The Study of Language - Linguistics, Morphology, Orthography

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Philosophy of Language

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_language

In analytic philosophy, philosophy of language investigates the nature of language and the relations between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of meaning, intentionality, reference, the constitution of sentences, concepts, learning, and thought.

Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell were pivotal figures in analytic philosophy's "linguistic turn". These writers were followed by Ludwig Wittgenstein (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus), the Vienna Circle, logical positivists, and Willard Van Orman Quine.

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Linguistics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Linguistics is based on a theoretical as well as a descriptive study of language and is also interlinked with the applied fields of language studies and language learning, which entails the study of specific languages. Before the 20th century, linguistics evolved in conjunction with literary study and did not exclusively employ scientific methods.

Traditional areas of linguistic analysis correspond to:

• syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences),

• semantics (meaning),

• morphology (structure of words),

• phonetics (speech sounds and equivalent gestures in sign languages),

• phonology (the abstract sound system of a particular language), and

• pragmatics (how social context contributes to meaning).

Subdisciplines such as:

• biolinguistics (the study of the biological variables and evolution of language) and

• psycholinguistics (the study of psychological factors in human language) bridge many of these divisions.

Linguistics encompasses many branches and subfields that span both theoretical and practical applications. Theoretical linguistics (including traditional descriptive linguistics) is concerned with understanding the universal and fundamental nature of language and developing a general theoretical framework for describing it. Applied linguistics seeks to utilise the scientific findings of the study of language for practical purposes, such as developing methods of improving language education and literacy.

Linguistic features may be studied through a variety of perspectives:

• synchronically (by describing the shifts in a language at a certain specific point of time) or

• diachronically (through the historical development of language over several periods of time), 

• in monolinguals or in multilinguals, amongst children or amongst adults, in terms of how it is being learned or how it was acquired, as abstract objects or as cognitive structures, through written texts or through oral elicitation, and finally, through

• mechanical data collection or through practical fieldwork.

Linguistics emerged from the field of philology, of which some branches are more qualitative and holistic in approach. Today, philology and linguistics are now variably described as related fields, subdisciplines, or separate fields of language study but, by and large, linguistics can be seen as an umbrella term. Linguistics is also related to the philosophy of language, stylistics, rhetoric, semiotics, lexicography, and translation.

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Morphology (Linguistics)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphology_(linguistics)

In linguistics, morphology (/mɔːrˈfɒlədʒi/ mor-FOL-ə-jee) is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. It analyzes the structure of words and parts of words such as stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Morphology also looks at parts of speech, intonation and stress, and the ways context can change a word's pronunciation and meaning. Morphology differs from morphological typology, which is the classification of languages based on their use of words, and lexicology, which is the study of words and how they make up a language's vocabulary.

While words, along with clitics, are generally accepted as being the smallest units of syntax, in most languages, many words can be related to other words by rules that collectively describe the grammar for that language. For example, English speakers recognize that the words dog and dogs are closely related, differentiated only by the noun-bound plurality morpheme "-s". By contrast, Classical Chinese has very little morphology, using almost exclusively unbound morphemes ("free" morphemes) and it relies on word order to convey meaning. (Most words in modern Standard Chinese ["Mandarin"], however, are compounds and most roots are bound.) These are understood as grammars that represent the morphology of the language. The rules understood by a speaker reflect specific patterns or regularities in the way words are formed from smaller units in the language they are using, and how those smaller units interact in speech. In this way, morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies patterns of word formation within and across languages and attempts to formulate rules that model the knowledge of the speakers of those languages.

Phonological and orthographic modifications between a base word and its origin may be partial to literacy skills. Studies have indicated that the presence of modification in phonology and orthography makes morphologically complex words harder to understand and that the absence of modification between a base word and its origin makes morphologically complex words easier to understand. Morphologically complex words are easier to comprehend when they include a base word.

Polysynthetic languages, such as Chukchi, have words composed of many morphemes. For example, the Chukchi word "təmeyŋəlevtpəγtərkən", meaning "I have a fierce headache", is composed of eight morphemes t-ə-meyŋ-ə-levt-pəγt-ə-rkən that may be glossed. The morphology of such languages allows for each consonant and vowel to be understood as morphemes, while the grammar of the language indicates the usage and understanding of each morpheme.

The discipline that deals specifically with the sound changes occurring within morphemes is morphophonology.

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Orthography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthography

An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word boundaries, emphasis, and punctuation.

Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and most of these systems have undergone substantial standardization, thus exhibiting less dialect variation than the spoken language. These processes can fossilize pronunciation patterns that are no longer routinely observed in speech (e.g., "would" and "should"); they can also reflect deliberate efforts to introduce variability for the sake of national identity, as seen in Noah Webster's efforts to introduce easily noticeable differences between American and British spelling (e.g., "honor" and "honour").

Some nations (e.g. France and Spain) have established language academies in an attempt to regulate orthography officially. For most languages (including English), no such authority exists, and a sense of "correct" orthography develops through encounters with print in schooling, workplace, and informal contexts. Some organizations, such as newspapers of record and academic journals, choose greater orthographic homogeneity by enforcing a particular style guide or spelling standard such as Oxford spelling.

