Walking while Talking: A Cross-Linguistic Study of the Moving Speech Situation among Mobile Foragers

This project investigates human language in the very environment in which it has evolved, is acquired, and veryfrequently is used: while walking.

Yet, moving communication contexts differ significantly from static ones, asthey are dynamic: it is in this moving realm where the speech situation is fluid, where reference and topicenvironments unfold, and where our bodies interact in ever-changing ways with each other and with theenvironment.

This unique fleeting character of walking and the challenges it yields for perception and experienceis prone to impact grammar, lexicon, and verbal interaction profoundly.

While linguistics extensively studies howhumans talk about motion, the impact of motion on language remains underexplored.

To bridge this gap, I ask:how can language be shaped by the unique perceptual nature of mobility, and how does this affect ourunderstanding of language once we factor mobility into explanations of linguistic phenomena?

Walk and Talkbreaks new ground in the language sciences by introducing mobility as an underexplored realm to linguisticresearch.

To this end, I and my team of language specialists will conduct a cross-linguistic investigation intogrammar and lexicon as they unfold in real time when traditionally mobile Indigenous foragers are walking.

Myapproach involves innovating methodologies for studying language in motion and a data collection from a diverselanguage sample to reach Walk and Talk’s overarching goal. That is, the development of an explanatory modeldescribing how language takes shape in dynamic speech contexts.

To accomplish these objectives, the researchagenda is tailored to: describe, explore, and compare language use in moving speech settings, explain therelationship between mobility and language, and document language practices in moving contexts.