This book investigates the semantics of spatial
deixis (e.g., this and that) from a cross-linguistic
point of view. The objectives are 1) to reveal
parameters which determine spatial deictic usage, 2)
to compare parameters among languages, and 3) to
investigate parameter dominance. The author looked
into more than 400 languages and clarified parameters
that have not been fully understood in previous
studies. Parameters listed in this book provide an
overview of the meanings of spatial deixis in
languages of the world. The penetrating analyses of
spatial deixis provide the better understanding of
interaction between perception and language.
------------------------------------------------
This work is a superb analysis of the overall system
for spatial deixis across languages. It arrays within
a definitive framework the conceptual parameters
criterial to the distinctions marked by spatially
deictic forms. It includes both typological and
universal findings based on both qualitative and
quantitative elicitation procedures.---Leonard Talmy
deixis (e.g., this and that) from a cross-linguistic
point of view. The objectives are 1) to reveal
parameters which determine spatial deictic usage, 2)
to compare parameters among languages, and 3) to
investigate parameter dominance. The author looked
into more than 400 languages and clarified parameters
that have not been fully understood in previous
studies. Parameters listed in this book provide an
overview of the meanings of spatial deixis in
languages of the world. The penetrating analyses of
spatial deixis provide the better understanding of
interaction between perception and language.
------------------------------------------------
This work is a superb analysis of the overall system
for spatial deixis across languages. It arrays within
a definitive framework the conceptual parameters
criterial to the distinctions marked by spatially
deictic forms. It includes both typological and
universal findings based on both qualitative and
quantitative elicitation procedures.---Leonard Talmy