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Maps meet myths : Understanding Jahai place naming through Geographical Information Systems

Villette, Julia ; Burenhult, Niclas LU and Purves, Ross (2022) In Journal of Linguistic Geography 10(1). p.1-10
Abstract
Placenames are seemingly universal, with the potential to reveal different systems of organizing information in everyday communication. We report on the relationship between placenames in Jahai, an indigenous language spoken by the Jahai people of the Malay Peninsula, and the environment. Our approach explores the tendency to organize names using a hierarchy of kinship associated with the cnεl, mythological entities in origin stories, which appears to map onto catchment areas. By associating linguistic data with these ethnographic inputs and geographical properties calculated in a Geographic Information System, we generate and make suggestions for productive ways of understanding placenames as systems.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
place names, landscape, myths, Geographical Information System, Jahai
in
Journal of Linguistic Geography
volume
10
issue
1
pages
1 - 10
publisher
Cambridge University Press
ISSN
2049-7547
DOI
10.1017/jlg.2021.11
project
Language, cognition and landscape: understanding cross-cultural and individual variation in geographical ontology
Language as key to perceptual diversity: an interdisciplinary approach to the senses
Digital Integration Across Disciplines: Advancing Cultural Heritage Documentation DIAD
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1ef2cae6-948f-4c76-a237-25de8dcc1dfd
date added to LUP
2019-10-04 09:42:29
date last changed
2022-09-15 15:10:58
@article{1ef2cae6-948f-4c76-a237-25de8dcc1dfd,
  abstract     = {{Placenames are seemingly universal, with the potential to reveal different systems of organizing information in everyday communication. We report on the relationship between placenames in Jahai, an indigenous language spoken by the Jahai people of the Malay Peninsula, and the environment. Our approach explores the tendency to organize names using a hierarchy of kinship associated with the cnεl, mythological entities in origin stories, which appears to map onto catchment areas. By associating linguistic data with these ethnographic inputs and geographical properties calculated in a Geographic Information System, we generate and make suggestions for productive ways of understanding placenames as systems.}},
  author       = {{Villette, Julia and Burenhult, Niclas and Purves, Ross}},
  issn         = {{2049-7547}},
  keywords     = {{place names; landscape; myths; Geographical Information System; Jahai}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{1--10}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Linguistic Geography}},
  title        = {{Maps meet myths : Understanding Jahai place naming through Geographical Information Systems}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/117701520/Villette_et_al_2022.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/jlg.2021.11}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}