Video Vignette

Video vignettes were used to investigate three key criteria (i) the amount of overlap between noun and classifier, (ii) the semantic (mis)match between verb and classifier, and (iii) the typicality of contextual interaction.

Method

Participants of the 6 different languages watched the same 24 video vignettes; these were designed to investigate the use of classifiers when the items depicted in the vignettes are used in different interactional contexts. Participants were asked to describe in one simple sentence what the actor was doing with their possessions, thus evoking a possessive classifier. Since the classifier inventories vary across the sample languages, we tested their three main classifier categories – GENERAL, DRINK, and FOOD.

Results

Initial results for the Video Vignette task can be found in our Exling proceedings paper: Uncovering variation in classifier assignment in Oceanic.

Data

Raw Data for all experiments can be found on our project page at the UK Data Service.

A Nêlêmwa speaker watching the video vignettes with project consultant Anne-Laure Dotte behind