Spatial Language, Spatial Memory and Spatial Perspective Taking in Japanese and English
Description
Speakers of different languages have essentially the same vision and action systems, yet spatial language exhibits considerable cross-linguistic variation. In six experiments, spatial demonstrative choice and the influence of demonstratives on object-location memory were tested in speakers of languages with purportedly very different demonstrative systems – Japanese and English. Results show that the Japanese demonstrative system is structured in terms of both egocentric distance and distance from the perspective of a hearer, with (weaker) effects of perspective taking in English speakers’ use of demonstratives, supporting the view that demonstrative systems may be affected by universal constraints. Second, some effects of perspective taking on object-location memory were found for both Japanese and English when demonstratives were used at encoding, but perspective-taking effects on memory were not present in the absence of either language. A framework for spatial demonstratives is presented by considering demonstratives within the broader context of spatial language.