Covert Categories and Folk Taxonomies

Abstract

Much of the recent work i n ethnoscience has been concerned with the nature of folk taxonomies, an often stated definition of which repires that &folk taxa be monolexemically labeled. This paper offers evidence that unlabeled categories may also be of crucial taxonomic significance, and we feel that it is inappropriate to treat such categories apart from the named taxonomic entities of the system. More importanUy, evidence presented indicates that by recognizing unnamed taxa one may gain an understanding of the structure of a particular semantic domain that is actually obscured if one focuses solely on lexically labeled units.of the productive work in ethno-MUCH science today derives from collaborative research in certain areas of ethnobiology (see Colby 1966, Sturtevant 1964 for a survey of these materials). It is often found that the semantic structures uncovered by such research are hierarchic in their formal characteristics. Thus they resemble the classificatory structures conventionally employed in the biological sciences and have generally been termed (jolk) taxonomies (Conklin

Avanços nas pesquisas etnobotânicas no Brasil

“…Neste período emergem enfoques êmicos nas pesquisas, perspectiva que aproxima a avaliação da realidade estudada ao ponto de vista das pessoas que vivem esta realidade (Posey 1987). São citados como pioneiros e inovadores neste tipo de trabalho Harold Conklin (Conklin 1955;Conklin 1957;Conklin 1962), partindo de estudos sobre a estrutura lingüística para o entendimento dos princípios de nomenclatura de folk; Berlin et al (1966;1968;1973) e Metzger & Williams (1996) (Haverroth 1997).…”

"Modern Linnaeus": A class exercise on plant nomenclature and taxonomy in comparison with a previous experiment

“…In just a few cases we gave priority to a secondary meaning if it was plant-related. Even though it has been recognized that an "understanding of the structure of a particular semantic domain may be obscured if one focuses solely on lexically labeled units" (Berlin et al 1968), we decided to make an analysis that is term-based and each word was considered separately. We used both a smaller group of term categories and the same term categories found in Lau et al (2009): in the first analysis we re-grouped term categories in order to have two comparable sets of term categories.…”

“…Many research projects have been focused on ethno-classification (Berlin 1973, 1992, Berlin et al 1968, Diamond 1966, Dwyer 2005, Maddalon 1998, Trumper et al 1999 and specifically were concerned with a search for order, or pattern, in the ways in which people name and categorize the living worlds that they experience (Conklin 1969, Dwyer 2005. These observations addressed both studies of ethno-classification of pre-scientific societies (Berlin et al 1968, 1981, Bulmer 1967 and of identification and categorization systems in modern settings using plants or animals (Boster 1987, Breda 1995, Lau et al 2009, Trumper & Vigolo 1995.…”

“…These observations addressed both studies of ethno-classification of pre-scientific societies (Berlin et al 1968, 1981, Bulmer 1967 and of identification and categorization systems in modern settings using plants or animals (Boster 1987, Breda 1995, Lau et al 2009, Trumper & Vigolo 1995. The main hypothesis shared by these two different kinds of studies is that there should be no difference, or at least slight differences, in the way humans, in general, order the world they experience.…”

Construção e validação de uma taxonomia de eventos de TD&E

“…Desde as agremiações humanas mais primitivas, podem-se observar tentativas de desenvolvimento de sistemas de classificação que possibilitaram o reconhecimento de similaridades e diferenças entre objetos e eventos do mundo natural (Raven, Berlin, & Breedlove, 1971). Estudos da etnociência buscaram identificar esquemas populares de classificação (folk taxonomies) em diferentes sociedades primitivas (Berlin, Breedlove, & Raven, 1968). Os pesquisadores apontaram que a grande maioria dos táxons (unidades elementares de grupos de indivíduos em análise) era monolexicalmente nomeada.…”