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Coventry KR, Gudde HB, Diessel H, Collier J, Guijarro-Fuentes P, Vulchanova M, Vulchanov V, Todisco E, Reile M, Breunesse M, Plado H, Bohnemeyer J, Bsili R, Caldano M, Dekova R, Donelson K, Forker D, Park Y, Pathak LS, Peeters D, Pizzuto G, Serhan B, Apse L, Hesse F, Hoang L, Hoang P, Igari Y, Kapiley K, Haupt-Khutsishvili T, Kolding S, Priiki K, Mačiukaitytė I, Mohite V, Nahkola T, Tsoi SY, Williams S, Yasuda S, Cangelosi A, Duñabeitia JA, Mishra RK, Rocca R, Šķilters J, Wallentin M, Žilinskaitė-Šinkūnienė E, Incel OD. Spatial communication systems across languages reflect universal action constraints. Nat Hum Behav 2023; 7:2099-2110. [PMID: 37904020 PMCID: PMC10730392 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01697-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/01/2023]
Abstract
The extent to which languages share properties reflecting the non-linguistic constraints of the speakers who speak them is key to the debate regarding the relationship between language and cognition. A critical case is spatial communication, where it has been argued that semantic universals should exist, if anywhere. Here, using an experimental paradigm able to separate variation within a language from variation between languages, we tested the use of spatial demonstratives-the most fundamental and frequent spatial terms across languages. In n = 874 speakers across 29 languages, we show that speakers of all tested languages use spatial demonstratives as a function of being able to reach or act on an object being referred to. In some languages, the position of the addressee is also relevant in selecting between demonstrative forms. Commonalities and differences across languages in spatial communication can be understood in terms of universal constraints on action shaping spatial language and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Harmen B Gudde
- School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
- Helmholtz Institute, Department of Experimental Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, Delmenhorst, Germany
| | - Holger Diessel
- Department of English, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
| | | | - Pedro Guijarro-Fuentes
- Department of Spanish, Modern and Classic Philology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain
| | - Mila Vulchanova
- Language Acquisition and Language Processing Lab, Department of Language and Literature, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Valentin Vulchanov
- Language Acquisition and Language Processing Lab, Department of Language and Literature, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Emanuela Todisco
- Department of Spanish, Modern and Classic Philology, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain
- Department of Spanish Language, Linguistics and Literature Theory, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - Maria Reile
- Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Merlijn Breunesse
- Centre for the Arts in Society, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Helen Plado
- Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
- Võro Institute, Võru, Estonia
| | | | - Raed Bsili
- Danieli Telerobot Srl, Genoa, Italy
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Genoa, Italy
| | - Michela Caldano
- School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Rositsa Dekova
- Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
| | | | - Diana Forker
- Department of Slavonic Languages and Caucasus Studies, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Yesol Park
- Cognitive Science, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Lekhnath Sharma Pathak
- Cognitive Science and Psycholinguistics Lab, Central Department of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
- Centre for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India
| | - David Peeters
- Department of Communication and Cognition, TiCC, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands
- Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | | | - Baris Serhan
- Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Linda Apse
- Laboratory for Perceptual and Cognitive Systems, Faculty of Computing, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
| | - Florian Hesse
- Department of German, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Linh Hoang
- Department of English, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Phuong Hoang
- Department of English, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Yoko Igari
- School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Keerthana Kapiley
- Centre for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India
| | - Tamar Haupt-Khutsishvili
- Department of Slavonic Languages and Caucasus Studies, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Sara Kolding
- School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Katri Priiki
- School of Languages and Translation Studies, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Ieva Mačiukaitytė
- Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Baltic, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Vaisnavi Mohite
- Centre for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India
| | - Tiina Nahkola
- Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Sum Yi Tsoi
- School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Stefan Williams
- Language Acquisition and Language Processing Lab, Department of Language and Literature, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Shunei Yasuda
- School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Angelo Cangelosi
- Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Jon Andoni Duñabeitia
- Centro de Investigación Nebrija en Cognición, Universidad Antonio de Nebrija, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Languages and Culture, Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Ramesh Kumar Mishra
- Centre for Neural and Cognitive Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India
| | - Roberta Rocca
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Centre for Humanities Computing, Department of Culture, Cognition and Computation, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jurģis Šķilters
- Laboratory for Perceptual and Cognitive Systems, Faculty of Computing, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
| | - Mikkel Wallentin
- School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Centre of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | | - Ozlem Durmaz Incel
- Department of Computer Engineering, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey
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