Ort: ZOOM
Zeit: 18:00 – 19:30 Uhr

Kenny Coventry (School of Psychology / University of East Anglia)

Spatial demonstratives across languages and cultures

In this talk I overview a body of research examining the determinants of spatial demonstrative use across languages using the ‘memory game paradigm’ (e.g. Coventry, Griffiths & Hamilton, 2014) – a method designed to elicit demonstratives under strictly controlled conditions. Contrary to the current zeitgeist that languages carve up space in very different ways, I present evidence for the importance of reachability/non-reachability of an object across languages with varying demonstrative systems. In addition, I explore the relative importance of language, gaze and gesture in deictic reference, exploring why demonstratives gaze and gesture frequently cooccur during deictic reference.