Etymology and meaning

The English word orthography dates from the 15th century. It comes from the French: orthographie, from Latin: orthographia, which derives from Ancient Greek: ὀρθός (orthós, 'correct') and γράφειν (gráphein, 'to write').

Orthography is largely concerned with matters of spelling, and in particular the relationship between phonemes and graphemes in a language. Other elements that may be considered part of orthography include hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks/boundaries, emphasis, and punctuation. Orthography thus describes or defines the set of symbols used in writing a language and the conventions that broadly regulate their use.

Most natural languages developed as oral languages, and writing systems have usually been crafted or adapted as ways of representing the spoken language. The rules for doing this tend to become standardized for a given language, leading to the development of an orthography that is generally considered "correct".

In linguistics, the term orthography is often used to refer to any method of writing a language, without judgment as to right and wrong, with a scientific understanding that orthographic standardization exists on a spectrum of strength of convention. The original sense of the word, though, implies a dichotomy of correct and incorrect, and the word is still most often used to refer specifically to a thoroughly standardized, prescriptively correct, way of writing a language. A distinction may be made here between etic and emic viewpoints: the purely descriptive (etic) approach, which simply considers any system that is actually used—and the emic view, which takes account of language users' perceptions of correctness.

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Outline of Linguistics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_linguistics

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. Linguistics can be theoretical or applied.

Branches of linguistics

Subfields of linguistics

• General linguistics
  • Syntax - the property of grammar that governs sentence structure
  • Semantics - the study of meaning as encoded in grammar
  • Lexis - the complete set of words in a language
  • Morphology - the property of sound and meaning dynamics in language
  • Pragmatics - the study of how context contributes to meaning
• Theoretical linguistics - the study of language as an abstract object
  • Generative linguistics - an approach which seeks to ground grammar in a specialized language module
  • Formalism (linguistics) - the theory of language as a formal system with mathematical-logical rules and a formal grammar
  • Functional linguistics - language as used and coming from use
  • Quantitative linguistics - the study of quantitative language laws and corresponding general theories
  • Formal semantics - the study of semantics through formal logic-based models
• Descriptive linguistics - describing how a particular language is used
  • Anthropological linguistics - the place of language in its wider social and cultural context, and its role in making and maintaining cultural practices and societal structures
  • Historical linguistics - study of historical language change over time
    • Comparative linguistics - comparing languages to find similarities and historical connections
  • Phonology - the usage of vocalized sounds and systems of sounds to form language
    • Graphemics - the study of language writing systems
  • Phonetics - the study of the speech faculty
    • Graphetics - the study of writing shapes as assigned to sounds or ideas
  • Etymology - the study of word histories and origins
  • Sociolinguistics - the study of society's effects on language
• Applied linguistics - finding solutions to real-life problems related to language
  • Computational linguistics - the use of computation applied to language databasing, analysis, translation, and synthesis
  • Forensic linguistics - language science applied to the processes of law and justice
  • Internet linguistics - the study of language usage on the Internet
  • Language assessment - assessing first or second language faculty in individuals
  • Language documentation - comprehensive description of the grammar and use practices of languages of a particular group
  • Language revitalization - is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one
  • Language education - teaching specific language and language science
  • Linguistic anthropology - study of how language influences social life
• Psycholinguistics - is the study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, comprehend and produce language
  • Cognitive linguistics - an approach which seeks to ground grammar in general cognition
  • Language acquisition - the study of how children and adults acquire language knowledge and ability
  • Language development - the study of early language formation
  • Second-language acquisition - the study of how a second language is learned

Subfields, by linguistic structures studied

Sub-fields of structure-focused linguistics include:

• Phonetics – study of the physical properties of speech (or signed) production and perception
• Phonology – study of sounds (or signs) as discrete, abstract elements in the speaker's mind that distinguish meaning
• Morphology – study of internal structures of words and how they can be modified
• Syntax – study of how words combine to form grammatical sentences
• Semantics – study of the meaning of words (lexical semantics) and fixed word combinations (phraseology), and how these compose to form the meanings of sentences
• Pragmatics – study of how utterances are used in communicative acts – and the role played by context and nonlinguistic knowledge in the transmission of meaning
• Discourse analysis – analysis of language use in texts (spoken, written, or signed)
• Linguistic typology – comparative study of the similarities and differences between language structures in the world's languages.

