Frames of spatial reference in Kilivila

Members of the MPI for Psycholinguistics are researching the interrelationship between language, cognition and theconceptualization of space in various languages. Research results show that there are three frames of spatial reference, theabsolute, the relative, and the intrinsic frame of reference. This study first presents results of this research in general and thendiscusses the results for Kilivila. Speakers of this Austronesian language prefer the intrinsic frame of reference for the locationof objects with respect to each other in a given spatial configuration. But they prefer an absolute frame of reference system inreferring to the spatial orientation of objects in a given spatial configuration. Moreover, the hypothesis is confirmed thatlanguages seem to influence the choice and the kind of conceptual parameters their speakers use to solve non-verbal problemswithin the domain of space.