skip to main content

Forests: the cross-linguistic perspective

Burenhult, Niclas ; Hill, Clair ; Huber, Juliette ; van Putten, Saskia ; Rybka, Konrad ; San Roque, Lila

Geographica Helvetica, 2017-12, Vol.72 (4), p.455-464 [Periódico revisado por pares]

Gottingen: Copernicus GmbH

Texto completo disponível

Citações Citado por
  • Título:
    Forests: the cross-linguistic perspective
  • Autor: Burenhult, Niclas ; Hill, Clair ; Huber, Juliette ; van Putten, Saskia ; Rybka, Konrad ; San Roque, Lila
  • Assuntos: Analysis ; Forests ; Forests and forestry ; General Language Studies and Linguistics ; Humaniora och konst ; Humanities ; Jämförande språkvetenskap och allmän lingvistik ; Language ; Languages and Literature ; Linguistics ; Semantics ; Språk och litteratur ; Trees ; Vegetation ; Wood
  • É parte de: Geographica Helvetica, 2017-12, Vol.72 (4), p.455-464
  • Descrição: Do all humans perceive, think, and talk about tree cover (forests) in more or less the same way? International forestry programs frequently seem to operate on the assumption that they do. However, recent advances in the language sciences show that languages vary greatly as to how the landscape domain is lexicalized and grammaticalized. Different languages segment and label the large-scale environment and its features according to astonishingly different semantic principles, often in tandem with highly culture-specific practices and ideologies. Presumed basic concepts like mountain, valley, and river cannot in fact be straightforwardly translated across languages. In this paper we describe, compare, and evaluate some of the semantic diversity observed in relation to forests. We do so on the basis of first-hand linguistic field data from a global sample of indigenous categorization systems as they are manifested in the following languages: Avatime (Ghana), Duna (Papua New Guinea), Jahai (Malay Peninsula), Lokono (the Guianas), Makalero (East Timor), and Umpila/Kuuku Ya'u (Cape York Peninsula). We show that basic linguistic categories relating to tree cover vary considerably in their principles of semantic encoding across languages, and that forest is a challenging category from the point of view of intercultural translatability. This has consequences for current global policies and programs aimed at standardizing forest definitions and measurements. It calls for greater attention to categorial diversity in designing and implementing such agendas, and for receptiveness to and understanding of local indigenous classification systems in communicating those agendas on the ground.
  • Editor: Gottingen: Copernicus GmbH
  • Idioma: Inglês;Francês;Alemão;Italiano

Buscando em bases de dados remotas. Favor aguardar.