要となり得るからです。

それは、現行の地球語案のまま、記号の見方を少し変えるだけで可能だと気づきました。

言語の基が正方形内に位置する点または線でできた視覚記号は、記号を囲む 「余白部分」が無限に奥に続く潜在世界と感じることができます。

たとえば、「自然」を表す上半分の半円は、私たちをすっぽり覆っている環境を指しています。その下半分は完全な余白空間で、未知の世界です。わかっていないことの認識を大 事にしようと 決めた形でした。

ですが、この余白の中にすべての根源が隠れ潜んでいるとも理解できるでしょ?すべての文字とその意味はそこから現れ出たもの、だから ともに重なり合って変化することもあり、すべての元は余白の中の見えない奥でつながっていると、イメージしながら使ってはいかがで しょう?



点や線に語らせるだけでなく、それらが置かれた余白空間にも意識を当てて文字を使うと、すべての要素がかか わりあう感覚を抱きます。

逆形の記号周囲のエネルギーの働き方の違いを体で感じたり、記号を180度回転させた側から考えてみるなど、潜在世界を感じる力が、 使用とともに深まるのではないでしょうか?

顕在界の内容を伝えながら、それが存在する根源の潜在原理を互いに感じるようになれば、人々はそれを要としてつながれるのではないで しょ うか。


と、まあ大変に欲張りな補助言語です。
こんな言語があれば、世界中の人々との交流を試してみたくなりませんか?

現実問題として、現世代がすぐに地球語の開発に着手したと仮定しても、すぐに戦争を失くせはしないでしょう。

けれども各地で親子がともにこれで遊び、共同で育てるなら、地球語の形としくみにこもる思想が次世代の考え方の基盤を変えるかもしれません。

彼らが中心になって地球語をアップグレードするとき、世界は戦を忘れる可能性がありそうに思いませんか?武器の火薬を花火に変え、刀を植木バ サミに持ち替えて、美を競い楽しんだ戦国時代の後の江戸の世のように。

7、地球語ウェブサイトの現状

現在、リトアニアの言語学者、ミンディさんとそのチームが、多言語で話し合えるムゲ ン・プロジェクトを開発中。その中でWiki方式で地球語字典を充実させていく場の計画が進んでいるそうです。

現在の地球語サイトはローテクの古い編集のままです。
ですがこれがハイテク世代の地球語字典開発の基になるため、今回の記事の新しい見解を入れて、このサイトの字典の各ページも更新してゆくつも りです。体調の加減で少しずつしかできませんが、頑張ります。

ドイツの匿名希望さんが作ってくださった地球語の重ね文字入力ツールはHPからダウンロードできます。:
http://earthlanguage.org/
地球語フォントを使うと、たくさんの面白さがこぼれ出てきます。あなたもぜひお試しください。そして新Wiki字典の準備ができたら、字典創 設に少しでもご参加ください。


地球語の開拓を通じて、私はいかに浅学だったかを思い知りました。そこで8年間住んでいるワシントン州の小さな森や畑との付き合いの中で自然 から学び、本やインターネットからも学んでいました。広報活動の前に趣旨を確かにして本にまとめようとしていたのですが、まだ終えていませ ん。

この1年半、脊椎骨折事故によって私が受け続けている激痛と動きの不自由は、天が私に下した強烈な雷警告なのでしょう。「いつまでもぐずぐず 地球語案を手元に置くな。種蒔きには、 時機を逃がすな。お前の持ち時間も限られている!」と知らせて。

そこで今回の便りは、地球語について初耳の人々にもご理解いただきたく、大変長文になりました。

最後までお読みいただき、ありがとうございます。関心を寄せてくださる方は、リンクを拡散してお仲間と話題にしてください。ご意見は、フェイ スブックの Earth Language Pageを通じてシェアしてください。

地球語サイトのこの記事へのリンク:
http://www.earthlanguage.org/2018LetterE-J.html


世界のベースを 「幸せの協奏」に換える創造へと、後々のご協力をどうぞよろしくお願いします。

2018年1月  Yoshiko McFarland