Subfields, by nonlinguistic factors studied

• Applied linguistics – study of language-related issues applied in everyday life, notably language policies, planning, and education. (Constructed language fits under Applied linguistics.)
• Biolinguistics – the study of the biological and evolutionary components of human language.
• Clinical linguistics – application of linguistic theory to the field of Speech-Language Pathology.
• Computational linguistics – study of linguistic issues in a way that is 'computationally responsible', i.e., taking careful note of computational consideration of algorithmic specification and computational complexity, so that the linguistic theories devised can be shown to exhibit certain desirable computational properties implementations.
• Developmental linguistics – study of the development of linguistic ability in individuals, particularly the acquisition of language in childhood.
• Historical linguistics – study of language change over time. Also called diachronic linguistics.
• Language geography – study of the geographical distribution of languages and linguistic features.
• Neurolinguistics – study of the structures in the human brain that underlie grammar and communication.
• Psycholinguistics – study of the cognitive processes and representations underlying language use.
• Sociolinguistics – study of variation in language and its relationship with social factors.
• Stylistics – study of linguistic factors that place a discourse in context.

Other subfields of linguistics

• Contrastive linguistics
• Corpus linguistics
• Dialectology
• Discourse analysis
• Grammar
• Interlinguistics
• Language learning
• Language teaching
• Language for specific purposes
• Lexicology
• Orthography
• Rhetoric
• Text linguistics

Schools, movements, and approaches of linguistics

• Cognitive linguistics
• Danish functional linguistics
• Functionalism
• Generative grammar
• Geneva School
• Interactional linguistics
• Kazan School
• Neogrammarian
• Prague linguistic circle
• Prescription and description
• Soviet linguistics
• Stratificational linguistics
• Structural linguistics
• Systemic functional linguistics
• SIL International
• Tagmemics

Related fields

• Semiotics – investigates the relationship between signs and what they signify more broadly. From the perspective of semiotics, language can be seen as a sign or symbol, with the world as its representation.

• Terminology - is the study of terms and their use.
  • Terminology science - study of special vocabulary

• Philosophy of language - takes a philosophical approach to language. Many formal semanticists are philosophers of language, differing from linguist semanticists only in their metaphysical assumptions (if at all).
  • Philosophical logic

History of linguistics

See also: History of linguistics

Timeline of discovery of basic linguistics concepts

When were the basic concepts first described and by whom?

• Ancient Sanskrit grammarians
• Ancient Greek study of language
• Roman elaborations of Greek study
• Medieval philosophical work in Latin
• Beginnings of modern linguistics in the 19th century
• Behaviorism and mental tabula rasa hypothesis
• Chomsky and the cognitive revolution
• The Linguistics Wars
• Compositional formal semantics arises from the work of Richard Montague and Barbara Partee
• Alternate syntactic systems develop in 80s
• Computational linguistics becomes feasible the late 80s
• Neurolinguistics and the biological basis of cognition
• Deep learning in the 2010s

Questions in linguistics

1. What is language?
2. How did it/does it evolve?
3. How does language serve as a medium of communication?
4. How does language serve as a medium of thinking?
5. What is common to all languages?
6. How do languages differ?

Basic concepts

What basic concepts / terms do I have to know to talk about linguistics?

• Morphology
  • morpheme, inflection, paradigm, declension, derivation, compound
• Phonology
  • phoneme, allophone, segment, mora, syllable, foot, stress, tone
• Grammar
  • tense, aspect, mood and modality, grammatical number, grammatical gender, case
• Syntax
  • phrase, clause, grammatical function, grammatical voice
• Lexicology
  • word, lexeme, lemma, lexicon, vocabulary, terminology
• Semantics
  • meaning, sense, entailment, truth condition, compositionality
• Pragmatics
  • presupposition, implicature, deixis

What Does It Mean to Live in Processual Hyperdimensional Worlds?

What Does It Mean to Live in

Processual Hyperdimensional Worlds?

by R.E. Slater

How do you go about explaining hyper-dimensionality and yet make it practical. Let's try...

Mathematicians, Physicists, and Science Fiction writers have together sought to explain space and time to us through their tools and trades of knowledge and speculation.

Below is a temporal explanation of 11 connected forms of temporal dimensions including that of our own 3 dimensional space.

Once completed, think through each dimensional paradigm as describing a living organic complexity infinitely related to itself, experiencing itself, and reacting to itself as a self-aware chaotic essence continual evolving to-and-from itself as it moves through an infinite chaotic cascade of concrescing events in its present super-state in which all component parts are continually adapting, evolving and becoming more than it was before some point in time. We have now described the world of Whitehead's process-based metaphysics of the cosmos.

R.E. Slater

January 27, 2024

Firstly, our perceptions of reality are shaped by the kinds of reality we live in and experience. Many of the dimensions shown below can be experienced by ourselves, as alpha beings. We might describe such people as being wise, learned knowledgeable, prescient, well-travelled, snd so forth.

But if we think of ourselves as affected-and-affecting living elements in a vast sociological-spiritual sea of personalized communities than as "simple" beings living out our lives in whatever temporal modes of physicality we find ourselves, then as alpha beings living in 4 dimensional worlds we might effectively heal and atone, revive and redeem, translate and ascend over today's many world realities of negative conflict and debilitating consequences caused by non-perspectival living to one's self.

A process philosophy, such as Whitehead's, when coupled with a grand processal theology vision can grant all ecocosmo-civilizations the great ability to find salvation in living with one another. That the very unity of solidarity in itself can heal and disrupt the evil and wickedness created by communities not leaning into life and love.

