[Lingtyp] Traditional view of language and grammar in indigenous societies

[Juergen Bohnemeyer]

Dear Christian – Good point! I would argue that if the language has a proper name that falls into a lexical category the prototype of which is the lexicalization of reference to people, animals, and objects, then we are probably still looking at a case of objectification. All the same, if the name of the language is primarily used adverbially, I would hypothesize that that weakens the objectivization effect, i.e., the association with an object schema in the speakers’ minds. – Best – Juergen

Juergen Bohnemeyer (He/Him)
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University at Buffalo

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From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of Christian Lehmann via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Date: Friday, July 4, 2025 at 03:07
To: lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
Subject: Re: [Lingtyp] Traditional view of language and grammar in indigenous societies
Dear Jürgen,

just one reminder concerning your question about proper names for languages and your idea "that every such act involves an implicit objectification of the languages involved." Here is a quote from Eugenio Coseriu: "Die Sprache ist dem Sprechen adverbial." (Not sure whether this is deliberately arcane or is the skillful use of a second language by a linguist.) With this, he refers to expressions like Latin Graece loqui 'to speak Greek', where Graece is the adverb of the adjective Graecus, thus 'the Greek way'. This contrasts with the German and English expressions, which make it appear that the language functions as an object of one's speaking. No, says Coseriu, a language is a way of speaking, for instance, speaking like the Greeks do.

Upshot: Maybe the ability of distinguishing ways of speaking does not presuppose the reification of the language.

Best, Christian
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