Abstract
The human sense of smell can accomplish astonishing feats, yet there remains a prevailing belief that olfactory language is deficient. Numerous studies with English speakers support this view: there are few terms for odors, odor talk is infrequent, and naming odors is difficult. However, this is not true across the world. Many languages have sizeable smell lexicons — smell is even grammaticalized. In addition, for some cultures smell talk is more frequent and odor naming easier. This linguistic variation is as yet unexplained but could be the result of ecological, cultural, or genetic factors or a combination thereof. Different ways of talking about smells may shape aspects of olfactory cognition too. Critically, this variation sheds new light on this important sensory modality.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 111-123 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Trends in Cognitive Sciences |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 18 Dec 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Supported by a Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation Jubilee Initiative Grant ( NHS14 1665:1 ). Thanks to the following people for help with figures, permission to reproduce photographs, and comments on an earlier draft: Emma James, Artin Arshamian, Kimberly Battista, Ewelina Wnuk, Carolyn O’Meara, and Cathy Marlett.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- cognition
- culture
- language
- olfaction
- olfactory experts
- psycholinguistics