How Space Structures Language

As Talmy has observed, language schematizes space; language provides a systematic framework to describe space, by selecting certain aspects of a referent scene while neglecting the others. Here, we consider the ways that space and the things in it are schematized in perception and cognition, as well as in language. We propose the Schematization Similarity Conjecture: to the extent that space is schematized similarly in language and cognition, language will be successful in conveying space. We look at the evidence in both language and perception literature to support this view. Finally, we analyze schematizations of routes conveyed in sketch maps or directions, finding parallels in the kind of information omitted and retained in both.

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