Further, religions such as Christianity becomes better informed when adopting its own processual form of faith. Likewise Judaism, Islam, and all world religions. A process-based-abd-informed faith and/or formation of pricess-informed habits of life finds deep reflection and "raision d'etre" when placed upon a succinct process philosophy emphasizing love and respect for all beings and living things.

R.E. Slater

January 27, 2024

Envisioning 11 dimensional spacetime

by R.E. Slater

Mankind typically has five senses and a recent sixth sense as designated by scientific studies. They are taste, smell, vision, hearing, touch and… an awareness of one's body in space. Yes, humans have at least six senses, and a new study suggests that the last one, known as called proprioception, may have a genetic basis. Proprioception refers to how our brain understands where our body is in relationship to space, and perhaps to spacetime, in the more general sense of things.

d = dimensions or dimensionality

ST = space time

Alpha 3d + 1d Time = 4d ST - If using our five/six senses we humans are 3 dimensional beings living in a 4 dimensional world per our senses.. We call this four-dimensional space - "spacetime" - as Einstein referred to it in his relativity theories of the very large.

Beta 5d - The purposeful (or random) sequencing of ST. Essentially a 5d being may play-back, pause, or play-forward life modes in a any chosen random succession.

String Theories vacillating frequencies

Gamma 6d - The superpositioning + random temporality of ST = A 6d being may observe "all-at-once life modes" granting to it the ability to re-live all, or part, of one's sequentialized  lifetimes at any point and all a once (e.g., ST as a non-linear compactification of scale and sequence).

Delta 7d - Here a 7d being may experience "the plane of absolute awareness of all possible worlds". This would be a superpositional + supertemporal multimodal dimensional experience where one might see all possibilities of one's life choices all at once in order to know and chart preferred outcomes. This would not be unlike an alpha time being such as ourselves when describing a mentor as a wise sage or prescient-type of guru. Which is to say that for every dimension beyond our own we still may ascribe a parallel experience. In so many words, we have inherited the Divine's superdimensionality in likeness but not in exactness. I will explain further as we go on....

The "Many Worlds Paradigm" of Multiverses

Epsilon 8d - Here, an 8d being may randomly chose a point of origin when applying superpositionality and supertemporality. That is, by changing one's "initial conditions" one will most likely produce drastically different outcomes leading to more favorable optimal results. An 8d spacetime is one which integrates chaos theory with experientially determinative results using agency and reflection. This then will allow --> multilocality, multitemporal corporeal travel to explore, experiment and experience infinite regressive possibilities --> resulting in gaining "exterior" perspectives via experiential knowledge.

Ex. The same  8d child/adult may chose to be born to different parents, to live in different conditions, to experience different opportunities, localities, eras, etc.

By application, a living 3d alpha being may live on different continents, under differing cultures and religions, and with later applying these experiences to one's life and ministries, business or community leadership to help lead a community towards some preferred lifestyle. This is most common with military kids, refugees, or missionary kids as they experience goodness or duress, serenity or hardship. All experience can be leveraged to better one's life or help another as opportunities allow. Which is another reason we should always be sensitive to assisting and helping where we can.

Lamda 9d - A lambda being is presciently self-aware and their attuned to re-perspectivizing their life as it is enhanced when subsuming all possible initial condition matrices all at once. Hence, such a being may profoundly navigate the chaotic complexity of a living, processual universe with purpose, intentionality and precision. More simply, with this kind of knowledge and ability "every path becomes the right path" with knowledge, experience and perspective in which to gain optimal results for differing paths good or bad.

Ex. Essentially a 9d being is actively creating a library of all possible beginnings with all possible results. This resembles the god-like being in Star Trek Next-Gen and the cable series Picard known as "Q". A diffident, albeit obsequious, being who taunts and questions, teases, and mocks Captain Picard's human efforts to guide his crew, humanity, and alien life forms, towards a better tomorrow.

Q's younger and older selves moving
together through life events.

Q whispering into Picard's ear as either devil or angel,
Picard could never be sure.

Picard always had the choice to listen while also choosing
how to listen. Most times he never knew the end game.

     

Sigma 10d - Here, a 10d sigma being may also change their cosmological constants. That is, they are not bound to any one universe but have at their disposal all possible universes.

Similarly, we think we live in a finely-tuned creation where changing the charge of an election in the slightest degree, or the weakness of gravity by a little more or a little less, would no longer make our current universe habitable for our present species. This is not the case for a sigma being.

And though this may an argument for the strong anthropology principle I would rather not couch this observation in these terms but in terms of the weak anthropological argument which states that life resulted via evolutionary process because of that quality which God has give all living things in which to adapt and embrace one's  existing cosmological constants whatever they may be. Thus, God is not a determinative being but more of a wise being creating life with the capability to thrive wherever it may exist against all the odds that it exist at all.

Theologically, a processual cosmology allows for a positively evolving and pancessually adaptive ("many forms and modes") dimensional spacetime best described as a processually evolving creation/cosmos/cosmology.

