Grammars of Space: Explorations in Cognitive Diversity (Language Culture and Cognition, Series Number 6)

Spatial language - that is, the way languages structure the spatial domain – is an important area of research, offering insights into one of the most central areas of human cognition. In this collection, a team of leading scholars review the spatial domain across a wide variety of languages. Contrary to existing assumptions, they show that there is great variation in the way space is conceptually structured across languages, thus substantiating the controversial question of how far the foundations of human cognition are innate. Grammars of Space is a supplement to the psychological information provided in its companion volume, Space in Language and Cognition. It represents a new kind of work in linguistics, 'Semantic Typology', which asks what are the semantic parameters used to structure particular semantic fields. Comprehensive and informative, it will be essential reading for those working on comparative linguistics, spatial cognition, and the interface between them. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 4 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Figures......Page 11 Tables......Page 13 Contributors......Page 16 Preface......Page 17 1.1 Spatial language and cognition......Page 21 1.2 Nature of this book......Page 22 1.3 The language sample......Page 26 1.4 Controlled comparison: the stimuli......Page 28 1.4.1 Topology Series ‘Picture-Book’......Page 29 1.4.2 The Men and Tree Space Game......Page 31 1.4.3 The Frog Story......Page 33 1.4.4 Other elicitation tools......Page 34 1.5.1 Topology......Page 35 1.5.2 Motion......Page 37 1.5.3 Frames of reference......Page 39 1.6 Conclusion......Page 42 2.1 The language and its speakers......Page 44 2.2 Brief overview of the main features of Arrernte grammar......Page 45 2.3 Topological relations......Page 49 2.4 Motion......Page 59 2.5 Frames of reference......Page 72 2.6 Conclusion......Page 80 3.2 The language and its speakers......Page 83 3.3 Grammatical and lexical resources for spatial description......Page 84 3.3.1 Nominals......Page 85 3.3.1.1 Locational nominals......Page 86 3.3.1.2 Demonstratives......Page 88 3.3.3 Verbs......Page 90 3.4.1 Subtypes of the basic locative construction......Page 92 3.4.2 Coverbs of spatial configuration......Page 99 3.5.1 Verbs used to describe motion events......Page 103 3.5.1.1 Locomotion verbs......Page 104 3.5.1.2 Verbs of change of locative relation and ballistic motion......Page 108 3.5.2.1 Coverbs of manner of motion......Page 111 3.5.2.4 Coverbs of emerging......Page 114 3.5.2.5 Coverbs of ballistic motion......Page 115 3.5.3.1 The ‘fall from the cliff scene’......Page 117 3.5.3.2 Semantic distinctions relevant for the choice of a motion expression......Page 119 3.5.3.3 Jaminjung and the verb-framed/satellite-framed dichotomy......Page 121 3.6 Frames of reference......Page 123 3.6.1 The absolute frame of reference based on water flow......Page 124 3.6.2.1 Location with respect to a featured ground......Page 127 3.6.2.2 Orientation of a featured figure......Page 129 3.6.2.3 Complex figures......Page 131 3.7 Summary......Page 132 4.1 The Warrwa language and its speakers......Page 135 4.2.1 Basic typological features......Page 137 4.2.2 Fundamentals of spatial reference......Page 141 4.3.1 Basic locative construction......Page 143 4.3.2 Use of the locative postposition......Page 144 4.3.3 Spatial adverbials......Page 146 4.3.4 Spatial parts of entities and spatial regions......Page 150 4.3.5 Other locative constructions......Page 153 4.4 Motion......Page 155 4.4.1 Simple motion verbs......Page 156 4.4.2 Complex motion verbs......Page 158 4.4.3 Use of motion expressions in Warrwa......Page 162 4.4.4 Concluding observations......Page 166 4.5 Frames of reference......Page 168 4.6 Conclusion......Page 174 5.1 The language and culture of Rossel Island......Page 177 Phonology......Page 178 Morphology and syntax......Page 179 5.3.1 Introduction......Page 