Wnuk, E;
(2016)
Specificity at the basic level in event taxonomies: The case of Maniq verbs of ingestion.
In:
Complete CogSci2016 proceedings.
(pp. pp. 2687-2692).
Cognitive Science Society: Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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Abstract
Previous research on basic-level object categories shows there is cross-cultural variation in basic-level concepts, arguing against the idea that the basic level reflects an objective reality. In this paper, I extend the investigation to the domain of events. More specifically, I present a case study of verbs of ingestion in Maniq illustrating a highly specific categorization of ingestion events at the basic level. A detailed analysis of these verbs reveals they tap into culturally salient notions. Yet, cultural salience alone cannot explain specificity of basic-level verbs, since ingestion is a domain of universal human experience. Further analysis reveals, however, that another key factor is the language itself. Maniq’s preference for encoding specific meaning in basic-level verbs is not a peculiarity of one domain, but a recurrent characteristic of its verb lexicon, pointing to the significant role of the language system in the structure of event concepts.
| Type: | Proceedings paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Specificity at the basic level in event taxonomies: The case of Maniq verbs of ingestion |
| Event: | 38th Annual Meeting Of The Cognitive Science Society |
| Location: | Philadelphia, PA, USA |
| Dates: | 10-13 Aug 2016 |
| ISBN-13: | 978-0-9911967-3-9 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://mindmodeling.org/cogsci2016/papers/0463/in... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | basic level; categorization; events; verbs; Maniq; Aslian |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070340 |
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