RUI: Typology and Topology, the Acquisition and Use of Tzotzil Spatial Language

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ABSTRACT The linguistic expression of spatial relations is central to recent work in semantics, cognitive anthropology, and language acquisition. Universalist claims have been advanced about the nature of linguistically coded spatial concepts, their origins in human perception and cognition, and their order of acquisition. There are, however, few studies of spatial language in non- European contexts, and even fewer studies of the use of spatial language in ordinary life. This projects investigates three spatial domains in Zinacantec Tzotzil (Mayan, Chiapas, Mexico) which challenge current typological claims: (1) verbs of motion; (2) positional roots involving "support" and "containment"; and (3) inalienably possessed nominal roots encoding "anatomical" spatial relations. Extending existing studies of spatial semantics in adult Tzotzil, this project investigates the use of elements from these linguistic subdomains in both natural and semi-natural contexts: in everyday work, and in constructed interactive "space games". The project also explores the Zinacantec child's acquisition of the structure and use of these lexical systems, cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The project will elucidate, first mutual relationships between semantic systems and the indexical structure of specific cultural communicative practices. Second, it will reveal possible interactions between the acquisition of spatial concepts and language-specific systems of spatial representation.