This study is a cross-linguistic survey of terms for the ‘unique beginner’, defined as the highest and most inclusive rank in an ethnozoological taxonomy. Drawing on data from a world-wide sample of 149 languages, I show that terms corresponding to this category are often formally complex or characterized by polysemy. In addition, languages often lack a term for the unique beginner category altogether, confirming claims to this effect in the literature. Furthermore, I point out that the status of the unique beginner category and its lexical structure, in languages which have such a category, are positively correlated with mode of subsistence. Small-scale societies relying on hunting and/or gathering as the main mode of subsistence are likely to lack a term for the unique beginner, while those practicing advanced agriculture are the most likely to have a simplex unique beginner term not characterized by polysemy.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 September 2010
Terms for the Unique Beginner: Cross-Linguistic and Cross-Cultural Perspectives
Matthias Urban
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
It is not available for individual sale.
This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
It is not available for individual sale.
Journal of Ethnobiology
Vol. 30 • No. 2
Fall/Winter 2010
Vol. 30 • No. 2
Fall/Winter 2010
ethnozoology
lexicon
societal scale
unique beginner