How do people think about time? Here we describe representations of time in Pormpuraaw, a remote Australian Aboriginal community. Pormpuraawans' differ strikingly from all others documented to date. Previously, have been shown represent spatially left right or left, front back front. All these are with respect the body. Pormpuraawans instead arrange according cardinal directions: east west. That is, flows when one is facing south, north, toward body east, and away These findings reveal...

Abstract This paper presents the results of a survey geocentric directional systems across Australia using published and unpublished material as well fieldwork data, providing first systematic overview such in Australia. The 116 sampled varieties, spoken diverse landscapes, exhibit variation within languages. Many make use more than one system. sets out to create typological directionals taking into account cultural topographic salience, revisiting existing classifications systems.

Around the world, it is common to both talk and think about time in terms of space. But does our conceptualization simply reflect space/time metaphors language we speak? Evidence from Australian Kuuk Thaayorre suggests not. speakers do not employ active spatial describing time. this say that irrelevant temporal construals: non-linguistic representations are shown here correlate with linguistic system This article contrasts two populations ethnic Pormpuraaw—one comprising Thaayorre/English...

Reciprocals are characterized by a crossover of thematic roles within single clause. Their peculiar semantics often creates special argument configurations not found in other clause types. While some languages either encode reciprocals clearly divalent, transitive clauses, or monovalent, intransitive others adopt more ambivalent solution. We develop typology valency/transitivity mismatches reciprocal constructions, based on sample Australian languages. These include: (i) monovalent clauses...

Charity Hudley, Mallinson, and Bucholtz's (2020) target article details the urgent need for linguistics as a field to develop its theoretical, analytical, political engagement with issues of race racism. We agree Hudley et al.'s assertion that 'hegemonic whiteness' 'has been profoundly damaging both linguistic scholarship profession' (p. e211). In this response, we wish expand upon point specifically in regard how linguists relate Indigenous peoples their languages. outline key respects...

Abstract The more than 250 languages spoken in Australia prior to the nineteenth century exhibit both striking similarities one another and remarkable variation. exponential increase what linguists have learned about these since 1960s has been sadly inverse proportion number of people learning them as a mother tongue. This article will review some most exciting recent developments Australianist linguistic research, while also acknowledging context language loss disenfranchisement within...

Cultures are built on social exchange. Most languages have dedicated grammatical machinery for expressing this. To demonstrate that statistical methods can also be applied to meaning, we here ask whether the underlying meanings of these constructions based shared common concepts. explore this, designed video stimuli reciprocated actions (e.g., "giving each other") and symmetrical states "sitting next other"), with help a team linguists collected responses from 20 around world. Statistical...

Abstract This article investigates the extent to which way individuals describe spatial relationships correlates with features of local landscape. Drawing on empirical data from two unrelated languages, Dhivehi (Indo-Aryan) and Marshallese (Austronesian), across a range topographic environments, we examine linguistic resources available speakers, referential strategy preferences languages environments. We find that language shows sensitivity topography, but this is mediated by speakers...

This paper presents the key Thaayorre verbs associated with events of cutting and breaking. It examines their intensional extensional ranges; comparing prototypical usages non-prototypical extensions. Although these categorize C&B semantic domain largely in accordance crosslinguistic patterns reported by Majid et al. (this issue), there are several interesting points divergence. These include union breaking opening encoded thuuth ‘pull (apart)’, various changes argument structure that may undergo.

EDITORIAL article Front. Psychol., 26 August 2013Sec. Cultural Psychology https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00554