ABSTRACT

Australian Indigenous languages are widely cited as depending overwhelmingly on abstract cardinal terms for spatial reference. However, considerable under-recognized diversity exists, with systems invoking aspects of local topography or egocentric projections.

The first step toward an empirically grounded understanding of the wider implications of Australian spatial reference systems is to establish what components of spatial systems actually occur in what combinations across the continent. This article examines the spatial systems of five Australian languages to test hypotheses about the role of the environment in shaping linguistic representations of space, revealing under-recognized aspects of Australian systems, including the use of egocentric (“relative”) reference frame but only on the sagittal axis; a nearside-farside system; and multiple systems invoking diverse salient environmental features.

摘要

澳大利亚土著语言被广泛引用为主要依赖于抽象的基本术语作为空间参考。然而，存在相当多的未被充分认识的多样性，系统会调用当地地形或以自我为中心的预测方面。

对澳大利亚空间参考系统的更广泛影响进行基于经验的理解的第一步是确定空间系统的哪些组成部分实际出现在整个大陆的哪些组合中。本文研究了五种澳大利亚语言的空间系统，以检验关于环境在塑造空间语言表征中的作用的假设，揭示了澳大利亚系统未被充分认识的方面，包括使用以自我为中心（“相对”）的参考框架，但仅限于矢状轴；近侧系统；和多个系统调用不同的显着环境特征。