Towards a More Well-Founded Cosmology

First, this paper broaches the definition of science and the epistemic yield of tenets and approaches: phenomenological (descriptive only), well-founded (solid first principles, conducive to deep understanding), provisional (falsifiable if universal, verifiable if existential), and imaginary (fictitious entities or processes, conducive to empirically unsupported beliefs). The Big-Bang pardigm and the {\Lambda}CDM "concordance model" involve such beliefs: the emanation of the universe out of a non-physical stage, cosmic inflation (invented ad hoc), {\Lambda} (fictitious energy), and exotic dark matter. They fail in the confidence check that is required in empirical science. They also face a problem in delimiting what expands from what does not. In the more well-founded cosmology that emerges, energy is conserved, the universe is persistent (not transient) and the 'perfect cosmological principle' holds. Waves and other perturbations that propagate at c (the escape velocity from the universe) expand exponentially with distance. This dilatation results from gravitation. The cosmic web of galaxies does not expand. Potential {\Phi} varies as -H/(cz) instead of -1/r. Inertial forces arise from gravitational interaction with the rest of the universe (not with space). They are increased where the universe appears blueshifted and decreased more than proportionately at very low accelerations. A cut-off acceleration a0 = 0.168 cH is deduced. This explains the successful description of galaxy rotation curves by MoND. A fully elaborated physical theory is still pending. The recycling of energy via a cosmic ocean filled with photons (the CMB), neutrinos and gravitons, and wider implications for science, are briefly discussed

Perception of stationary formant patterns

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mirror neurons and audiovisual perception nullify the motor theory

According to the Motor Theory of Speech Perception (MTSP), listeners perceive speech by way of the articulatory gestures they would perform themselves in producing a similar signal. The theory postulates a module that allows extracting gestural information from the signal. The gestures constitute the event perceived. According to the Modulation Theory (MDT), speech is modulated voice. Listeners perceive it by demodulating the signal. The properties of the voice convey nonlinguistic information while the linguistically coded information is conveyed by its modulation. The modulation pattern constitutes the linguistic event perceived. The theories agree in requiring a linkage or mapping between perception and production. According to MDT, phonetically labeled links between exteroception and proprioception (mirror and echo neurons) are established in the brain during speech acquisition. The set of links embodies the knowledge of the relation. While MDT describes the device that MTSP would need in order to be implemented, it makes it redundant to recruit the motor system. Demodulation is also necessary in speechreading and in order to perceive sign language, when a face or body is ‘modulated ’ instead of a voice. In audiovisual speech perception, there are two percepts: a normally dominant vocal one and a gestural one that does not need to agree with it. MTSP knows of only one of these. It is concluded that all the specific claims of MTSP are false while MDT rests on ‘first principles’. Two theories A theory based on articulatory gesture

Sound Symbolism in Deictic Words

It is shown that pairs of demonstratives in which there is a vocalic opposition have an advantage in their struggle for existence in languages when F 2 ' is higher in the proximal than in the distal form. It is also shown that nasals are preferred in first person pronouns while stops and other obstruents are preferred in second person pronouns. Explanations are suggested for both findings. They involve affinities with the association of pitch with size, the proprioceptive qualities of speech sounds, and oral pointing gestures. (Summary of paper to appear in K. Auli and P. av Trampe (eds.) Tongues and Texts Unlimited, 1996)