ABSTRACT
Spatial language, such as asking directions for places in large-scale space, or asking where a misplaced object is in small-scale space, constitutes part of the basic fabric of language. Yet spatial language exhibits problems for the second language learner that provide native speakers with a useful semantic diagnostic tool to identify non-native speakers. Languages carve up space in different ways. For instance, in Spanish the single lexical item en maps onto the meanings of both in and on in English while in Dutch there are two words corresponding to on in English; aan is used for situations such as The handle is on the door, and op is used for situations such as The jug is on the table (Bowerman, 1996). Moreover, although languages may have the same number of terms to cover a set of spatial relations, they do not always do so in the same way. In Finnish the equivalents of The handle is on the door and The apple is in the bowl are grouped together using the inessive case (ending -ssa), whereas a different case ending (the adessive -lla) is used for The jug is on the table. When one considers relations other than containment and support, languages differ even more radically from each other. For example, while Indo-European languages use terms for left and right which depend on the reference frame adopted (left from one’s point of view versus left based around the intrinsic axis of the object being viewed), several languages, such as Guugu Yimithirr (North Queensland, Australia) and Arandic (PamaNyungan, Australia) do not have terms like these at all. Instead these languages use terms associated with an absolute reference frame (e.g., North, South, East, West) in both small-scale (e.g., locating a pencil on a desk) and in large-scale space (Levinson, 1996a, 1996b; Pederson et al.,
1998). So spatial language differs across languages quite radically, thus providing a real semantic challenge for second language learners.
