title: Uphill and Downhill in a Flat World: The Conceptual Topography of the Yupno House.
abstract: Speakers of many languages around the world rely on body-based contrasts (e.g., left/right) for spatial communication and cognition. Speakers of Yupno, a language of Papua New Guinea's mountainous interior, rely instead on an environment-based uphill/downhill contrast. Body-based contrasts are as easy to use indoors as outdoors, but environment-based contrasts may not be. Do Yupno speakers still use uphill/downhill contrasts indoors and, if so, how? We report three studies on spatial communication within the Yupno house. Even in this flat world, uphill/downhill contrasts are pervasive. However, the terms are not used according to the slopes beyond the house's walls, as reported in other groups. Instead, the house is treated as a microworld, with a "conceptual topography" that is strikingly reminiscent of the physical topography of the Yupno valley. The phenomenon illustrates some of the distinctive properties of environment-based reference systems, as well as the universal power and plasticity of spatial contrasts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Chicago.
authors.forename: Kensy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cooperrider
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slotta
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Núñez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015903:Moire Topography; D010219:Papua New Guinea; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Built environment; Conceptual mappings; Language; Papua New Guinea; Space; Uphill-downhill systems