Yun Hongoak, Choi Soonja
Department of English Language and Literature, Jeju National University.
Department of Linguistics, Comparative Psycholinguistics Research Group, University of Vienna.
Cogn Sci. 2018 May 22. doi: 10.1111/cogs.12622.
This study has two goals. First, we present much-needed empirical linguistic data and systematic analyses on the spatial semantic systems in English and Korean, two languages that have been extensively compared to date in the debate on spatial language and spatial cognition. We conduct our linguistic investigation comprehensively, encompassing the domains of tight- and loose-fit as well as containment and support relations. The current analysis reveals both cross-linguistic commonalities and differences: From a common set of spatial features, each language highlights a subset of those features for its principal categorization, and those primary features are importantly different between English and Korean: English speakers categorize events predominantly by containment and support relations (and do so with prepositions), whereas Korean speakers categorize them by tight-fit and loose-fit relations (and do so with verbs), with a further distinction of containment and support within the loose-fit relation. The analysis also shows that the tight-fit domain is more cross-linguistically diverse in categorization than is the loose-fit domain. Second, we test the language data against the nonlinguistic categorization results reported in Choi and Hattrup (2012). The results show a remarkable degree of convergence between the patterns predicted from the current linguistic analysis and those found in C&H's nonlinguistic study and thus provide empirical and strong evidence for an influence of language on nonlinguistic spatial cognition. At the same time, the study reveals areas where the two systems closely interact with each other as well as those where one is independent from the other. Taking both parts of the study together, we identify the specific roles that language and spatial perception/cognition play in spatial categorization.
本研究有两个目标。其一，我们提供了急需的实证语言数据，并对英语和韩语的空间语义系统进行了系统分析。在关于空间语言和空间认知的辩论中，这两种语言是迄今为止被广泛比较的对象。我们全面开展语言调查，涵盖了紧配合与松配合以及包容和支撑关系等领域。当前的分析揭示了跨语言的共性和差异：从一组共同的空间特征出发，每种语言都突出其中一部分特征用于主要分类，而英语和韩语的主要特征存在重要差异：说英语者主要通过包容和支撑关系（借助介词）对事件进行分类，而说韩语者则通过紧配合和松配合关系（借助动词）进行分类，并且在松配合关系中对包容和支撑有进一步区分。分析还表明，在分类方面，紧配合领域比松配合领域在跨语言上更加多样。其二，我们根据Choi和Hattrup（2012）报告的非语言分类结果来检验语言数据。结果显示，当前语言分析预测的模式与C&H的非语言研究中发现的模式之间存在显著程度的趋同，从而为语言对非语言空间认知的影响提供了实证且有力的证据。同时，该研究揭示了两个系统相互紧密作用的领域以及一个系统独立于另一个系统的领域。综合研究的两个部分，我们确定了语言和空间感知/认知在空间分类中所起的具体作用。
