51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ

Course Description

Summary

The physical space around us may seem to be universal, but differences in how people interact with/in their environment (e.g. via settlement patterns, architecture, or agriculture) have long been topics of scholarly inquiry. This course continues this legacy by studying how humans perceive, conceptualize, and describe spatial relationships and their surrounds through the lens of language. We will examine linguistic structures used to convey spatial information in languages across the globe (consider English words like ‘left,’ ‘north,’ ‘down,’ or ‘inside’), the evidence for the cognitive processes that are involved in the use of this spatial language, and the cultural variation therein. By studying the language used to situate objects in space, categorize landscape features, and name places, we will gain an understanding of how language might shape our perception of space and how spatial cognition may influence linguistic expression.