6. Two temporalities of the Mongolian wolf hunter
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Bernard Charlier
Abstract
This chapter proposes an analysis of how a particular event – wolf hunting – is conceptualised in the Mongolian language. It aims at contributing to the ongoing debate about the interactions between potentially universal and language-specific features that shape the ways people relate to their natural environment. The analysis, which is based on ethnographic fieldwork, describes and explains how a Mongolian wolf hunter experiences two modalities of temporality: cyclical and ‘evenemental’. It shows how these two modalities are embedded into the Mongolian concept of ‘wind horses’, hiimor’, in the context of wolf hunting. The actualisation of these temporalities reveals a particular perception of the environment as well as the singular moral position of an individual in it.
Abstract
This chapter proposes an analysis of how a particular event – wolf hunting – is conceptualised in the Mongolian language. It aims at contributing to the ongoing debate about the interactions between potentially universal and language-specific features that shape the ways people relate to their natural environment. The analysis, which is based on ethnographic fieldwork, describes and explains how a Mongolian wolf hunter experiences two modalities of temporality: cyclical and ‘evenemental’. It shows how these two modalities are embedded into the Mongolian concept of ‘wind horses’, hiimor’, in the context of wolf hunting. The actualisation of these temporalities reveals a particular perception of the environment as well as the singular moral position of an individual in it.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Foreword: Space and time in languages, cultures, and cognition xi
- Introduction: Linguistic, cultural, and cognitive approaches to space and time 1
-
Part I. Linguistic and conceptual representation of events
- 1. Event-based time intervals in an Amazonian culture 15
- 2. Vagueness in event times 37
- 3. Aspectual coercions in content composition 55
- 4. Back to the future 83
-
Part II. Cultural perspectives on space and time
- 5. The “Russian” attitude to time 103
- 6. Two temporalities of the Mongolian wolf hunter 121
- 7. Koromu temporal expressions 143
- 8. Universals and specifics of ‘time’ in Russian 167
-
Part III. Conceptualizing spatio-temporal relations
- 9. Linguistic manifestations of the space-time (dis)analogy 191
- 10. Vectors and frames of reference 217
- 11. Verbal and gestural expression of motion in French and Czech 251
- 12. Language-specific effects on lexicalisation and memory of motion events 269
- 13. Space and time in episodic memory 283
- 14. Conceptualizing the present through construal aspects 305
- 15. From perception of spatial artefacts to metaphorical meaning 329
- Contents of the companion volume 351
- Name index 355
- Subject index 359
- Language index 363
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Foreword: Space and time in languages, cultures, and cognition xi
- Introduction: Linguistic, cultural, and cognitive approaches to space and time 1
-
Part I. Linguistic and conceptual representation of events
- 1. Event-based time intervals in an Amazonian culture 15
- 2. Vagueness in event times 37
- 3. Aspectual coercions in content composition 55
- 4. Back to the future 83
-
Part II. Cultural perspectives on space and time
- 5. The “Russian” attitude to time 103
- 6. Two temporalities of the Mongolian wolf hunter 121
- 7. Koromu temporal expressions 143
- 8. Universals and specifics of ‘time’ in Russian 167
-
Part III. Conceptualizing spatio-temporal relations
- 9. Linguistic manifestations of the space-time (dis)analogy 191
- 10. Vectors and frames of reference 217
- 11. Verbal and gestural expression of motion in French and Czech 251
- 12. Language-specific effects on lexicalisation and memory of motion events 269
- 13. Space and time in episodic memory 283
- 14. Conceptualizing the present through construal aspects 305
- 15. From perception of spatial artefacts to metaphorical meaning 329
- Contents of the companion volume 351
- Name index 355
- Subject index 359
- Language index 363
