[Lingtyp] Languages with connotations for 'left' and 'right'

[Horia Calugareanu]

Dear all,

Thanks so much for all your responses.
I am sorry for not explaining more of the context of the research topic. I
am looking precisely at which means of explanation is more suitable for the
left-right connotation phenomenon.

The effect seems to be indeed statistically more present at the linguistic
level in areas of influence of the Abrahamic religions, as Jürgen
Bohnemeyer suggested. However, superstitions and traditional religions in
most cultures also have some sort of bias against the left hand, with
right-handers forming an overwhelming majority in all recorded cultures,
and amounting to 90% around the world, as Alec Coupe pointed out. As
suggested by most of our colleagues, the distinction is present in many
places with no historical links to Christianity or Islam (Northern
Australia, the Amazon, Africa, South-East Asia), so I tend to believe the
historical/regional explanation must be ruled out in favour of the
cognitive and anthropological ones.

In studies on handedness across cultures, Hertz (1909) and McManus (2002)
have suggested that the right-left binary has also often correlated to
other binaries such as life-death, sacred-profane, male-female,
healthy-ill, heavens-earth etc.

Hertz, Robert, La preeminence de la main droite. 1909; English translation:
Needham, Rodney and Claudia. Death and the Right Hand. 1960.
McManus, Chris, Right Hand, Left Hand: The Origins of Asymmetry in Brains,
Bodies, Atoms and Cultures. 2002

Best wishes,
Horia
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