[Lexicog] palm trees

[Ronald Moe]

Someone has asked me for help in classifying "palm trees" in my list of
semantic domains. If you have palm trees in your area, are they classified
as "trees" or as a separate category of plant? Science is not a reliable
guide to ethno-semantic classification. So please don't give me a scientific
answer or an English-based answer. I've pasted in below the guidance that I
gave the person who asked me the question.

Thanks,
Ron Moe

@@@@@@@

Ask the people to give you a hierarchical set of categories for the plants.
"What kind of plants are there?" If they give 'tree' as one type of plant
then ask, "What kinds of trees are there?" If 'palm' is given as a type of
plant (or tree), then ask, "What kinds of palms are there?" If there is a
subcategory for palms, then set up a domain for it and try to place it under
the correct major domain in the hierarchy. A domain that has 11 members
should be a separate domain if the people clearly see it as a separate
group. You can add domains to the DDP list in Toolbox or FLEx.

Be aware that the hierarchy may be complicated. This is especially true of
animals where an animal can be classified along a number of parameters (bird
vs mammal vs reptile vs insect, pet vs domesticated (but not pet) vs wild,
useful vs vermin, edible vs inedible, carnivorous vs herbivorous vs
omnivorous, beast of burden vs not, forest dweller vs grassland dweller vs
water dweller). Some words may have two meanings and can refer to two
different levels of the hierarchy. For instance 'animal' can contrast with
'plant' in science, but in non-scientific speech it contrasts with bird and
fish. So there actually is no simple, straightforward hierarchy. But for
display purposes in a dictionary it is nice if we can pretend there is. J

I would be very interested in any classification system you develop. I'm
always looking for evidence that shows where I need to adjust my domains. We
call palms "palm trees". But that doesn't mean most languages view them as a
subcategory of tree. My problem with the plants is that there is no good
basis for subcategorizing them. Science is too, well, scientific to be of
much use in determining how cultures view the world. I'm more interested in
ethnic semantics and folk classification systems. Words are funny things.
Tell me where "undergrowth" fits in a scientific classification system.

I hope this helps. You should read my article (available for download from
the DDP website ftp://ftp.sil.org/software/win/ddp/doc/
ddp4_emic_domains.doc) on emic domains.



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