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<p>I would like to endorse the point made by Östen below
(questionnaires often elicit answers reflecting perceived norms).
There is an important book by Greenbaum and Quirk (1970) on
"Elicitation experiments in English linguistic studies in use and
attitude". As the title suggests, the authors make a distinction
between "use" and "attitude", and (naive) questionnaires often
elicit attitude, not use. Use and attitude may of course coincide;
but frankly, I'm not sure how I use the word "animal" in everyday
language and what exactly it covers. In a questionnaire I would
probably provide a normative answer. A corpus study might lead to
more valid results concerning use, as Ian pointed out.<br>
</p>
<p>As far as comparability more generally is concerned, it is clear
that it correlates with two dimensions: (i) concrete concepts are
more comparable than abstract concepts, and (ii) specific concepts
are more comparable than general concepts. 'Animal' is a highly
general concept, and I would not be surprised to learn that there
are languages that have no word for it, as it is not necessarily a
very useful generalization. <br>
</p>
<p>Volker<br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:1f9ce783f6b649b6891baf9fb0ccd4e9@ling.su.se">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">I think that some caution is necessary when
constructing a questionnaire to compare how words like
“animal” are used. There may well be a conflict between
perceived norms and actual usage. Direct questions such as
“What does X mean?” or “Is X a Y?” may yield answers which
are biased towards the former.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">Östen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1
1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Från:</b> Lingtyp
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org"><lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org></a>
<b>För </b>Martin Haspelmath<br>
<b>Skickat:</b> den 15 oktober 2018 15:40<br>
<b>Till:</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org">lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a><br>
<b>Ämne:</b> Re: [Lingtyp] query: "animal"<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">In fact,
questionnaires of the sort proposed by Hedvig and endorsed by
David are the ONLY way in which cross-linguistic research can
be carried out.<br>
<br>
There is no contradiction at all between lists of comparison
meanings (like David's original list of 8 organism types) and
the recognition that languages "function" differently.<br>
<br>
In order to express how a language "functions" (= in order to
describe a language), one needs descriptive categories, and
these may well involve prototypes.<br>
<br>
In order to find out what languages have in common, one needs
comparative concepts (for lexical concepts: comparison
meanings, e.g. the concept-sets in the Concepticon
<a href="https://concepticon.clld.org/parameters"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://concepticon.clld.org/parameters</a>).<br>
<br>
One should avoid the mistake of thinking that a mapping from
language facts to comparative concepts is a description, or
the opposite mistake of thinking that descriptive categories
would necessarily be useful for comparison.<br>
<br>
(Sorry for belabouring this methodological point, but it seems
to come up again and again...)<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
Martin<o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 15.10.18 15:03, David Gil wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<p>In response to the latest posting by Johanna, I think there
is widespread agreement that the meanings of words exhibit
the kind of internal structuring that is usefully
represented in terms of prototypes. But this does not
preclude the need for adequate descriptions of what is
included — protypically, less prototypically, marginally, or
not at all — in the extension of words such as "animal" and
its putative counterparts across languages. And
questionnaires have proven to be a useful tool for gathering
this kind of data — it's quite easy to formulate a
questionnaire in such a way that it will elicit judgements
of prototypicality (as opposed to categorical
"black-and-white" judgements).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 15/10/2018 14:49, Johanna Laakso
wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear All, <o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">to be honest, I don't believe that
languages function with clear categories for concepts
like "animal". More probably, there is something like a
prototypical "core" for "animalness" (or many of them,
if there are many categories corresponding to "animal"),
surrounded by grey zones and depending on contexts,
styles, subcultures, etc.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">My own anecdotal experience (which
first caught my attention years ago, when working on a
translation job): in Estonian, "loomad ja linnud"
(‘animals and birds’, implying that ‘birds’ are a
category distinct from ‘animals’) seems to be a pretty
frequent expression (more than 60,000 Google hits). As a
native speaker of Finnish, I find the Finnish equivalent
expression, "eläimet ja linnut", less natural or not as
idiomatic and acceptable as the Estonian one; it does
occur but clearly less frequently than in Estonian
(13,700 Google hits), and according to my intuition, the
Finnish ‘bird’ is a borderline case – birds might be
"animals" or "not-animals", depending on context and
use. I'm also pretty sure that many other Finnish
speakers might see this differently.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Therefore, I have great doubts
concerning the use of questionnaires for gathering data.
