Structure of and iconicity in food perception vocabulary in Shawi: texture and flavor
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2024-11-27
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en
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This thesis describes the semantic domains of touch and taste, by studying food perception in Shawi, a language spoken in the Peruvian Upper Amazon. The structures of the semantic domains of food texture and flavor were examined with a similarity-based arrangement task. Food texture terms were predominantly abstract or source-based, and conceptual distinctions appear to be based on granularity, dryness, softness, and on whether food is broken down by mastication. A significant part of the flavors was expressed by evaluative words, and the primary distinction between flavors is based on their inedibility, or unpleasantness, often combined with a bad odor. The traditional alcoholic drink masato, made from cassava, seems to form a separate category within the flavor vocabulary. Additionally, indications for the existence of iconic form-meaning mappings were observed. Iconicity might help to explain the underlying nature of food texture and flavor perception in future studies.
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Faculteit der Letteren