Subject: Objects with a front and a back.

[Bill Palmer]

Dear listers

I’m currently looking for data on the way languages talk about notions like
‘in front of’ and ‘behind’ (or ‘in back of’), and left/right.

I have read that in some Nilotic languages trees are treated as having an
intrinsic front and back. (The front is the side the tree leans away from.)
I have also read that in some languages objects like nails and peanuts are
treated as having intrinsic fronts and backs. (The pointed end of a nail and
the smaller end of a peanut are the fronts.) Unfortunately I no longer have
the relevant references.

I’m keen to here about languages that assign front and back to objects that
aren’t assigned them in English.

Conversely, I’m keen to hear about languages that don’t assign front/back to
objects that English does.

I’d also be grateful for any references on this kind of variation.

I’ll post a summary.

(Apologies for cross-postings.)

Bill Palmer
Fellow
Dep’t Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
University of Melbourne
palmer_bill at hotmail.com



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