Omega 11d - Finally, an 11d omega being has an infinite array of all possible worlds with all possible outcomes lending to an infinite array of perspectives. Importantly, one can no longer speak of "the impossible" because even the impossible exists in many infinite forms. This is the stuff of speculative science fiction, theology and philosophy. It is fun to imagined and though actually unobtainable for alpha beings it is in fact, the kind of universe we live in and are formed by, if we are beings at all. The quantum realm is the kind of playground where dimensional space may be found and where Whiteheadian process philosophy and theology demands its place.

- res

"What If You Could Access the TENTH Dimension?"

10D Explained

by Beeyond Ideas  |  Sep 29, 2023

Let’s unravel the layers of existence that redefine reality. From Alpha's linear perception of time to the unfathomable Omega, where every conceivable reality exists. 

Chapters

00:00 Opening

01:08 Time as a dimension

04:28 Multiple time dimensions

06:19 The next level of twin paradox

08:10 α-Alpha (3D)

09:55 β-Beta (4D)

11:48 γ-Gamma (5D)

14:21 δ-Delta (6D)

16:44 ε-Epsilon (7D)

19:41 λ-Lambda (8D)

22:26 σ-Sigma (9D)

24:51 ω-Omega (10D)

26:21 The existential question

11 Dimensions Explained

What are Dimensions & How Many Dimensions are there?

article link

Posted by Lalit Vashishtha 

What you will learn here about Dimensions. Here I will tell you what we mean by dimensions and how many dimensions are there.

Get ready to experience the amazing world of 11 dimensions. I request you to read this post till the end as it is going to be more and more interesting as we proceed.

What are the First 4 Dimensions

I know most of you are aware of first three or four dimensions. The first three dimensions are dimensions of space - i.e., "Length, width, and height." While the fourth dimension is the time dimension.

You will find it interesting that we have control over the first three dimensions of space which are length, width and height. It means we can freely move in space in forward, reverse, up and down directions. But we have no control over the fourth dimension, that is the time dimension. We are only allowed to travel only in the forward direction in the time dimension.

Even if we could fully control only the first four dimensions including the time dimension, we would become a person with supernatural powers because then it would be possible for us to travel freely not only in space but also in time in both directions; I.e. past and future as per our wish.

So just imagine, how powerful a person would be if he or she could control all 11 dimensions. Believe me, that person will actually be called The God as s/he would have the potential to do the things that you cannot even imagine.

So I think, now you are ready to enter into the fascinating world of 11 dimensions.

Let's discuss each dimension one by one.

Zeroth Dimension

Any object having Zero dimension has no length, no width and no height. A point is an example of zeroth dimension as it has no length, no width and no height or depth.

Now let's discuss the first dimension.

First Dimension

An object in first dimension has only one dimension i.e. the length. If we connect two points then we get a line having only one dimension. So a line is an example of first dimension having no width and no height but only the length dimension. Someone living in one dimensional universe, will only be allowed to move in the forward and reverse directions. There will be no existence of anything like left or right for him.

Now we will know what we mean by second dimension.

Second Dimension

Flat figures like a square or triangle are two dimensional objects. These two dimensional or 2D Objects have non zero area but their volume is zero as there is no height. They have only two dimensions, length and width. So these are known as two dimensional or 2D objects. A person living in a two dimensional space can only move on a plane.In other words he or she can only move in forward, reverse and left, right directions but not in up and down directions. So his life will be limited to a plane surface. Everything will be flat with zero height in such a universe. Some daily life examples of a two dimensional world are screens of televisions and mobile phones. Although they appear to be a three dimensional World but actually this world inside these devices is confined to a flat screen having no depth or height.

Third Dimension

If we add height or depth to a two dimensional object, it becomes a three dimensional object. A Three dimensional object has non zero volume. A cube or sphere are geometrical examples of three dimensional objects. We live in a three dimensional world where we can move in any direction in space as per our wish. We are free to move in forward, reverse, up and down directions.

Fourth Dimension (Time)

Time is considered the fourth dimension. As I just told you that we live in a three dimensional world where we are free to move in any direction in space. But without the fourth dimension i.e. The time dimension, no events can take place. Without time dimension nothing will change in this world. Time is the way for three dimensions to change. It is the time dimension that allows the objects to change their position and location in space. Without time, the whole universe will look like a snapshot for ever.

As we are living in a three dimensional world, so we have no control on the fourth dimension, the time. We are forced to move only in the forward direction with time. But a person living in four dimensions will be able to go in any direction in time like past or future. He will have control over the time dimension as he is a person of four dimensions.

So these were the first four dimensions that can be perceived by humans. Now We are going to discuss higher dimensions that we can not perceive, although they exist.

So let's start with the fifth dimension

Fifth Dimension

As I just told you that we can not perceive dimensions that are higher than the fourth dimension because they exist on a subatomic level. These higher dimensions actually deal with the possibilities. But why we cannot perceive higher dimensions. Actually these dimensions are curled in on themselves in a process known as Compactification.

But how these higher dimensions are imperceptible. Let me explain it by giving you a simple example.

