Research Mentor(s)
Virginia Dawson
Description
A common assumption held regarding cross-linguistic variation is that adpositional meaning can be translated seamlessly from one language to another. In fact, I was confronted with this assumption when Rosia, the consultant for our study on the language Twi, translated “the cat in the tree” as “kra no wɔ dua no so,” which means the cat on the tree. When the linguistics field methods class took note of this distinction, Rosia explained that it didn’t make sense to say “the cat in the tree” in Twi, because that would mean that the cat was inside of the tree. This crucial distinction prompted me to question if this instance of meaning for mu, meaning “in,” and so, meaning “on,” was consistent across various contexts, so I decided to look further. I found that the Twi postpositions mu and so do not have the same truth conditions, and are two very distinct postpositions, whereas the English prepositions “in” and “on” have more of a gray area in terms of distinction. While they are not exactly interchangeable, certain contexts allow the surfacing of either or both postpositions in situations where someone or something can be both in and on top of something.
Document Type
Event
Start Date
May 2022
End Date
May 2022
Location
Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)
Department
CHSS - Linguistics
Genre/Form
student projects; posters
Type
Image
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
To Be In or To Be On: Adposition Variation in Twi
Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)
A common assumption held regarding cross-linguistic variation is that adpositional meaning can be translated seamlessly from one language to another. In fact, I was confronted with this assumption when Rosia, the consultant for our study on the language Twi, translated “the cat in the tree” as “kra no wɔ dua no so,” which means the cat on the tree. When the linguistics field methods class took note of this distinction, Rosia explained that it didn’t make sense to say “the cat in the tree” in Twi, because that would mean that the cat was inside of the tree. This crucial distinction prompted me to question if this instance of meaning for mu, meaning “in,” and so, meaning “on,” was consistent across various contexts, so I decided to look further. I found that the Twi postpositions mu and so do not have the same truth conditions, and are two very distinct postpositions, whereas the English prepositions “in” and “on” have more of a gray area in terms of distinction. While they are not exactly interchangeable, certain contexts allow the surfacing of either or both postpositions in situations where someone or something can be both in and on top of something.