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<p>Randy,</p>
<p>So which of the items in (1-8) are covered by Chinese <i>dòngwù</i>
(動物), ‘moving thing’?</p>
<p>David<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 14/10/2018 03:59, Randy LaPolla
wrote:<br>
</div>
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cite="mid:22F63B24-515B-431E-A08C-994D32792851@gmail.com">
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Hi David,
<div>The categories as you have them (1-8) reflect certain
cultural conceptions, and so won’t be the same for other
cultures. For example, in Chinese bats were traditionally seen
as flying mice, and lizards were seen as four-legged snakes. </div>
<div>The word in Chinese that we translate as ‘animal’ is <i>dòngwù</i>
(動物), ‘moving thing’. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Randy<br>
<div id="AppleMailSignature" dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
On 14 Oct 2018, at 12:33 AM, David Gil <<a
href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de" moz-do-not-send="true">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
</div>
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<div dir="ltr">
<p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">Dear all,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">I am interested in exploring,
cross-linguistically, the semantic range of words that
correspond more or less to the English word "animal".</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">Here are examples of the things that
English "animal" refers to:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">1. dog, kangaroo, lizard, frog ...<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">2. eagle, sparrow, chicken, bat ...<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">3. bee, scorpion, spider, centipede ...<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">4. crab, shrimp ...<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">5. worm, leech ...<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">6. starfish, jellyfish, squid, octopus ...<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">7. oyster, clam ...<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">8. sponge (?) ...<br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">I am looking for examples of languages in
which the basic word closest to English "animal" is
nevertheless different in its coverage.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In particular, I
would like to find instances — if such exist — of
languages in which there is a basic word that covers the
examples in 1-4 (or maybe 1-5) to the exclusion of those
in 5-8 (or maybe 6-8).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>(Note that the
question concerns every-day words that reflect our naive
folk biological knowledge, not with scientific terms in
those few languages that have such terminology.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">Some words of background:<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A colleague and I
working in experimental cognitive science have found
(non-linguistic) empirical evidence for the
psychological reality of an ontological category that
consists roughly of animals of the kind exemplified in
1-4 (and possibly also 5).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>We are calling this category "higher animals".<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The characteristic
prototypical features of higher animals include a single
axis of symmetry, the existence of head, torso and
limbs, a face in the front of the head that includes
sensory organs such as eyes, and a mouth for eating, and
the ability to move forward in the direction that the
head is facing. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A
challenge that we face is that, in the (few) languages
that we are familiar with, there is no simple word for
higher animals.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But
we are hoping that other languages might have such a
word.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>in
addition, we would also welcome grammatical evidence for
the category of higher animals, for example in the form
of grammatical rules that are sensitive to the animacy
hierarchy by making reference to a cut-off point between
higher and other animals.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">I look forward to your responses.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thanks,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">David</span></p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
David Gil
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
Email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de" moz-do-not-send="true">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>
Office Phone (Germany): +49-3641686834
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81281162816
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
David Gil
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
Email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>
Office Phone (Germany): +49-3641686834
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81281162816
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