When we see a rope from large distance, we only observe it's one dimension that is the length. But any insect moving on that rope will also see other dimensions of the rope like its thickness. It will also observe the fine groves and roughness and circumference of the rope that could not be seen by a distant observer.

If a person were living in a world of five dimensions then he would be able to play with time in different ways. He could move either in past or in future. It would also be possible for him to be present at different locations at the same time. He would be able to do many jobs or can have many hobbies at the same time. He could be a doctor, an engineer, a cricketer, a poet and anything else at the same time, as he has full control over the time dimension.

Sixth Dimension

Sixth dimension gives more powers to a person living in this dimension. He can not Only move in any direction in time at his will but also can take many forms at the same time just like the quantum world. We know that the quantum world is the world of probabilities, where particles can be present at different places at the same time and can take different forms. So the sixth dimension gives more flexibility in comparison to the fifth dimension. In The sixth dimension we enter into the world of parallel universes I.e. The concept of multiverse. This dimension will allow us to see all possible presents, pasts and futures. But Every Universe present in this multiverse will have the same beginning as that of our universe I.e. the big bang. This is the limitation of this dimension.

Seventh Dimension

This dimension also, includes the concept of parallel universes. Seventh dimension contains infinite number of universes. So a Person living in seven dimensions can move in any universe and can have infinite forms of itself. The basic difference between the sixth and the seventh dimension is that, the infinite universes in the sixth dimension had the condition that they all must have the same beginning as of ours I.e the big bang.But the seventh dimension is free from this condition also. Seventh dimension can contain a plane of all possible universes with different start conditions. Universes present in this dimension may have originated from different possibilities.

Eighth Dimension

According to String theory, there will be no physical existence of any object that is present in the 8th dimension. So anyone living in this dimension would not be able to touch anything nor it can be touched by anything or anyone as nothing will have any physical existence. If you find it difficult to imagine, then you can understand it like the digital world that we are familiar with. The eighth dimension will contain a plane of all the possible presents, pasts and futures for all the infinite number of parallel universes that are stretching up to infinity.

Ninth Dimension

Ninth dimension is again very interesting and unbelievable. In the ninth dimension, it is possible for many civilizations or aliens to live at the same place and at the same time without seeing and feeling the presence other, I.e. being completely unaware of the presence of the other. If someone is able to see, then he might be seeing all the civilizations and Aliens living together at the same time at the same place smoothly, independent of each other.

A Person living in the ninth dimension will be able to move in any infinite number of universes, will have no physical form, will be able to move in all presents, pasts and futures of any infinite number of universes that are extending to infinity. One different thing that will happen in the universes of the ninth dimension will be, that these universes may have their own laws of physics and separate conditions and probabilities of their origin.

Tenth Dimension

This dimension will contain infinite possibilities and would be infinitely complex to understand for us. A person living in the tenth dimension will have infinite powers. That person would be so powerful that he would be no other than the God itself as he would be able to control space and time and every thing present in any infinite number of universes.He would have all the powers that are possessed by the person living in other lower dimensions that we have already discussed. The possibilities for this dimension are infinite. Even those things are possible in this dimension that are beyond your imagination.

Eleventh Dimension

Friends before describing the eleventh dimension, let me tell you that according to string theory there are 10 dimensions, while M- Theory says that there are total 11 dimensions. But According to Bosonic theory, total number of dimensions may be up to 26.

But scientists say that, because of self consistency, a universe cannot have more than 11 dimensions as they become unstable. Because of this instabilty they collapse back down into 11 or 10 dimensions.

So now let's come back to the 11th dimension.

In the eleventh dimension everything imaginable or unimaginable is possible. In other words you can say, that there is nothing that cannot happen in the 11th dimension.

According to M-Theory the smallest thing in the universe is not atoms, electron, higgs boson or quarks. The smallest thing is much smaller than all these subatomic particles. Actually the smallest thing in the universe is "Strings". You may think, why I am explaining the strings here? Actually strings vibrate in the eleventh dimension that we are going to discuss.

Everything present in every universe of every dimension is made up of Strings. All the atoms, subatomic particles, muons, quarks, Higgs bosons are made up of Strings. You will be surprised to know that according to M theory, everything in the universe originated from the 11th dimension not from the first, second or third dimension.

What are these Strings and how small they are?

In Physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings.According to the string theory all fundamental particles are actually tiny vibrating loops of string. Various properties of particles like mass and charge are determined by the vibrations of the one dimensional string like entities. The String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other.

Now let's come to the size of the string.

The size of the string is about 10^-33 cm. Let me tell you that 10^-33 cm is actually millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a centimeter. Confused?

Ok, let me explain it to you in simple words.

To give you an Idea let's compare the size of a string with the size of an atom.

If an atom were magnified, to the size of the whole observable Universe, then a String would only be the size of a tree!!!

So friends these were the 11 dimensions according to the M theory. I hope you enjoyed this post and learned many new things.

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From Quora

article link with commentary

by 

Shiva Meucci

Historian of theoretical physics.Updated 5y

Originally Answered:

"What extra dimensions are like in string theory or M theory?"