184 5.3.2 The system of topological postpositions......Page 186 5.3.3 The positional verbs......Page 193 5.4 Frames of reference......Page 203 5.5 Deixis......Page 211 5.6 Motion description......Page 212 5.6.1 Deixis and motion verbs: no ‘Come’ and ‘Go’......Page 213 5.6.2 ‘Associated motion’......Page 217 5.6.3 Spatial distinctions in motion verbs......Page 219 5.6.4 Overall observations on motion description......Page 222 5.7 Conclusions......Page 224 6.1 Introduction......Page 226 6.2 Kilivila – the language of the Trobriand Islanders......Page 227 6.3 Topological relations......Page 229 6.4 Motion......Page 237 6.5 Frames of reference......Page 242 6.6 Summary and concluding remarks......Page 248 7.1.1 Space in Mayan languages......Page 250 7.2.1 Basic grammar......Page 253 7.2.2 Spatial language......Page 256 7.2.2.1 Location and existence......Page 257 7.2.2.2 Deictics and locative descriptions......Page 258 7.3 Static location......Page 260 7.3.1 Body parts and relational nouns......Page 261 7.3.2 Dispositionals......Page 266 7.4.1 Motion verbs, directionals and auxiliaries......Page 271 7.5.1 The ‘uphill’/‘downhill’ absolute system......Page 283 7.5.2 Absence of a relative (front/back/left/right) system......Page 290 7.6 Conclusion......Page 291 8.1 Introduction......Page 293 8.2 The language and its speakers......Page 294 8.3.2 Predicates......Page 296 8.3.3 Clause-level dependants......Page 303 8.4 Topological relations......Page 309 8.5.1 Overview......Page 313 8.5.2 Morphosyntactic properties of motion verbs......Page 315 8.5.3 Ground-denoting phrases......Page 317 8.5.4 The semantics of motion verbs......Page 319 8.6.1 The intrinsic frame of reference......Page 322 8.6.2 The absolute frame of reference......Page 323 8.6.3 The relative frame of reference......Page 326 8.6.4 Distribution of frames of reference over individuals and groups......Page 327 8.7 Concluding remarks......Page 329 9.1 Introduction: Tiriyó and its speakers......Page 331 9.2 A brief overview of Tiriyó grammar......Page 332 9.3 Topology......Page 335 9.3.1 Formal groups......Page 337 9.3.2 Semantic groups: The ‘Topological Relations Picture Series’ (TRPS)......Page 341 9.4 Motion......Page 359 9.4.1 Motion verbs......Page 363 9.4.2 Other verbal constructions involving motion......Page 364 9.4.3 Directional postpositions......Page 366 9.4.4 Ablative and perlative postpositions......Page 368 9.5 Frames of reference......Page 370 9.6 Conclusion......Page 378 10.1 The language and its relevance for spatial language research......Page 379 10.2.1 Linguistic-type features......Page 380 10.2.2 The syntax of the nominal phrase......Page 382 10.2.3 Ewe verbal syntax......Page 384 10.2.4 Prepositions......Page 387 10.2.5 Postpositions......Page 388 10.3.1 ‘Where’-questions and the ‘basic locative comstruction’......Page 390 10.3.2 The locative verb suppletive set......Page 392 10.3.3 Modulations of the BLC......Page 393 10.3.4 Non-basic locative constructions......Page 395 10.3.5 Summary of topological relations......Page 400 10.4 Frames of reference......Page 402 10.5.1 The expression of motion......Page 407 10.5.1.1 Motion interpretation from non-motion expressions......Page 408 10.5.1.2 Motion verbs......Page 409 10.5.2 Motion event packaging......Page 412 10.6 Conclusion......Page 418 11.1 Tamil and Tamils......Page 420 11.2.1 Typical SOV, agglutinative......Page 421 11.2.2.1 Traditional analysis: the eight Sanskrit cases......Page 422 11.3.1.1 -il (LT); -le (ST)......Page 424 11.3.1.2 -iTam (.LT); -kiTTe (ST)......Page 426 11.3.2 Locative/relational nouns......Page 427 11.3.2.1 Meel(ee)......Page 428 11.3.2.2 Contrast with simple locative......Page 430 11.3.2.3 uuL(ee)......Page 431 11.3.2.4 Other locative nouns......Page 432 11.3.3 Verbally described location......Page 433 11.4.1 Manner verbs......Page 435 11.4.2 Auxiliary verbs go/come/be/leave......Page 436 11.4.2.1 Go......Page 437 11.4.2.2 Come......Page 439 11.4.2.3 Be......Page 440 11.4.2.4 Ablative......Page 441 11.4.3 Complex