Spatial Language and Geographic Information Systems: Cross-linguistic Issues (el Lenguaje Espacial Y Los Sistemas De Informacion Geograficos: Temas

The great majority of existing geographic information systems have been designed by English or German speakers. Since human natural languages impose structure on the cognition and perception of space, time, and other concepts, GIS data models, and especially GIS query languages and human interfaces, can be expected to contain artifacts of the language spoken by their designers, most commonly English. At a practical level, natural language studies, particularly those based on cognitive linguistics, are important issues for the designers of geographical information systems, because GISs of the future should be able to handle natural language in a number of situations. We propose that the design of any natural language modules for GIS should be based on language universals and language primitives derived from cross-linguistic studies of geographic concepts and relations. Otherwise, it will be even more difficult to transfer English-designed systems into the many other languages that can be expected to make up an ever-increasing proportion of GIS markets in the future. This paper expands on the general principles of cognitive linguistics mentioned above, with emphasis on cross-linguistic issues. Then, we will present a more detailed study of the primitive geographic relations represented in most Indo-European languages by prepositions. We will concentrate on differences between English and Spanish, but also draw on other languages.