Universal and cultural factors shape body part vocabularies.
Body parts
Cross-linguistic comparison
Semantics
Journal
Scientific reports
ISSN: 2045-2322
Titre abrégé: Sci Rep
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101563288
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
07 May 2024
07 May 2024
Historique:
received:
30
12
2023
accepted:
02
05
2024
medline:
8
5
2024
pubmed:
8
5
2024
entrez:
7
5
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Every human has a body. Yet, languages differ in how they divide the body into parts to name them. While universal naming strategies exist, there is also variation in the vocabularies of body parts across languages. In this study, we investigate the similarities and differences in naming two separate body parts with one word, i.e., colexifications. We use a computational approach to create networks of body part vocabularies across languages. The analyses focus on body part networks in large language families, on perceptual features that lead to colexifications of body parts, and on a comparison of network structures in different semantic domains. Our results show that adjacent body parts are colexified frequently. However, preferences for perceptual features such as shape and function lead to variations in body part vocabularies. In addition, body part colexification networks are less varied across language families than networks in the semantic domains of emotion and colour. The study presents the first large-scale comparison of body part vocabularies in 1,028 language varieties and provides important insights into the variability of a universal human domain.
Identifiants
pubmed: 38714717
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-61140-0
pii: 10.1038/s41598-024-61140-0
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
10486Subventions
Organisme : European Research Council
ID : 101044282
Pays : International
Informations de copyright
© 2024. The Author(s).
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