Spatial Language and Cognition in Mesoamerica

语言中有多少空间信息？语言在几何和功能对象结构的表达上有多大的不同？人类和动物的身体作为物体结构的概念模型，在不同语言中所扮演的角色是否存在差异？所有语言的使用者在将身体的结构映射到物体的结构时都使用相同的概念过程吗？物体的几何结构和功能结构在不同语言中的概念化方式是否会影响空间关系在这些语言中的识别方式？不同语言的使用者谈论空间关系的方式会影响他们记忆空间关系的方式吗？本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来回答这些问题。作为同类研究中的第一次，本研究试图运用语义类型学的方法来阐明中美洲空间语言的两种类型学上不寻常的特征之间的关系，以及它们通过语言接触可能的传播。这些是高度富有成效的使用部分（部分-整体）术语的对象部分和空间区域的基础上，主要是对象的几何形状，并为allocentric（非观察者为基础的，即内在的或绝对的）超过自我为中心的（以自我为基础的）参考框架的显着偏好。最近的证据表明，在语言编码，回忆记忆和空间推理的参考框架选择的紧密对齐引发了一场辩论的相对重要性的语言和文化因素在参考框架的选择。本研究旨在推进这一辩论，利用中美洲地区的生态多样性，文化因素，包括生产模式，双语，教育，和语言预测的可能性：高生产力的部分系统。

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.