Olivier Le Guen

No Metaphorical Timeline in Gesture and Cognition Among Yucatec Mayas

In numerous languages, space provides a productive domain for the expression of time. This paper examines how time-to-space mapping is realized in Yucatec Maya. At the linguistic level, Yucatec Maya has numerous resources to express deictic time, whereas expression of sequential time is highly constrained. Specifically, in gesture, we do not find any metaphorical oriented timeline, but only an opposition between “current time” (mapped on the “here” space) and “remote time” (mapped on the “remote/distant space”). Additionally, past and future are not contrasted. Sequential or deictic time in language and gesture are not conceived as unfolding along a metaphorical oriented line (e.g., left-right or front-back) but as a succession of completed events not spatially organized. Interestingly, although Yucatec Maya speakers preferentially use a geocentric spatial frame of reference (FoR), especially visible in their use of gesture, time is not mapped onto a geocentric axis (e.g., east-west). We argue that, instead of providing a source for time mapping, the use of a spatial geocentric FoR in Yucatec Maya seems to inhibit it. The Yucatec Maya expression of time in language and gesture fits the more general cultural conception of time as cyclic. Experimental results confirmed, to some extent, this non-linear, non-directional conception of time in Yucatec Maya.

Speech and Gesture in Spatial Language and Cognition Among the Yucatec Mayas

In previous analyses of the influence of language on cognition, speech has been the main channel examined. In studies conducted among Yucatec Mayas, efforts to determine the preferred frame of reference in use in this community have failed to reach an agreement (Bohnemeyer & Stolz, 2006; Levinson, 2003 vs. Le Guen, 2006, 2009). This paper argues for a multimodal analysis of language that encompasses gesture as well as speech, and shows that the preferred frame of reference in Yucatec Maya is only detectable through the analysis of co-speech gesture and not through speech alone. A series of experiments compares knowledge of the semantics of spatial terms, performance on nonlinguistic tasks and gestures produced by men and women. The results show a striking gender difference in the knowledge of the semantics of spatial terms, but an equal preference for a geocentric frame of reference in nonverbal tasks. In a localization task, participants used a variety of strategies in their speech, but they all exhibited a systematic preference for a geocentric frame of reference in their gestures.

A garden experiment revisited: inter‐generational change in environmental perception and management of the Maya Lowlands, Guatemala

This study reports ethnographic and experimental analyses of inter-generational changes in native Itza’ Maya and immigrant Ladino populations of Guatemala’s Peten rainforest concerning understanding of ecological relationships between plants, animals, and humans, and the perceived role of forest spirits in sustaining these relationships. We find dramatic changes in understanding ecological relationships and the perceived role of forest spirits. Itza’ Maya conceptions of forest spirits (arux) are now more often confounded with Ladino spirits (duendes), with Itza’ spirits no longer reliably serving as forest guardians. These changes correlate with a shift in personal values regarding the forest, away from concern with ecologically central trees and towards monetary incentives. More generally, we describe how economic, demographic, and social changes relate to the loss of a system of beliefs and behaviours that once promoted sustainable agro-forestry practices. These changes coincide with open access to common pool resources. In this study we describe an ongoing research project on how different groups of agro-foresters in the lowland rainforest of Guatemala deal with a resource dilemma involving the forest itself. Using ethnographic and experimental methods we describe inter-generational changes in Itza’ Maya and Ladino understandings of ecological relationships between plants, animals, and humans, and the perceived role of forest spirits in sustaining these relationships. While dealing with the conception of environment, this study also contributes to the perennial debate of nature versus culture. The subfield of ecological anthropology or French anthropologie de la nature is mainly interested in understanding the concept of nature as well as people’s relation to nature. In recent years, ecological anthropology has been especially concerned theoretically and practically with environment policies, bs_bs_banner

Making sense of (exceptional) causal relations. A cross-cultural and cross-linguistic study

In order to make sense of the world, humans tend to see causation almost everywhere. Although most causal relations may seem straightforward, they are not always construed in the same way cross-culturally. In this study, we investigate concepts of “chance,” “coincidence,” or “randomness” that refer to assumed relations between intention, action, and outcome in situations, and we ask how people from different cultures make sense of such non-law-like connections. Based on a framework proposed by Alicke (2000), we administered a task that aims to be a neutral tool for investigating causal construals cross-culturally and cross-linguistically. Members of four different cultural groups, rural Mayan Yucatec and Tseltal speakers from Mexico and urban students from Mexico and Germany, were presented with a set of scenarios involving various types of causal and non-causal relations and were asked to explain the described events. Three links varied as to whether they were present or not in the scenarios: Intention-to-Action, Action-to-Outcome, and Intention-to-Outcome. Our results show that causality is recognized in all four cultural groups. However, how causality and especially non-law-like relations are interpreted depends on the type of links, the cultural background and the language used. In all three groups, Action-to-Outcome is the decisive link for recognizing causality. Despite the fact that the two Mayan groups share similar cultural backgrounds, they display different ideologies regarding concepts of non-law-like relations. The data suggests that the concept of “chance” is not universal, but seems to be an explanation that only some cultural groups draw on to make sense of specific situations. Of particular importance is the existence of linguistic concepts in each language that trigger ideas of causality in the responses from each cultural group.

La importancia de la gestualidad en el estudio del maya yucateco actual.

For centuries, linguistic description has been somehow limited because it was not possible to record audio and video. For this reason, the intrinsic multimodal nature of human language has been left out, putting aside various types of information both prosodic and visual. This work analyzes the ways in which gestures complement speech, taking into account several levels of analysis: pragmatic, semantic and syntactic; but also how some gestures can be considered linguistic signs. In order to exemplify the argumentation, I will consider the Yucatec Maya language using examples of spontaneous productions. Although certain processes presented in this work are specific to Yucatec Maya, most can be found in various languages. This paper first presents a definition of language, speech and gestures, and how one can study the way in which speech and gestures are integrated in a composite utterance. Subsequently, I analyze examples of different types of gestures in various areas of communication in Yucatec Maya, such as deictic gestures, the use of expressive gestures, metaphors and the integration of gestures at the pragmatic level. Finally, I explain how gestures can become linguistic signs in Yucatec Maya.

Cognitive Anthropological Fieldwork

In their introduction, Beller et al. point to important issues regarding the problematic interaction of anthropology and cognitive sciences (CS). I address some of these issues in stressing first some limitations of the current state of the fields of anthropology and CS. In the second half of this article, using data from studies I have been conducting among the Yucatec Mayas (Mexico), I present some concrete cases where anthropological and CS methods and approaches are complementary. Finally, I propose some solutions to find common ground and ways to improve cross-disciplinary collaboration.