The best way to understand dimensions is to start with smaller dimensions than three and work up very slowly so that the analogy is clear. An overage of detail is needed to eliminate confusion. Patience will pay off. Furthermore I hope to point out that a spatial version of Tarski’s undefinability exists in consideration of dimensions without any reference to formal set theory.

1) Creating a space to hold things and defining the relationships.

A zero dimensional object is called a point but a single dimensional “array” used to store it can have infinite points. The array is the actual "dimension" which contains the point objects. (an array in programming looks like this: arrayname[#]) Given that a point has no dimension and is not measurable, it is a bit misleading to insist that a collection of dimensionless points is somehow measurable. In fact, the relationship of the points to each other is utterly undefined until another dimension is defined. An infinite number of them could all be in the same place or they could be randomly arranged in some higher dimensional space. The point is that the dimension or array is a "space" which is kind of like an infinite set of containers. If a higher dimension does not exist, however, our concept of arrangement between them is something we add via imagination because of our concept of a linear arrangement of a number line that we label those boxes with, but that relationship cannot exist in a 1D reality. In a 1D reality there is no spacial relationship between points. Just like higher dimensions, our pre-conceived notions accidentally add things to lower dimensions as well. There’s no collision or direction because there’s no way to define a direction without something for the “line” to traverse. Therefore the following is visualization is misleading without higher dimensions. What it does convey is that we use sets of containers called arrays to store and label things like bits of empty space of whatever size we decide to use for a unit size.

Once the higher dimension is defined, however, (two dimensions) then the relationship of the points (places or bits of space) in that higher dimensional structure is also somewhat automatically defined by cartesian coordinate systems. Suddenly, because there is an external reference, measurability becomes more meaningful. If they were labelled in numerical order then they now exist in a line. There are also now unlimited number of possible locations along a line that a point can exist and the relationship between the points in this higher dimensional reality is numerically labelled in a two dimensional array. (arrayname[x][y]) This is to say that what we think of as lines, can now actually exist since there is some higher dimensional reference. Our labeled boxes for holding points may be labeled along x because that’s what we do for cartesian coordinates, but a general line can go across both x and y axis. The habit of cartesian coordinate systems adds something that isn’t really there for a 1D reality. Without that y axis, the “line”(or collection of bits of space) could be thought of as piled up in one place or tied in a knot and there’d be no way to differentiate because the relationship is undefined. It would all be imagination without that higher dimensional reality to contain and define it.

This means that going from one dimension to two defines a real structure which, filled or not, has unlimited "slots" for the lower dimension. To restate it, while unlimited number of points could have existed in the single dimensional structure before the extra dimension was added to view it from, no relationship between them could be clearly defined. IE The relationships of a dimensional structure we use to keep up with things, cannot have real relationships unless there is a (somewhat hidden or intimated) higher dimensional reality to view it from. We should think of the one dimensional array as the "space" of one dimension and while we might think of it as an infinite line, that straight structure called a line cannot exist without the next dimension. It is arbitrary that we would usually stuff the previous single dimension into the two-dimensional array at the bottom and lay in out orthogonal to the y axis. (arrayname[x] gets put into arrayname[x][0])

Consequently, once a second dimension is added, the "space" of two dimensions now exists whether or not you fill it with lower dimensional objects such as points. Or same-dimensional (2-dimensional) objects such as lines. (unlimited x and unlimited y) This additional dimension now allows us the very first "shape", a line, but it also simultaneously allows numerous lines to exist upon different axes.

A crucial digression on the borderline between dimensions: Above it looks as though I’ve called a line a 2-dimensional object by mistake. A line is conventionally considered a 1-dimensional object. I find this convention to be misleading because points are called zero dimensional. This is a little like timekeeping in that the spaces between divisions can cause a little oddness. So long as one has lives 10 years and 2 seconds that lifetime can span 3 different decades.

Within the conventional terminology, there is the acknowledgement that an arrangement of 0 dimensional objects is 1 dimensional but involves two dimensions. (0th and 1st)

When I called a line 2-dimensional, it was not my intent to confuse, but to bring to mind the reliance upon the second dimension for a line to be in any way line-like. It is crucial to understand this borderline between dimensions and keep it in mind when attempting to grasp the real meaning of dimensions.

Recapping: In the case of going from one dimension to two, simply adding one additional dimension not only defined relationships between 0th dimensional objects like points but also allowed for relationships between conventional two dimensional objects like triangles and one dimensional arrays (lines) can now be curved and have an additional relationship to themselves. We gained not only lines but other shapes such as triangles etc. This idea of additional new relationships between different parts of a line is an important concept moving forward.

Let’s simplify for a moment and just consider dimensions without all the requirements and dependencies and in-between things.

If we intend to extend from dimension to dimension in a way that makes sense, then we can use our first concept of the first dimensional space as an infinite number of points leading to an infinite length straight line as one dimensional space to see that an infinite stack of these lines creates the second dimensional space.

