Lectures by Professor Asifa Majid on 'New Perspectives in Semantic Typology'

On March 31 - April 1 a series of lectures by Asifa Majid, Professor at the Radboud University Nijmegen will take place at HSE. The event is organised by HSE School of Linguistics. 

Working language: English

Address: 21/4 Staraya Basmannaya Ulitsa, Room 501

Everyone interested is welcome. 

New perspectives in semantic typology 

Language plays a dual role – it has to interface with the mind and with society. Nowhere is this more evident than in the semantic systems of languages. To date we have little understanding of which aspects of our semantic systems reflect fundamental properties of cognition, which fit to specific cultural practices (and which are open to yet other influences). So, on the one hand, we have Chomsky (2000, p.120) declaring: “The linkage of concept and sound can be acquired on minimal evidence... the possible sounds are narrowly constrained, and the concepts may be virtually fixed.” On the other hand, linguistic anthropologist point to parts of the lexicon specifically adapted to cultural practices. For example, many pastoralist societies of East Africa have impressively large lexicons referring to cattle (Evans-Pritchard, 1934; Turton, 1980); sea-faring people reflect their cultural preoccupation in terminology for geographical features (Boas, 1934; Burenhult & Levinson, 2008), etc. Part of the disagreement in the literature reflects differential foci. Researchers are not always discussing the same phenomena. In order to better understand the roles of culture and cognition on semantics we need systematic approaches to test a wide variety of domains so we can take stock of how and where cognition and culture operate to shape semantic categories. In these lectures, I will present the results of several empirical studies, across a range of semantic domains, investigating semantic systems across languages. This new perspective in semantic typology attempts to bridge across disciplines by combining the methodological rigor of linguistic typology and experimental psycholinguistics, while remaining sensitive to local ethnographic contexts.

March 31, 18.10 - 19.30

Lecture 1: General introduction

Provides the theoretical background to semantic typology from linguistics, psychology, and anthropology. Introduces the notion of a semantic domain. Introduces systematic stimulus-based elicitation studies in the field. Covers the methodological principles and challenges to semantic typology.

March 31, 19.40 - 21.00

Lecture 2: The language of perception

Since Berlin & Kay (1969), researchers have been aware of both variation (different languages have different numbers of colour terms) and regularity in the semantic categories of colour (colour terms appear in languages in a specific order). Does this model hold up to modern-day scrutiny? And how well does it apply to other perceptual domains, like sound and smell?

April 1, 18.10 - 19.30

Lecture 3: The body

The body is often thought to be constrained by cognition such that it would show substantial variability. Here we will consider the evidence for cultural relativity, as well as the specific cognitive constraints at play. I will also introduce new statistical methods that allow us to test what cultural or environmental factors might shape the lexicon for the body across languages.

April 1, 19.40 - 21.00

Lecture 4: Event semantics

Events are considered ephemeral and therefore open to more relativity across languages than perception, for example. Are there, nevertheless, cognitive constraints at play in this domain? Results from human locomotion, cutting and breaking, and placement events will be considered.