Publications

Publication details [#38484]

Perkins, Revere D. 1992. Deixis, Grammar, and Culture. (Typological Studies in Language 24). John Benjamins. x, 245 pp
Publication type
Book – monograph
Publication language
English

Annotation

Many linguists have believed that there is no connection between culture and language structures. This study reviews some of the literature supporting vocabulary connections, hypotheses for other connections, and critical views of this type of hypothesis. Precisely such a connection is developed employing a functional view of language and grammaticization principles. Using a world-wide probability sample of forty-nine languages, an association between culture and the grammatical coding of deictics is tested and statistically found to be corroborated to a very significant extent. Suggestions are included on how some of the concepts used and developed in this study might be extended.