Environmental adaptation in language: Spatial grammar, landscape knowledge and human survival

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Environmental adaptation in language : Spatial grammar, landscape knowledge and human survival. / Pharao Hansen, Magnus; O'Meara, Carolyn.

In: Language Dynamics and Change, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2020, p. 230-258.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Pharao Hansen, M & O'Meara, C 2020, 'Environmental adaptation in language: Spatial grammar, landscape knowledge and human survival', Language Dynamics and Change, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 230-258. https://doi.org/10.1163/22105832-bja10002

APA

Pharao Hansen, M., & O'Meara, C. (2020). Environmental adaptation in language: Spatial grammar, landscape knowledge and human survival. Language Dynamics and Change, 10(2), 230-258. https://doi.org/10.1163/22105832-bja10002

Vancouver

Pharao Hansen M, O'Meara C. Environmental adaptation in language: Spatial grammar, landscape knowledge and human survival. Language Dynamics and Change. 2020;10(2):230-258. https://doi.org/10.1163/22105832-bja10002

Author

Pharao Hansen, Magnus ; O'Meara, Carolyn. / Environmental adaptation in language : Spatial grammar, landscape knowledge and human survival. In: Language Dynamics and Change. 2020 ; Vol. 10, No. 2. pp. 230-258.

Bibtex

@article{f84e194a97364056b4d82c94fc967f4b,
title = "Environmental adaptation in language: Spatial grammar, landscape knowledge and human survival",
abstract = "We argue that the human ability to linguistically describe spatial locations, relations and paths is likely to contribute importantly to human survival, and that consequently the relation between linguistic elements and structures used in spatial reference, and the environment in which humans navigate, ought to be of concern for evolutionary studies of language. We make the case for systematically studying the correspondences between the structures of human spatial language and the spatially structured practices of human groups within specific landscapes, and for considering this relation within a diachronic framework, as a process of cultural and linguistic adaptation to the physical environment. The last section presents the research design of the Nahuatl Space Project, which investigates the possibility of environmental adaptation of spatial language in four varieties of the Nahuan languages of Mexico.",
keywords = "Det Humanistiske Fakultet, adaptation, frames of reference, landscape, language evolution, space",
author = "{Pharao Hansen}, Magnus and Carolyn O'Meara",
year = "2020",
doi = "10.1163/22105832-bja10002",
language = "Dansk",
volume = "10",
pages = "230--258",
journal = "Language Dynamics and Change",
issn = "2210-5824",
publisher = "Brill",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Environmental adaptation in language

T2 - Spatial grammar, landscape knowledge and human survival

AU - Pharao Hansen, Magnus

AU - O'Meara, Carolyn

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - We argue that the human ability to linguistically describe spatial locations, relations and paths is likely to contribute importantly to human survival, and that consequently the relation between linguistic elements and structures used in spatial reference, and the environment in which humans navigate, ought to be of concern for evolutionary studies of language. We make the case for systematically studying the correspondences between the structures of human spatial language and the spatially structured practices of human groups within specific landscapes, and for considering this relation within a diachronic framework, as a process of cultural and linguistic adaptation to the physical environment. The last section presents the research design of the Nahuatl Space Project, which investigates the possibility of environmental adaptation of spatial language in four varieties of the Nahuan languages of Mexico.

AB - We argue that the human ability to linguistically describe spatial locations, relations and paths is likely to contribute importantly to human survival, and that consequently the relation between linguistic elements and structures used in spatial reference, and the environment in which humans navigate, ought to be of concern for evolutionary studies of language. We make the case for systematically studying the correspondences between the structures of human spatial language and the spatially structured practices of human groups within specific landscapes, and for considering this relation within a diachronic framework, as a process of cultural and linguistic adaptation to the physical environment. The last section presents the research design of the Nahuatl Space Project, which investigates the possibility of environmental adaptation of spatial language in four varieties of the Nahuan languages of Mexico.

KW - Det Humanistiske Fakultet

KW - adaptation

KW - frames of reference

KW - landscape

KW - language evolution

KW - space

U2 - 10.1163/22105832-bja10002

DO - 10.1163/22105832-bja10002

M3 - Tidsskriftartikel

VL - 10

SP - 230

EP - 258

JO - Language Dynamics and Change

JF - Language Dynamics and Change

SN - 2210-5824

IS - 2

ER -

ID: 241994861