Language Observability and Power: Toward a Theory of Linguistic Formation and Erasure

This paper introduces Language Observability and Power Theory (LOPT), a structural framework for analyzing language phenomena in terms of the asymmetry between observable cross-sections and unrecoverable generative processes. Drawing on Japanese as a primary case, LOPT examines how writing systems, standardization policies, and institutional authority have historically determined which linguistic varieties enter the observable record and which are erased. The paper develops three analytical pillars: the epistemological limits of language description, the stratification of linguistic authority through the written-spoken divide, and a composite account of language formation, maintenance, and extinction. Related updates may be available at: patreon.com/NMStructuralTheoryLab