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Coeur d'Alene exceptions to proposed universals of anatomical nomenclature
Author(s) -
PALMER GARY B.,
NICODEMUS LAWRENCE
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1985.12.2.02a00090
Subject(s) - lexeme , problem of universals , nomenclature , linguistics , taxonomy (biology) , lexicography , linguistic universal , philosophy , natural language processing , artificial intelligence , computer science , theoretical linguistics , zoology , biology
This paper tests proposed universals of anatomical nomenclature with data from Coeur d'Alene, an Interior Salish language. Coeur d'Alene terms present exceptions to the taxonomically derived universals proposed by Brown (1976) because their semantic and syntactic structures are more complex than those recognized by current lexicography. A large group of Coeur d'Alene terms for surface parts references a set of spatial relations which are best modeled with a partially ordered componential paradigm rather than a part‐whole taxonomy. Analysis of surface terms reveals a type not previously recognized in taxonomic studies: the composite specific lexeme. [semantics, componential analysis, lexicography, ethnoanatomy, Salish, North America]