The Language-Specificity of Conceptual Structure: Taking Stock

摘要

It is argued that the absence of strong absolute universals in semantic categorization and the simultaneous existence of striking crosslinguistic similarities in semantic categories is precisely what one should expect on a view of language as a 'bio-cultural hybrid' (Evans and Levinson 2009). The discussion then moves on to address the theory of the mind and the language-cognition interface developed in Jackendoff (1997, 2002). Following up on Bohnemeyer (2010), it is argued that algebraic, symbolic representations in a Jackendoffian 'Conceptual Structure' may be much more language-specific than iconic, image-schematic representations in the 'Spatial Structure' system envisioned in this theory. This in turn suggests that, rather than language having evolved as a system of external representations of Conceptual Structure, as Jackendoff suggests, Conceptual Structure may have co-evolved with language as an interface between language and Spatial Structure, with culture being the driving force behind both processes.