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Description:
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Spatial language - that is, the way languages structure the spatial domain
- is an important area of current research, offering new insights into one
of the most central areas of human cognition. In this pioneering
collection, a team of leading scholars review the spatial domain across a
wide variety of languages. Contrary to existing assumptions, they show that
there is great variation in the way space is conceptually structured across
languages, thus substantiating the controversial question of how far the
foundations of human cognition are innate. Grammars of Space is a
supplement to the psychological information provided in its companion
volume, Space in Language and Cognition. It represents a new kind of work
in linguistics, 'Semantic Typology', which asks what are the semantic
parameters used to structure particular semantic fields. Comprehensive and
informative, it will be essential reading for those working on comparative
linguistics, spatial cognition, and the interface between them.
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