26 January - Space and Language
Karen Emmorey
The Salk Institute, California
Language and Space
How do we talk about what we see? To linguistically represent and
encode the visual world requires a crucial interface between language
and spatial cognition. Most spoken languages encode spatial relations
with prepositions (on, under) or locative suffixes (-lla, a case
ending roughly meaning 'on' in Finnish). In contrast, signed
languages convey spatial information using "classifier" constructions
in which spatial relations are expressed by where the hands are placed
in signing space or with respect to the body. There are no grammatical
elements specifying spatial relations; rather, there is a schematic
and isomorphic mapping between the location of the hands in signing
space and the location of objects in real or imagined space. I will
discuss the ramifications of this spatialized form of language for a)
how speakers and signers talk about space, b) for how experience with
sign language can enhance non-linguistic spatial cognitive abilities,
and c) for the neural organization of signed and spoken languages.
This lecture will start at 5.30 p.m. in The Lady Mitchell Hall,
Sidgwick Avenue. An adjacent overflow theatre is provided with live TV
coverage. Each lecture is typically attended by 600 people, and it is advisable
to arrive around half an hour early to ensure a place.
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