From Patterns in Language to Patterns in Thought

Relativity Realized Across the Americas

Bibliographic Data

ID4560342
AuthorsCaleb Everett (0000-0002-5889-3935, University of Miami, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume83
Issue1
Pages173-201
Publication date2017-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of American Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7071 • E-ISSN: 1545-7001
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/689305
OpenAlexW2564133926
LanguageEN
References cited58

Among the many results Boas envisioned for the documentation of American indigenous languages was a clearer delineation of some fundamental facets of human psychology. This paper examines the subsequent realization of that particular vision, outlining some of the ways in which research with speakers of American languages has helped illuminate human cognition. The focus is on key findings that offer support for linguistic relativity, the influence of linguistic disparities on thought evident in non-linguistic behavior. These findings relate to spatial, temporal, and numerical cognition. The relevant data surveyed offer compelling evidence that some cross-linguistic differences impact cognitive habits. A pivotal point is underscored throughout the paper: Despite the crossfield nature of the findings on this topic, those findings are ultimately contingent on the research of linguistic fieldworkers who have meticulously described typologically distinct languages. Through their research, the Boasian vision for psychological insights via the description of American languages has been realized

Cognition · Cognitive science · Focus (optics · Indigenous · Linguistic relativity · Linguistics · Point (geometry · Realization (probability · Sociology · Categorization, perception, and language · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Multisensory perception and integration · Psychology