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The Linguistics of Temperature
The volume is the first comprehensive typological study of the conceptualisation of temperature in languages as reflected in their systems of central temperature terms (hot, cold, to freeze, etc.). The key issues addressed here include questions such as how languages categorize the temperature domain and what other uses the temperature expressions may have, e.g., when metaphorically referring to emotions (‘warm words’). The volume contains studies of more than 50 genetically, areally and typologically diverse languages and is unique in considering cross-linguistic patterns defined both by lexical and grammatical information. The detailed descriptions of the linguistic and extra-linguistic facts will serve as an important step in teasing apart the role of the different factors in how we speak about temperature – neurophysiology, cognition, environment, social-cultural practices, genetic relations among languages, and linguistic contact. The book is a significant contribution to semantic typology, and will be of interest for linguists, psychologists, anthropologists and philosophers.
[Typological Studies in Language, 107] 2015. xii, 934 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 6 March 2015
Published online on 6 March 2015
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
- List of Maps | pp. viii–ix
- Acknowledgements | pp. x–xii
- Introducing “The linguistics of temperature”Maria Koptjevskaja-Tamm | pp. 1–40
- PART 1. Africa
- “Hard sun, hot weather, skin pain”: The cultural semantics of temperature expressions in Ewe and Likpe (West Africa)Felix K. Ameka | pp. 43–72
- The semantics and metaphorical extensions of temperature terms in GurenɛSamuel Awinkene Atintono | pp. 73–106
- Unravelling temperature terms in SɛlɛɛYvonne Agbetsoamedo and Francesca Di Garbo | pp. 107–127
- Lexicalisation of temperature concepts in Gbaya (an Ubanguian language of C.A.R.)Paulette Roulon-Doko | pp. 128–150
- Climate, temperature and polysemous patterns in French and WolofLoïc-Michel Perrin | pp. 151–186
- Temperature terms in selected African languages: A pilot studyHenrike Firsching | pp. 187–212
- PART 2. Eurasia
- Adjectives of temperature in LatvianNatalia Perkova | pp. 216–253
- What’s hot and what’s not in English and Serbian: A contrastive view on the polysemy of temperature adjectivesKatarina Rasulić | pp. 254–299
- In the warmth of the Ukrainian temperature domainAnna Kryvenko | pp. 300–332
- Asymmetries in Italian temperature terminologySilvia Luraghi | pp. 333–353
- Temperature terms in Modern GreekKaterina Stathi | pp. 354–391
- Temperature terms in Modern Eastern ArmenianMichael A. Daniel and Viktoria Khurshudian | pp. 392–439
- Facts, feelings and temperature expressions in the HindukushHenrik Liljegren and Naseem Haider | pp. 440–470
- Blowing hot, hotter, and hotter yet: Temperature vocabulary in MarathiPrashant Pardeshi and Peter Edwin Hook | pp. 471–490
- Temperature adjectives in FinnishPäivi Juvonen and Ahti Nikunlassi | pp. 491–536
- Temperature terms in NganasanMaria Brykina and Valentin Gusev | pp. 537–569
- Temperature terms in Khalkha MongolianBenjamin Brosig | pp. 570–593
- Temperature terms in Lao, Southern Zhuang, Southern Pinghua and CantoneseHilário de Sousa, François Langella and N.J. Enfield | pp. 594–638
- Subdomains of temperature concepts in JapaneseMika Shindo | pp. 639–665
- Why is it not cool? Temperature terms in IndonesianPoppy Siahaan | pp. 666–700
- PART 3. The Americas
- Temperature domain in West GreenlandicJustyn Salamon | pp. 703–720
- “There is no thermostat in the forest” – the Ojibwe temperature term systemHunter Lockwood and Susanne Vejdemo | pp. 721–741
- Temperature terms and their meaning in Yucatec Maya (Mexico)Olivier Le Guen | pp. 742–775
- Temperature terms in MapudungunFernando Zúñiga | pp. 776–791
- Temperature terms in Hup, a Nadahup language of AmazoniaPatience Epps | pp. 792–812
- PART 4. Australia and Oceania
- Bardi temperature termsClaire Bowern and Laura Kling | pp. 815–831
- Temperature terms in northern VanuatuAlexandre François | pp. 832–857
- Temperature terms in Kamang and Abui, two Papuan languages of AlorAntoinette Schapper | pp. 858–886
- PART 5. Typology
- The syntax of temperature predicationsRegina Pustet | pp. 889–916
- Subject Index | pp. 917–928
- Language Index | pp. 929–930
- Name Index | pp. 931–934
“A groundbreaking collaborative work in lexical typology, which will quite possibly be seen as the beginning of a new era in the study of world-wide word meanings.”
Martin Haspelmath, University of Leipzig
“A cool collection guaranteed to heat up the discussion on sensory language. Koptjevskaja-Tamm provides an inspiring volume on the linguistics of temperature.”
Asifa Majid, Radboud University Nijmegen
Cited by (40)
Cited by 40 other publications
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Beekhuizen, Barend, Maya Blumenthal, Lee Jiang, Anna Pyrtchenkov & Jana Savevska
Bellamy, Kate & Martha Mendoza
Javier E. Díaz-Vera
Yacopetti, Eleanor & Maïa Ponsonnet
Huisman, John L. A., Roeland van Hout & Asifa Majid
Kemmerer, David
Liu, Meili
Mensah, Eyo O. & Vivian Afi Dzokoto
Kashkin, Egor & Olga Vinogradova
2022. The domain of surface texture. In The Typology of Physical Qualities [Typological Studies in Language, 133], ► pp. 161 ff.
Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria
2022. Talking temperature with close relatives. In The Typology of Physical Qualities [Typological Studies in Language, 133], ► pp. 215 ff.
Poulton, Thomas
Rakhilina, Ekaterina & Tatiana Reznikova
2022. Introduction. In The Typology of Physical Qualities [Typological Studies in Language, 133], ► pp. 1 ff.
Reznikova, Tatiana, Anna Panina & Victoriya Kruglyakova
2022. A matter of degree?. In The Typology of Physical Qualities [Typological Studies in Language, 133], ► pp. 57 ff.
Schapper, Antoinette
Coler, Matt
2021. Chapter 5. Exploring speech experiences. In Sensory Experiences [Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research, 24], ► pp. 169 ff.
Coler, Matt
2021. Exploring speech experiences. In Sensory Experiences [Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research, 24], ► pp. 169 ff.
Coschignano, Serena
Dubois, Danièle, Caroline Cance, Matt Coler & Arthur Paté
2021. Chapter 1. The five senses and the cognitivist approach to perception. In Sensory Experiences [Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research, 24], ► pp. 23 ff.
Dubois, Danièle, Caroline Cance, Matt Coler & Arthur Paté
2021. The five senses and the cognitivist approach to perception. In Sensory Experiences [Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research, 24], ► pp. 23 ff.
Jędrzejowski, Łukasz & Przemysław Staniewski
2021. Rendering what the nose perceives. In The Linguistics of Olfaction [Typological Studies in Language, 131], ► pp. 1 ff.
Vanhove, Martine & Tahir Hamid Mohamed-Ahmed
2021. Olfactory, gustatory and tactile perception in Beja (North-Cushitic). In The Linguistics of Olfaction [Typological Studies in Language, 131], ► pp. 175 ff.
Viberg, Åke
2021. Why is smell special?. In The Linguistics of Olfaction [Typological Studies in Language, 131], ► pp. 35 ff.
Koptjevskaja‐Tamm, Maria & Susanne Vejdemo
Speed, Laura J. & Asifa Majid
Andrason, Alexander
Andrason, Alexander & Marianna Visser
Hu, Chuan-Peng, Ji-Xing Yin, Siegwart Lindenberg, İlker Dalğar, Sophia C. Weissgerber, Rodrigo C. Vergara, Athena H. Cairo, Marija V. Čolić, Pinar Dursun, Natalia Frankowska, Rhonda Hadi, Calvin J. Hall, Youngki Hong, Jennifer Joy-Gaba, Dušanka Lazarević, Ljiljana B. Lazarević, Michal Parzuchowski, Kyle G. Ratner, David Rothman, Samantha Sim, Cláudia Simão, Mengdi Song, Darko Stojilović, Johanna K. Blomster, Rodrigo Brito, Marie Hennecke, Francisco Jaume-Guazzini, Thomas W. Schubert, Astrid Schütz, Beate Seibt, Janis H. Zickfeld & Hans IJzerman
O’Meara, Carolyn, Laura Speed, Lila San Roque & Asifa Majid
2019. Perception metaphors. In Perception Metaphors [Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research, 19], ► pp. 1 ff.
Ryzhova, Daria, Ekaterina Rakhilina & Liliya Kholkina
2019. Approaching perceptual qualities. In Perception Metaphors [Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research, 19], ► pp. 185 ff.
San Roque, Lila & Bambi B. Schieffelin
2019. Perception verbs in context. In Perception Metaphors [Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research, 19], ► pp. 347 ff.
Fetterman, Adam K., Benjamin M. Wilkowski & Michael D. Robinson
Georgakopoulos, Thanasis & Stéphane Polis
IJzerman, Hans, Siegwart Lindenberg, İlker Dalğar, Sophia S. C. Weissgerber, Rodrigo C. Vergara, Athena H. Cairo, Marija V. Čolić, Pinar Dursun, Natalia Frankowska, Rhonda Hadi, Calvin J. Hall, Youngki Hong, Chuan-Peng Hu, Jennifer Joy-Gaba, Dušanka Lazarević, Ljiljana B. Lazarević, Michal Parzuchowski, Kyle G. Ratner, David Rothman, Samantha Sim, Cláudia Simão, Mengdi Song, Darko Stojilović, Johanna K. Blomster, Rodrigo Brito, Marie Hennecke, Francisco Jaume-Guazzini, Thomas W. Schubert, Astrid Schütz, Beate Seibt, Janis H. Zickfeld, Simine Vazire & Randy McCarthy
Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria & Henrik Liljegren
Levisen, Carsten & Karime Aragón
2017. Lexicalization patterns in core vocabulary. In Creole Studies – Phylogenetic Approaches, ► pp. 315 ff.
[no author supplied]
2019. Conclusion. In Sensory Linguistics [Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research, 20], ► pp. 235 ff.
[no author supplied]
[no author supplied]
2021. Further readings. In Sensory Experiences [Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research, 24], ► pp. 577 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.