Or, at least, the questionnaire should be very carefully
planned, to accommodate vagueness and fuzzy or
overlapping categories.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Best<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Johanna<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">PS. Note also that terms for animals
in many languages are greatly affected by taboos. And
that the term ‘animal’ in itself is often a derivative
(Finnish eläin = "living thing", Estonian loom =
"creature", Hungarian állat = "standing thing") or a
result of semantic extension or specification (cf.
German "Tier" and its Scandinavian cognates with English
"deer", or the fact that Hungarian "állat" a few
centuries ago had a more general meaning, something like
"entity" or "being") and that these developments might
be connected to cultural changes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">--<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">Univ.Prof.
Dr. Johanna Laakso<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">Universität
Wien, Institut für Europäische und
Vergleichende Sprach- und
Literaturwissenschaft (EVSL)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">Abteilung
Finno-Ugristik<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">Campus
AAKH Spitalgasse 2-4 Hof 7<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">A-1090
Wien<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif"><a
href="mailto:johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at"
moz-do-not-send="true">johanna.laakso@univie.ac.at</a>
•
<a
href="http://homepage.univie.ac.at/Johanna.Laakso/"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://homepage.univie.ac.at/Johanna.Laakso/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">Project
ELDIA:
<a href="http://www.eldia-project.org/"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.eldia-project.org/</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hedvig Skirgård <<a
href="mailto:hedvig.skirgard@gmail.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">hedvig.skirgard@gmail.com</a>>
kirjoitti 15.10.2018 kello 13.55:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear everyone, <o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Queries like one David
posed are often improved via more systematic
data collection using a form. I suggested
Google Forms because it's one of the most user
friendly and familiar interfaces out there
where David could set up a questionnaire and
collect data on people's usage of words in
their respective language, and also get
systematic data on exactly what language they
speaks.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I'm not going to set this
up for anyone else or compile the information
in this thread, I'm merely suggesting that it
a Google Form may be a productive way of going
about this. <br clear="all">
<o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Med
vänliga
hälsningar,</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Hedvig
Skirgård</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">PhD
Candidate</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">The
Wellsprings of
Linguistic
Diversity</span><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">ARC
Centre of
Excellence for
the Dynamics
of Language</span><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">School
of Culture,
History and
Language<br>
College of
Asia and the
Pacific</span><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">The
Australian
National University</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#666666"><a
href="https://sites.google.com/site/hedvigskirgard/" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">Website</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">P.S. If
you have
multiple email
addresses, I
kindly ask you
to just use
one with
corresponding
with me. Email
threads and
invites to get
confusing
otherwise. I
will only
email you from
my gmail, even
if other email
addresses
re-direct
emails to them
to my gmail
(ANU etc).</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Den mån 15 okt. 2018 kl
22:50 skrev Assibi Apatewon Amidu <<a
href="mailto:assibi.amidu@ntnu.no"
moz-do-not-send="true">assibi.amidu@ntnu.no</a>>:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<blockquote style="border:none;border-left:solid
#CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm
6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0cm">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear Hedvig, <o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am not myself into
google, twitter, facebook, etc. beyond
pressing 'like' buttons. If you wish to
put the information on these platforms,
too, please, do so, as long it does not
distract from David's exploration.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Best regards,<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Assibi<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 15. okt. 2018,
at 13:21, Hedvig Skirgård <<a
href="mailto:hedvig.skirgard@gmail.com"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">hedvig.skirgard@gmail.com</a>><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<blockquote
style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">May I suggest a
google form to be spread around
facebook and twitter etc?<br
clear="all">
<o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Med
vänliga
hälsningar,</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Hedvig
Skirgård</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">PhD
Candidate</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">The
Wellsprings of
Linguistic
Diversity</span><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">ARC
Centre of
Excellence for
the Dynamics
of Language</span><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">School
of Culture,
History and
Language<br>
College of
Asia and the
Pacific</span><span
style="font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">The
Australian
National University</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#666666"><a
href="https://sites.google.com/site/hedvigskirgard/" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">Website</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">P.S. If
you have
multiple email
addresses, I
kindly ask you
to just use
one with
corresponding
with me. Email
threads and
invites to get
confusing
otherwise. I
will only
email you from
my gmail, even
if other email
addresses
re-direct
emails to them
to my gmail
(ANU etc).</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Den mån 15 okt.
