Spatial Language and Cognition in Mesoamerica

有多少空间信息是用语言表示的？在几何和功能对象结构的表达上，语言的差异有多大？人类和动物的身体作为物体结构的概念模型在不同语言中扮演的角色是否存在差异？所有语言的说话者在将身体结构映射为物体结构时都使用相同的概念过程吗？物体的几何和功能结构在不同的语言中被概念化的方式是否影响了这些语言中空间关系的识别方式？说不同语言的人谈论空间关系的方式会影响他们记忆空间关系的方式吗？这项研究试图通过对危地马拉和墨西哥13种土著语言中空间表征的调查，找到这些和类似问题的答案。这组研究是第一次，试图应用语义类型学的方法来阐明中美洲空间语言的两个不寻常的类型特征之间的相关性，以及它们可能通过语言接触传播的情况。这些都是对主要基于物体几何的物体部分和空间区域的同名(部分-整体)术语的高度有效的使用，以及相对于以自我为中心(基于观察者)的参照系而言，对以位置为中心(不基于观察者，即内在的或绝对的)的显著偏好。最近的研究表明，语言编码、回忆记忆和空间推理的参照系选择具有紧密的一致性，这引发了一场关于语言和文化因素在参照系选择中的相对重要性的辩论。这项研究旨在推进这场辩论，利用中美洲地区的生态多样性、包括生产方式、双语和教育在内的文化因素，以及语言预测因素的可能性：高效的近音词系统。

How much spatial information is represented in language? To what extent do languages differ in the expression of geometrical and functional object structure? Is there variation in the role the human and animal body plays as a conceptual model of the structure of objects across languages? Do speakers of all languages employ the same conceptual processes in mapping the structure of the body into that of objects? Does the way the geometrical and functional structure of objects is conceptualized in different languages influence the way spatial relations are identified in these languages? And does the way speakers of different languages talk about spatial relations influence the way they memorize them? This project attempts to find answers to these and similar questions, based on an investigation of the representation of space in 13 indigenous languages of Guatemala and Mexico.A first in kind, this set of studies seeks to apply methods of semantic typology to elucidate the correlations between two typologically unusual traits of spatial language in Mesoamerica and their possible diffusion through language contact. These are the highly productive use of meronymic (part-whole) terminologies for object parts and spatial regions based primarily on object geometry, and the striking preference for allocentric (non-observer-based, i.e. intrinsic or absolute) over egocentric (observer-based) frames of reference. The recent demonstration of a close alignment in frame-of-reference selection for linguistic encoding, recall memory, and spatial reasoning has triggered a debate over the relative importance of linguistic and cultural factors in frame-of-reference choice. This study aims to advance this debate, capitalizing on the ecological diversity of the Mesoamerican area, cultural factors including modes of production, bilingualism, and education, and the possibility of a linguistic predictor: highly productive meronym systems.