motion/decomposition......Page 442 11.5.1 Deixis in Tamil......Page 445 11.5.2 Same form, different frames of reference......Page 447 11.5.3 Distribution of frames of reference among South Indian Tamil speakers......Page 449 11.5.4 Intrinsic reference......Page 452 11.5.5 Relative and absolute frame of reference......Page 453 11.6 Conclusions......Page 454 12.2 Very brief grammatical overview of the language......Page 457 12.3.1.1 Verbs in the basic locative construction......Page 458 12.3.1.2 Place NP......Page 459 12.3.1.3 The application range of the basic locative construction......Page 460 12.3.1.4 Other constructions for answering a Where-question......Page 461 12.3.2.1 Spatial nominals expressing topological relations......Page 466 12.3.2.3 Intrinsic relations and relative relations......Page 467 12.3.2.4 Other classes of spatial nominals......Page 468 12.4 Motion......Page 469 12.4.1.1 Case frames and verb types......Page 472 12.4.1.2 Postpositions and their functions in motion expression......Page 476 12.4.2.1 Deictic auxiliary verb constructions......Page 482 12.4.2.2 Bi-clausal expressions of VIA-notions......Page 485 12.4.2.3 Two-verb expressions of manner and path......Page 486 12.4.3 ‘Enter’/‘Exit’ as ‘discrete change of state’......Page 487 12.4.4 Summary of motion expression in Japanese......Page 489 12.5.1 Tabletop space......Page 490 12.5.2 Larger-scale space......Page 492 12.6 Conclusions......Page 493 13.2 Dutch: the language and its speakers......Page 495 13.3 Grammatical background to spatial descriptions in Dutch......Page 497 13.4 Topological relations......Page 505 13.4.1.1 Contact......Page 507 13.4.2 Positional verbs......Page 513 13.5 Motion descriptions......Page 520 13.5.2 Translocation prepositions and adverbs......Page 522 13.5.3 Auxiliaries hebben and zijn......Page 523 13.5.4 Separable verbs......Page 524 13.6 Conclusion......Page 526 13.6.1 Frames of reference......Page 527 13.7 Discussion......Page 530 14.1 Universals and particulars: variation and its limits in semantic typology......Page 532 14.2.1 The BLC and a topological similarity space......Page 534 14.2.2 The similarity space and contrasts within the BLC constructional alternates and adpositions......Page 539 14.2.3 The cup-on-table scene: adpositional con.ations in the similarity space......Page 540 14.2.4 The cup-on-table scene: con.ations and distinctions by locative predicates within the similarity space......Page 543 14.3 Motion......Page 547 The Frog Story in cross-linguistic perspective......Page 557 14.4 Frames of reference......Page 561 14.5 Conclusions......Page 570 Appendix 1: Topolocial ‘maps’ for each language in the sample......Page 573 Appendix 2: Motion across the languages......Page 583 Appendix 3: Frames of reference in the sample: summary of information on full, partial and trace frames of reference......Page 587 Appendix 4: ‘Topological Relations Picture Series’......Page 590 References......Page 596 Author index......Page 620 Language/Language family index......Page 624 Subject index......Page 627 Spatial language - that is, the way in which languages structure the spatial domain - is an important area of current research, offering new insights into one of the most central areas of human cognition. In this pioneering collection, a team of leading linguists and psychologists review the spatial domain across a wide variety of languages In this pioneering collection, a team of leading linguists and psychologists look at how the spatial domain is structured in language. Drawing on data from a wide range of languages, they uncover considerable cross-linguistic variation across this central domain, adding to debates about the innate foundations of human cognition Spatial language, that is, the way languages structure the spatial domain, is an important area of current research. In this collection, leading scholars review the spatial domain across a wide variety of languages. They show that there is great variation in the way space is structured across languages