2018 kl 21:31 skrev Assibi
Apatewon Amidu <<a
href="mailto:assibi.amidu@ntnu.no"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">assibi.amidu@ntnu.no</a>>:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="border:none;border-left:solid
#CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm
6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0cm">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dear David
and all, <o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Your
exploration is very educative.
I cannot claim to be able to
answer your questions, but
here is a take from Kiswahili.
In Kiswahili, the
categorization is as follows:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. <i>Mtu/Watu</i>
'being/s' (Classes 1/2 M/WA)
includes human and other
animates. They are
superordniate terms which
subsume (2-3).<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. <i>Mnyama/Wanyama</i>
'animal/s, ±live' (Classes 1/2
M/WA) , (historically
undifferentiated as<i>
nyama/nyama</i> of classes
9/10, N/N up to ends of the
19th century) which subsume
(3), hence hypernym to (3).<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. <i>Mdudu/Wadudu</i>
'insect/s, crawler/s,
parasite/s, and others,
±live' (Classes 1/2 M/WA).<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">This gives
us three generic terms for
referring to humans, animal,
insects and other species all
the way to microbes. (2-3) are
co-hyponyms of (1). These are
not sharp mutually exclusive
categories. Thus, centipede,
scorpion, etc. are also types
of (3), and human, and other
animals, e.g. hippo, can be
described as <i>
wadudu</i>, or better still
with the augmentative <i>dudu/madudu</i>,
depending on the communication
intention of the speaker, e,g,
how monstrous they perceive
the entity. Returning to your
list of words, they would fall
under (1-2), but specifically
under (2) in everyday usage.
For a quick, not too detailed,
discussion, kindly look at
chapter 2 of<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Amidu, A.
A. (2007). <i>Semantic
Assignement Rules in
Kiswahili Bantu Classes</i>. Köln: Rüdiger
Köppe Verlag. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Best
wishes,<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Assibi<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On 14.
okt. 2018, at 08:11, David
Gil <<a
href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<blockquote
style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Randy,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">So
which of the items in
(1-8) are covered by
Chinese
<i>dòngwù</i> (<span
style="font-family:"MS
Gothic"">動物</span>),
‘moving thing’?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">David<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On
14/10/2018 03:59,
Randy LaPolla wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi
David, <o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">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. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">The
word in Chinese that
we translate as
‘animal’ is <i>dòngwù</i>
(<span
style="font-family:"MS
Gothic"">動物</span>),
‘moving thing’. <o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Randy<o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sent
from my iPhone<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br>
On 14 Oct 2018, at
12:33 AM, David
Gil <<a
href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de"
target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">Dear
all,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
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><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
lang="EN-US"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">Here
are examples
of the things
that English
"animal"
refers to:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
lang="EN-US"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">1.
dog, kangaroo,
lizard, frog
...</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">2.
eagle,
sparrow,
chicken, bat
...</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">3.
bee, scorpion,
spider,
centipede ...</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">4.
crab, shrimp
...</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">5.
worm, leech
...</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">6.
starfish,
jellyfish,
squid, octopus
...</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">7.
oyster, clam
...</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">8.
sponge (?) ...</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
lang="EN-US"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
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.
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). (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><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
lang="EN-US"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">Some
words of
background: 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). We are
calling this
category
"higher
animals". 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. A
challenge that
we face is
that, in the
(few)
languages that
we are
familiar with,
there is no
simple word
for higher
animals. But
we are hoping
that other
languages
might have
such a word.
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><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
lang="EN-US"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">I
look forward
to your
responses.
Thanks,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><span
lang="EN-US"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
lang="EN-US">David</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<pre>-- <o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>David Gil<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
<pre>Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
<pre>Email: <a href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">gil@shh.mpg.de</a><o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Office Phone (Germany): +49-3641686834<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81281162816<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
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</blockquote>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<pre>-- <o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>David Gil<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
<pre>Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
<pre>Email: <a href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">gil@shh.mpg.de</a><o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Office Phone (Germany): +49-3641686834<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81281162816<o:p></o:p></pre>
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<pre>-- <o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>David Gil<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
<pre>Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
<pre>Email: <a href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de" moz-do-not-send="true">gil@shh.mpg.de</a><o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Office Phone (Germany): +49-3641686834<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre>Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81281162816<o:p></o:p></pre>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
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<pre>Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History<o:p></o:p></pre>
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