Optimal Categorisation: The Nature of Nominal Classification Systems

Few studies have explored nominal categorisation systems across different languages to investigate how linguistic categorisation affects cognition. In accordance with the results obtained from the card sorting experiment from 119 adults across six Oceanic languages from Vanuatu and New Caledonia, classifiers appear to give structure for cognition in both explicit and salient tasks. The study implies the influence of language on cognition varies between languages, and not all nominal systems of categorisation adopt this optimal trade-off between simplicity and informativeness.

Abstract

The debate as to whether language influences cognition has been long-standing but has yielded conflicting findings across domains such as colour and kinship categories. Fewer studies have investigated systems such as nominal classification (gender, classifiers) across different languages to examine the effects of linguistic categorisation on cognition. Effective categorisation needs to be informative to maximise communicative efficiency but also simple to minimise cognitive load. It, therefore, seems plausible to suggest that different systems of nominal classification have implications for the way speakers conceptualise relevant entities. A suite of seven experiments was designed to test this; here we focus on our card sorting experiment, which contains two sub-tasks — a free sort and a structured sort. Participants were 119 adults across six Oceanic languages from Vanuatu and New Caledonia, with classifier inventories ranging from two to 23.

The results of the card sorting experiment reveal that classifiers appear to provide structure for cognition in tasks where they are explicit and salient. The free sort task did not incite categorisation through classifiers, arguably as it required subjective judgment, rather than explicit instruction. This was evident from our quantitative and qualitative analyses. Furthermore, the languages employing more extreme categorisation systems displayed smaller variation in comparison to more moderate systems. Thus, systems that are more informative or more rigid appear to be more efficient. The study implies that the influence of language on cognition may vary across languages and that not all nominal classification systems employ this optimal trade-off between simplicity and informativeness. These novel data provide a new.

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A speaker of Iaai doing the card sorting experiment