How does the environment shape spatial language? Evidence for sociotopography
How does the environment shape spatial language? Evidence for sociotopography
复制标题
环境如何塑造空间语言？
DOI：
10.1515/lingty-2017-0011
复制
发表时间：
2017
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Alice Gaby
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bill Palmer;Jonathon Lum;J. Schlossberg;Alice Gaby
摘要：本文研究了个体描述空间关系的方式与当地景观特征的关联程度。利用来自两种不相关的语言，迪维希语（印度雅利安语）和马绍尔语（南岛语）的经验数据，我们研究了不同地形环境下说话者可用的语言资源，以及不同语言和环境下的空间参考策略偏好。我们发现空间语言对地形特征表现出敏感性，但这是由说话者与景观互动的方式介导的。这导致我们提出一个社会地形模型，模拟语言结构、当地环境、文化习俗和语言使用的复杂相互作用，与语言或环境在塑造空间认知方面的首要地位的竞争主张不一致。
Abstract This article investigates the extent to which the way individuals describe spatial relationships correlates with features of the local landscape. Drawing on empirical data from two unrelated languages, Dhivehi (Indo-Aryan) and Marshallese (Austronesian), across a range of topographic environments, we examine the linguistic resources available to speakers, and spatial referential strategy preferences across languages and environments. We find that spatial language shows sensitivity to features of the topography, but this is mediated by the way speakers interact with the landscape. This leads us to propose a Sociotopographic Model, modelling the complex interplay of language structure, local environment, cultural practices, and language use, at odds with competing claims about the primacy of language or of environment in shaping spatial cognition.