Language:

Differential coding of perception in the world’s languages

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 2018-11, Vol.115 (45), p.11369-11376 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

Volumes 1–89 and 106–115, copyright as a collective work only; author(s) retains copyright to individual articles ;Copyright National Academy of Sciences Nov 6, 2018 ;Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives ;2018 ;ISSN: 0027-8424 ;EISSN: 1091-6490 ;DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1720419115 ;PMID: 30397135

Full text available

Citations Cited by

Actions
1. Add to My Research
2. Remove from My Research
3. E-mail
4. Print
5. Permalink
6. Citation
7. EasyBib
8. EndNote
9. RefWorks
10. Delicious
11. Export RIS
12. Export BibTeX

Title:
Differential coding of perception in the world’s languages
Author: Majid, Asifa ; Roberts, Seán G. ; Cilissen, Ludy ; Emmorey, Karen ; Nicodemus, Brenda ; O’Grady, Lucinda ; Woll, Bencie ; LeLan, Barbara ; de Sousa, Hilário ; Cansler, Brian L. ; Shayan, Shakila ; de Vos, Connie ; Senft, Gunter ; Enfield, N. J. ; Razak, Rogayah A. ; Fedden, Sebastian ; Tufvesson, Sylvia ; Dingemanse, Mark ; Ozturk, Ozge ; Brown, Penelope ; Hill, Clair ; Le Guen, Olivier ; Hirtzel, Vincent ; van Gijn, Rik ; Sicoli, Mark A. ; Levinson, Stephen C.
Subjects: Coding ; Cognitive science ; COLLOQUIUM PAPERS ; Communication ; Cross-cultural ; Cross-linguistic ; Domains ; General Language Studies and Linguistics ; Humaniora och konst ; Humanities ; Humanities and Social Sciences ; Ineffability ; Jämförande språkvetenskap och allmän lingvistik ; Language ; Languages ; Languages and Literature ; Linguistics ; Olfaction ; Perception ; Phylogeny ; Sackler on Pressing Questions in the Study of Psychological and Behavioral Diversity ; Senses ; Sensory perception ; Sensory systems ; Smell ; Social Sciences ; Språk och litteratur ; Vision
Is Part Of: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, 2018-11, Vol.115 (45), p.11369-11376
Description: Is there a universal hierarchy of the senses, such that some senses (e.g., vision) are more accessible to consciousness and linguistic description than others (e.g., smell)? The long-standing presumption in Western thought has been that vision and audition are more objective than the other senses, serving as the basis of knowledge and understanding, whereas touch, taste, and smell are crude and of little value. This predicts that humans ought to be better at communicating about sight and hearing than the other senses, and decades of work based on English and related languages certainly suggests this is true. However, how well does this reflect the diversity of languages and communities worldwide? To test whether there is a universal hierarchy of the senses, stimuli from the five basic senses were used to elicit descriptions in 20 diverse languages, including 3 unrelated sign languages. We found that languages differ fundamentally in which sensory domains they linguistically code systematically, and how they do so. The tendency for better coding in some domains can be explained in part by cultural preoccupations. Although languages seem free to elaborate specific sensory domains, some general tendencies emerge: for example, with some exceptions, smell is poorly coded. The surprise is that, despite the gradual phylogenetic accumulation of the senses, and the imbalances in the neural tissue dedicated to them, no single hierarchy of the senses imposes itself upon language.
Publisher: United States: National Academy of Sciences
Language: English
Identifier: ISSN: 0027-8424
EISSN: 1091-6490
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1720419115
PMID: 30397135
Source: GFMER Free Medical Journals
PubMed Central

Back to results list


INSPIRE LIBRARY - TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY	(84-028) 37 755 057	Feedback
19 Nguyen Huu Tho St. Dist.7, HCM	thuvien@tdtu.edu.vn	Feedback

Differential coding of perception in the world’s languages

Searching Remote Databases, Please Wait