EG: Think of making a line along the very bottom of a page from tiny points and knowing you can do this forever on a page that has no side edge. Now think of making the next line on top of this one and the next on top of that etc. You know you can keep doing this forever and you have now described an infinite plane or two dimensions. (bear with me, while obvious, you'll want to hold this idea in your head for going from the third dimension to the fourth)

This infinite stack which is called two dimensions can now also be stacked. Though two-dimensional space is an infinite plane, sometimes it's easier to conceive of as a sheet of paper. With this concept it becomes easy to think of a stack of paper that can be infinite.

We now have infinite points stacked into an infinite line for the first dimension, infinite lines stacked into an infinite sheet for the second dimension, infinite sheets stacked into an infinite cube for the third dimension. (and you're seeing where this is going)

What we must now realize is, that upon adding a second dimension, it became easier of us to think of a whole universe that is 2-dimensional. An infinite plane is a two dimensional universe and the infinite cube is a 3-dimensional universe.

Just like when we added the second dimension we created a new form of relationship between one-dimensional objects, upon adding a third dimension we have created a new form of relationships between two dimensional objects. Previously with only one dimension we had only one line constrained to be in a stack but then with the second dimension there could be multiple lines with multiple relationships.

When there were only two dimensions there was only a single sheet constrained to be in a plane. Upon adding a third dimension multiple sheets could exist with not only relationships to each other but with relationships to themselves. IE A sheet not only has a rotational orientation but it can now be curved back upon itself.

If we now add a fourth dimension we have created a space with room for infinite three dimensional universes. Consequently we have now also created new relationships between these three dimensional universes such that they can have an orientation and additional relationship to each other. They can now be curved back upon themselves.

This idea of creating an infinite set of sets (adding another dimension) continuously allows new types of relationships to appear (or be defined) with each additional dimension added. An additional dimension allows a set to be bent back upon itself.

Simplifying the 4th dimension.

Given that time is conjoined with space in special relativity, there are some strange conventions that have to be employed to represent rearrangements of the 4th dimension, so lets just start with collapsing spatial dimensions.

We can think of a 2D plane at a sheet of paper with it’s various points and shapes being swept down to the bottom of the page and squashed flat along the bottom line and we’ve compressed 2D into 1D. We can think of doing this for a whole stack of papers and we’ve compressed 3D into 2D.

Now it is crucial to note that when we think of a 3D universe we are thinking of a single moment in time and therefore the universe we think of is already 4D. A 3D array can only hold the information for one single moment of time and would require a 4th dimension to store all the copies of the universe that exist moment after moment.

So, now with our 3D universe compressed to a sheet, we can stack these sheets together to represent a 4D universe. Just like a sheet shape within a 3D plane is not constrained to one axis, we can now define a moment as a slice through that 4D (multiple compressed 3D) universe.

So far this is all pretty easy until we add relativity.

The illusion of time:

past, present and future all exist together

Now, however, upon adding relativity there is a requirement of a 5th dimension.

This is not apparent in the video above, but before relativity the universe was already 4D. A single moment was 3D and there were multiple moments. Upon adding relativity, however, a single moment is fundamentally 4D. One cannot speak about space without mentioning time. Location is dependent upon time.

What this means for the discussion in the video above is that the “loaf” of spacetime they show is only one possible configuration of all the moments. Modern interpretations of relativity state that there is no preferred frame of reference therefore entirely different versions of that loaf are equally valid as the one presented.

When we consider the alien on the bike and the man on the park bench we think of them as definitely directly across spacetime from each other. This relationship, however, cannot be established since another frame’s idea of simultaneous would place them at an angle to one another across the loaf in one direction while another would place them at the opposite angle.

That is to say, there are multiple valid arrangements of the loaf such that if we consider forward time to be x, in one case the alien starts out in front of the man on the bench (further along x) and in another valid arrangement, the man on the bench is in front.

So if we try to think of being simultaneous with another location’s future, how do we determine where the starting point to move forward from is? The relationship is undefined. If there is no singular true and valid arrangement we are actually slicing from then another dimension is required to store all the various but valid alternative configurations of our 4D loaf of the universe.

To cut across a 4D universe a 5th dimension must be added just like to have a line, a second dimension must be added.

Godel and mutual dependencies.

This problem above is an expression of Godel incompleteness and Tarski’s undefinability in yet another form. There are many structures such as lines that we do not think of as actually a comparison or interaction between things and we therefore lose sight of the need for another “thing” to compare or interact with.

Imagine if there was nothing in the universe but two people. Each can say of the other “you are above me” and they might both be considered correct or incorrect because the answer is undefined without an external reference.

What we think of as a river cannot exist if we remove the water. That’s just a dry depression. It cannot exist as water alone. That could be a cloud or an ocean. It is only by the interaction of the water and the depression that a river arises.

There are many instances in which we metaphorically attempt to keep the concept of a river while removing one of the components it is made of. This leads to various problems in logic and attempts to make judgement about things which are undefined.

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Mathematical models of relativity and quantum physics

WIKIPEDIA

Dimension