Roland Mühlenbernd Prototype Semantics Review: Evolut. Approaches to Language Change Theories and Models of Language Change Relativists VS Universalists Session 9: Case Study I on Variation - Basic Color Terms Background: Human Color Perception The World Color Survey Roland Mühlenbernd The Principles Model Homeworks June 23, 2015
Prototype Semantics Roland Mühlenbernd Prototype Semantics Review: Evolut. Approaches to Language Change Relativists VS ◮ Mervis & Rosch (1981): survey article of studies Universalists Background: Human establishing prototype semantics Color Perception ◮ The theory of prototype semantics: The World Color Survey 1. there is a quantitative gradiation of memberships of The Principles entities to categories Model 2. whereby the prototype is the most central, normative Homeworks element of a category
Prototype Semantics Roland Mühlenbernd The central questions: Prototype Semantics ◮ Arbitrariness : Are there any a priori reasons for dividing Review: Evolut. Approaches to objects into categories, or is the division initially arbitrary? Language Change ◮ Representativeness : Are all category members equally Relativists VS Universalists representative of the category? Background: Human Color Perception ◮ Determinacy : Are categories specified by necessary and The World Color sufficient conditions for membership? Are boundaries of Survey categories well defined? The Principles Model ◮ Nature of Abstraction : How much abstraction is required Homeworks for learning and mentally representing concepts? ◮ Decomposability : Does a reasonable explanation of objects consist in their decomposition into elementary qualities? ◮ Nature of Attriibutes : What are the characteristics of the attributes into which categories are decomposed?
Prototype Semantics Roland Mühlenbernd Classical concept formation paradigm: Prototype Semantics ◮ “any one stimulus which fits the definition of a concept is Review: Evolut. Approaches to as good an example of it as any other” Language Change ◮ categories were seen as determinately established by Relativists VS Universalists necessary and sufficient criteria for membership Background: Human Color Perception Establishing the concept of a prototype: The World Color ◮ nonequivalence of category members first proposed for Survey color (Berlin & Kay 1969) The Principles Model ◮ gradients of representativeness also found for many other Homeworks common semantic categories ◮ representativeness: defined operationally by means of subjects’ ratings of how good an example an item is of its category ◮ prototype: an example of (locally) maximal representativeness (the “clearest cases”)
Review: Universal Darwinism Roland Mühlenbernd Prototype Semantics Review: Evolut. Approaches to Language Change Relativists VS Mechanisms of universal evolution: Universalists Background: Human 1. variation : continuing abundance of different elements Color Perception The World Color 2. selection : number/probability of copies of elements - Survey depending on interaction between element features and The Principles Model environmental features Homeworks 3. replication : reproduction/copying of elements
Review: Variation & Universals Roland Mühlenbernd Prototype Semantics Review: Evolut. Approaches to Language Change ◮ inter-linguistic variation is limited → linguistic universals Relativists VS Universalists ◮ the explanation for the existence of universals can be Background: Human divided in two classes: Color Perception 1. innate human cognitive capacities The World Color Survey 2. functional constraints on the communication system The Principles ◮ i.o.w.: i) communicative constraints or ii) cognitive Model capacities limit/shape the language system Homeworks ◮ relativistic view: the language system limits/shapes cognitive capacities
Relativistic View Roland Mühlenbernd Prototype Semantics Review: Evolut. Approaches to Language Change ◮ first half of the 20th century: ascendance of linguistic and Relativists VS Universalists cultural relativity (Sapir, Whorf) Background: Human ◮ color lexicon a parade example for Color Perception The World Color ◮ linguistic relativity (Sapir-Whorf hypothesis): structure of Survey language affects the way speakers conceptualize their The Principles world Model ◮ language determinism : language and its structures limit Homeworks and determine human knowledge or thought (strong linguistic relativity)
View of Universalists Roland Mühlenbernd Prototype Semantics Review: Evolut. Approaches to Language Change Relativists VS ◮ claim: biology of all human beings is all same → the Universalists development of color terminology has universal Background: Human Color Perception constraints The World Color Survey ◮ famous study: Berlin & Kay (1969): “Basic Color Terms: The Principles Their Universality and Evolution” Model ◮ in the late 1970’s the World Color Survey (WCS) was Homeworks initiated to test the hypothesis of Berlin & Kay (1969)
Background: Human Color Perception Roland Mühlenbernd ◮ Experiment show that humans identify every color with a Prototype Semantics combination of three basic colors Review: Evolut. Approaches to ◮ Computer graphics: usually red (645.16 nm), green Language Change Relativists VS (526.32 nm) and blue (444.44 nm) Universalists Background: Human Color Perception The RGB-model The CMY-model The World Color (additive color space) Survey (subtractive color space) The Principles Model Homeworks
Background: Human Color Perception Roland Mühlenbernd Prototype Semantics Review: Evolut. Approaches to Language Change ◮ RGB/CMY is not Relativists VS Universalists introspective, distances Background: Human in its space is not Color Perception consistent with human The World Color Survey perception The Principles Model ◮ psychological color Homeworks perception: hue, saturation and lightness ◮ → HSL color space
Background: Human Color Perception Roland Mühlenbernd The Munsell Color Space Prototype Semantics ◮ Discrete color space where distance in space roughly Review: Evolut. Approaches to corresponds to perceptual distance Language Change Relativists VS Universalists Background: Human Color Perception The World Color Survey The Principles Model Homeworks
Background: Human Color Perception Roland Mühlenbernd The Hering Color Space (1875) Prototype Semantics ◮ is based on three oppositions: Review: Evolut. Approaches to red - green, yellow - blue, light - dark Language Change Relativists VS ◮ four types of opponent cells in the macaque’s LGN Universalists Background: Human Color Perception The World Color Survey The Principles Model Homeworks ◮ Hering’s model and HSL (Munsell) are isomorphic
Research Field Color Categories Roland Mühlenbernd Prototype Semantics Review: Evolut. The nature of human (non-)linguistic color categories (research Approaches to Language Change field for more than 50 years) Relativists VS ◮ do color terminologies evolve naturally to an optimum Universalists Background: Human point for communicative and descriptive purposes? Color Perception (cultural constraints) The World Color Survey ◮ are color terminologies determined by perceptive and The Principles cognitive constraints? (biological constraints) Model Homeworks ◮ how are linguistic usage/representation and cognitive/perceptive sensation of colors interrelated? ◮ studies of the late 1970’s resulted in the famous World Color Survey
Berlin & Kay (1969) Roland Mühlenbernd ◮ comparison of color term vocabulary in 98 languages by Prototype Semantics showing colored chips to participants ◮ focus on basic color terms, which must be Review: Evolut. Approaches to ◮ monolexemic (no “lemon-colored” or “blue-green”) Language Change ◮ no subsets of other terms (“crimson” → “red”) Relativists VS Universalists ◮ not restricted to narrow class of objects (“blonde”) Background: Human ◮ psychologically salient (most people won’t come up with Color Perception “scarlet” when shown a color) The World Color ◮ participants were asked to name the colors of their Survey The Principles language, and to select the best fits on a chart of 320 colors Model ◮ they were then asked to classify the same 320 color chips Homeworks isolatedly, resulting in a map of color categories
A Little Experiment Roland Mühlenbernd Prototype Semantics Review: Evolut. You will see a Munsell Chip and you have to decide if it is Approaches to Language Change Red � , Green � , White � , Yellow � , Blue � , Black � Relativists VS Universalists Background: Human Color Perception The World Color Survey The Principles Model Homeworks
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