Re: left and right
| From: | JR <fuscian@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, April 4, 2008, 6:48 |
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on 4/4/08 12:11 AM, MorphemeAddict@WMCONNECT.COM at
MorphemeAddict@WMCONNECT.COM wrote:
> Does anyone know of any cultures that don't have the concept of "left" and
> "right", or don't have words for these concepts?
>
> stevo </HTML>
There's a chapter by Edward Louis Keenan and Elinor Ochs in _Languages and
Their Speakers_ called "Becoming a Competent Speaker Of Malagasy," where
they describe their experiences in a rural community in Madagascar. One
thing they note is the use of the cardinal directions ("north", "south",
etc.) instead of "left" and "right". I don't know if there are no words for
the latter at all, but they write that the concepts are not available to the
speakers, "at least without reflection." They tie this in with the strong
cultural tendency to keep attention away from individuals. Saying that
something is "to the north" instead of "to my right" achieves this.
Josh Roth
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