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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In Mbuko (northern Cameroon) there are a few
varieties of palm which are considered to be trees and don't have a cover
term.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Plants are divided between trees, bush/shrub/scrub
and grass, more or less.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Incidentally, there is a neighbouring language
which doesn't really have a generic term for tree at all.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Richard Gravina</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ron_moe@sil.org href="mailto:ron_moe@sil.org">Ronald Moe</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com
href="mailto:lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com">lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, May 18, 2009 10:49 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Lexicog] palm trees</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV id=ygrp-text>
<P>Someone has asked me for help in classifying "palm trees" in my list
of<BR>semantic domains. If you have palm trees in your area, are they
classified<BR>as "trees" or as a separate category of plant? Science is not a
reliable<BR>guide to ethno-semantic classification. So please don't give me a
scientific<BR>answer or an English-based answer. I've pasted in below the
guidance that I<BR>gave the person who asked me the
question.<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Ron Moe<BR><BR>@@@@@@@<BR><BR>Ask the people to
give you a hierarchical set of categories for the plants.<BR>"What kind of
plants are there?" If they give 'tree' as one type of plant<BR>then ask, "What
kinds of trees are there?" If 'palm' is given as a type of<BR>plant (or tree),
then ask, "What kinds of palms are there?" If there is a<BR>subcategory for
palms, then set up a domain for it and try to place it under<BR>the correct
major domain in the hierarchy. A domain that has 11 members<BR>should be a
separate domain if the people clearly see it as a separate<BR>group. You can
add domains to the DDP list in Toolbox or FLEx.<BR><BR>Be aware that the
hierarchy may be complicated. This is especially true of<BR>animals where an
animal can be classified along a number of parameters (bird<BR>vs mammal vs
reptile vs insect, pet vs domesticated (but not pet) vs wild,<BR>useful vs
vermin, edible vs inedible, carnivorous vs herbivorous vs<BR>omnivorous, beast
of burden vs not, forest dweller vs grassland dweller vs<BR>water dweller).
Some words may have two meanings and can refer to two<BR>different levels of
the hierarchy. For instance 'animal' can contrast with<BR>'plant' in science,
but in non-scientific speech it contrasts with bird and<BR>fish. So there
actually is no simple, straightforward hierarchy. But for<BR>display purposes
in a dictionary it is nice if we can pretend there is. J<BR><BR>I would be
very interested in any classification system you develop. I'm<BR>always
looking for evidence that shows where I need to adjust my domains. We<BR>call
palms "palm trees". But that doesn't mean most languages view them as
a<BR>subcategory of tree. My problem with the plants is that there is no
good<BR>basis for subcategorizing them. Science is too, well, scientific to be
of<BR>much use in determining how cultures view the world. I'm more interested
in<BR>ethnic semantics and folk classification systems. Words are funny
things.<BR>Tell me where "undergrowth" fits in a scientific classification
system.<BR><BR>I hope this helps. You should read my article (available for
download from<BR>the DDP website <A
href="ftp://ftp.sil.org/software/win/ddp/doc/">ftp://ftp.sil.<WBR>org/software/<WBR>win/ddp/doc/</A><BR>ddp4_emic_domains.<WBR>doc)
on emic domains.<BR><BR></P></DIV><!--End group email -->
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