Foggy connections, cloudy frontiers: On the (non-)adaptation of lexical structures.

ABSTRACT: While research on possible adaptive processes in language history has recently centered mostly on phonological variables, here, I return the focus on the lexicon in two different ways. First, I take up the familiar theme of the responsiveness of language structure to the local conditions at different elevations of the earth's surface by exploring further the idea that language communities at high altitudes may tend not to distinguish lexically, as, e.g., English does, between "cloud" and "fog." Analyses of a global dataset of languages as well as in-depth study of the languages of the Central Andes are consistent in showing a wide spread of colexification of "cloud" and "fog" across elevations, whereas distinguishing languages tend more to be spoken at lower elevations. Statistically, ther

SUBMITTER: Urban M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10014924 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature