A Brief Foray into Spatial Frames of Reference

It's high time I posted something on here, and this is what I come up with!

In language, how we describe the relationships between objects’ positions can be based on different frames of reference, which Levinson classes as absolute, relative, and intrinsic.

In English, we use all three. We assign a ‘front’ to an object, for example:

‘the ball is in front of the chair’

In this example, it is intrinsic, the ‘front’ is one of function and use – we can see that the chair has a front, a back, and sides. However, we continue to assign these terms to objects with no front, using a relative FoR as in:

‘the pen is in front of the ball’

We also use absolute FoR, by using compass points, or external landmarks. Some frames of reference are based on the landscape – on small islands, you might say

‘the tree is sea-wards of the man’

or, in one language:

‘the tree is clock-wise-around-the-island of the man’.

Another language uses the nearest, largest mountain as a point of reference, so the frame of reference changes as the speaker travels.

The system that I find most interesting, and which most affects the way the speakers relate to the world is, I think, from Guugu Yimidhirr. Field linguists filmed a native speaker telling a story about a boat trip he took in which the boat overturned. In describing this, he acted out the boat tipping over by rolling his arms forward, in front of him. This was compared to a second video of the same speaker telling the same story, but this time he rolled his arms to the side. It was eventually realised that in the second video, he had been facing in a different direction, and adjusted his actions so that he was rolling his arms in the same direction according to a compass point. Guugu Yimidhirr uses north, south, east and west as external points of reference, and as such its speakers always know where north is, regardless of where they are in the world.

Black and White

My BA dissertation, which was a few years ago now, has become something of a party piece for me. It can be easily summarised into a few simple sentences which, even if they don't prompt people into amazed conversation, do at least make them raise their eyebrows in interest. Of course, at the time it was an amazing conversation-killer. Some poor soul would ask what I was studying, and I'd reply, "the word black", only to be met with a stumped silence. Not the best way of answering, I fear.

My dissertation was titled A Semantic Study of Blāc and Blæc in Old and Middle English, and briefly, what I found was this:

In Old English there were two seemingly interchangeable colour terms on the black-white continuum, blāc and blæc, generally taken to mean 'shining white' and 'black' respectively. In Old English. blæc was used as a standard colour term, much like the other hue-based colour terms. In contrast, blāc was a brightness term and was used less as a colour term and more as an adjective expressing brightness (not necessarily white). When used to mean 'bright', it was used in descriptions of light or fire, concepts which defy any one colour. Blāc also had an alternative application as a more hue-based term to mean 'pale', a use most commonly seen in descriptions of flesh. Despite the similarities in spelling, there seems to have been very little confusion between the two. This is probably largely to do with context though.

While Old English used a brightness-based colour system, with colour terms focused on shades of black and white, Middle English had a colour system whose primary focus was hue. This made no difference to the semantic range of blæc, but it meant that blāc was used to just be a hue-term, where it meant 'pale'. As a result of this shift, the two terms could both be applied in the same contexts, which can be seen in the great number of cases in which could potentially mean both 'black' and 'pale'. This resulted in an ambiguity between the two terms in some cases in Middle English.1

Of course, now older and wiser, I know that this wasn't news to anyone in the business, but the fact that I'd found it out myself by sifting through the data still gives me the warm and fuzzies.

I mention this now because today I was reading a paper which reminded me of it. Loredana Teresi, in her study of Be Heofonwarum discusses several themes occurring in the text that she believes are drawn from a variety of other textual traditions. The theme I want to look at here is 'two bands of angels, one good and bright and one evil and black, fighting for the possession of a soul whose fate has not yet been determined'2 (there has to be a better way of making footnotes!). The juxtaposition of bright with black here is notable because 'brightness' is not the opposite of 'black'; their opposites would be 'dark' or 'white'. I would imagine would these descriptions were chosen because of their strikingness in Old English; blæc v. blāc. Unfortunately I can't get hold of the text at the time of writing this (I'm in my pyjamas and there are limits to my curiosity), but even if those weren't the terms used, it shows an awareness of the juxtaposition they create. Indeed, the use of different vocabulary and structures to express themes that are seen elsewhere would support Teresi's hypothesis that this text was constructed using themes from a 'common mnemonic repertoire',3 adapted to suit this particular text.

Unfortunately this means I can go no further until I've tracked down a copy of the text. Until then, wild speculation will have to do.

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1. My BA dissertation abstract. No-one's going to see any more of it than that, so I'm not referencing it fully.
2. Loredana Teresi, ‘Mnemonic Transmission of Old English Texts in the Post-Conquest Period’, in Rewriting Old English in the Twelfth Century, ed. by Mary Swan and Elaine Treharne (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 98-116, (p. 105).
3. Teresi, p. 116

My Reasons For Blogging

The following is my meanderings which may or may not be foolish. I thought I'd cover myself by lowering your expectations.

I already have a blog elsewhere, but I don't want to bore the lovely people there with my thoughts on my chosen research project. There's a reason why I'm devoting the next 4 years of my life to it, rather than them. I've created this blog 'ere in the hopes of having a place to store my thoughts on what I read. If I say things that offend people, or that any potential readers disagree with, I both apologise, and ask for constructive criticism respectively.

I am not expecting this to be a gripping subject for the general public.

That said, I may as well begin with a brief outline of the things I expect to be included here.

I am currently studying for a PhD in a British university, a good one, perhaps foolishly researching the topic of 'The Production and Use of Anglo-Saxon Charters' in the post-Conquest period. The focus of my current research is textual transmission, so expect things on that first. I try to conduct this research in between learning Latin, re-learning German, doing taught modules, and losing my grip on what's left of my social life.

My life is pretty busy. I am doing not enough work, because unlike my colleagues I am utterly lacking in any kind of self-discipline (see: this blog). I'm hooked on popular culture and would much rather talk about TV than something research-related. I take pride in my appearance, and I don't own a single pair of trainers.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm damn good at what I do (I must be, right?), I know what I'm talking about, and I seriously enjoy it. Why else would I be devoting four years of my life to it? But I also love other things, and I'm lazy.

For now, that will do. this hasn't been a particularly structured first post, not has it been enlightening or interesting, I'm sure. But it's a start.


At this point I should state that nothing written here is endorsed by the University with which I am affiliated, the project which funds me, nor any of its staff. It's all me and my own thoughts. Anyone else's work that I cite will be fully acknowledged and referenced.