Results were straightforward. All participants knew the term noting that it refers to a husek, soul or a kind of spiritual entity. Most of them attributed only to humans and husek animals, and denied that it could be attributed to plants, natural kinds and artifacts. This suggests that within our target community, is extended to animals and humans husek being indeed aligned with These results mirror the primary meaning of husek ANIMACY. (social will) in the documentations published to date (Palmer, 2005). This strong pattern of interpretation was evident not only in adults’ yes/no responses, but also in their justifications. Most of the adults’ spontaneously discussed characteristics (e.g., autonomous motion, behavior) that highlight the distinction between humans and non-human animals on the one hand, and plants on the other. Notice that these same characteristics figure largely in infants’ and English-speaking children’s concept (e.g. Berthenthal, 1993; R. ANIMATE Gelman, 1990; S. Gelman& Gottfried, 1996; Opfer & S. Gelman, 2001). Thus, although speakers have no dedicated name for their attribution of reveals Wichí husek animate object, their sensitivity to this fundamental concept. ------------------------------------------Table 1 about here--------------------------------- Study 2. Evidence for and in children and adults Wichí LIVING THING ANIMATE The goal of 2 was to consider the developmental trajectory underlying the concepts of and in children and adults. At issue is Wichí-speaking LIVING THING, ANIMATE whether, and at what developmental point, individuals come to include plants along Wichí with humans and non-human animals as constituents of the fundamental concept LIVING We considered two alternatives. On the one hand, because plants have such strong THING. cultural and spiritual significance in the community and because children and adults Wichí have such extensive experience gathering and working with plants, perhaps the will Wichí
Results were straightforward. All participants knew the term husek, noting that it refers to a soul or a kind of spiritual entity. Most of them attributed husek only to humans and animals, and denied that it could be attributed to plants, natural kinds and artifacts. This suggests that within our target community, husek is extended to animals and humans being indeed aligned with ANIMACY. These results mirror the primary meaning of husek (social will) in the documentations published to date (Palmer, 2005). This strong pattern of interpretation was evident not only in adults’ yes/no responses, but also in their justifications. Most of the adults’ spontaneously discussed characteristics (e.g., autonomous motion, behavior) that highlight the distinction between humans and non-human animals on the one hand, and plants on the other. Notice that these same characteristics figure largely in infants’ and English-speaking children’s ANIMATE concept (e.g. Berthenthal, 1993; R. Gelman, 1990; S. Gelman& Gottfried, 1996; Opfer & S. Gelman, 2001). Thus, although Wichí speakers have no dedicated name for animate object, their attribution of husek reveals their sensitivity to this fundamental concept. ------------------------------------------Table 1 about here--------------------------------- Study 2. Evidence for LIVING THING and ANIMATE in Wichí children and adults The goal of 2 was to consider the developmental trajectory underlying the concepts of LIVING THING, and ANIMATE in Wichí-speaking children and adults. At issue is whether, and at what developmental point, Wichí individuals come to include plants along with humans and non-human animals as constituents of the fundamental concept LIVING THING. We considered two alternatives. On the one hand, because plants have such strong cultural and spiritual significance in the Wichí community and because children and adults have such extensive experience gathering and working with plants, perhaps the Wichí will
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