Time and space in tzeltal: is the future uphill?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Linguistics
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Cultural Psychology

Background:

• Cross-cultural studies reveal language influences thought.
• Spatial language often employs absolute or relative frames of reference.
• The Tzeltal language uses an absolute frame for spatial relations.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate if Tzeltal's absolute spatial frame influences temporal conceptualization.
• Explore the relationship between spatial language, cognition, and time perception.
• Determine how cultural specificity in spatial language affects temporal construals.

Main Methods:

• Elicited temporal expressions from Tzeltal speakers.
• Administered two non-linguistic temporal ordering tasks.
• Analyzed linguistic data for temporal schemata and task data for conceptual patterns.

Main Results:

• Identified five distinct temporal conceptualizations in Tzeltal language: ego-centered, sequential, cyclic, spatial extension, and an uphill future vector.
• The 'time moves uphillwards' metaphor, prominent in Tzeltal spatial language, was not strongly evident in non-linguistic temporal tasks.
• Linguistic expressions of time show diverse schemata, but non-linguistic tasks did not consistently reflect the absolute spatial frame.

Conclusions:

• Systematic use of absolute spatial language does not guarantee consistent absolute time conceptualization in non-linguistic tasks.
• Time conceptualization appears more flexible and open to alternative construals than spatial conceptualization.
• Cultural specificity in spatial language may not directly or consistently transfer to all domains of temporal cognition.