wrul (they, iel, etc) commented on A Myriad of Tongues by Caleb Everett
We tend to assume that all languages categorize ideas and objects similarly, reflecting our common …
As [Asifa] Majid and her colleague Niclas Burenhult observed about Jahai, “The term Itpit is used to describe the smell of various flowers and ripe fruit, including intense smell of durian, perfume, soap, Aquillaria wood, and bearcat (Arctictis binturong), which, according to Wikipedia, smells like popcorn.” [10] Note that the abstract term Itpit is a verb in Jahai, so rather than saying, “It smells like popcorn in this movie theater,” I might say something akin to “It sure Itpits in this movie theater.” I could then use that abstract term in any similarly smelling room. Another term, Cnes, is used by Jahai speakers to refer to the smell of smoke, the smell of a particular species of millipede, and the smell of the wood of the wild mango tree, among other uses.
⸻ pg. 123
Footnote:
[10]. See also Niclas Burenhult and Asifa Majid, “Olfaction in Aslian …
As [Asifa] Majid and her colleague Niclas Burenhult observed about Jahai, “The term Itpit is used to describe the smell of various flowers and ripe fruit, including intense smell of durian, perfume, soap, Aquillaria wood, and bearcat (Arctictis binturong), which, according to Wikipedia, smells like popcorn.” [10] Note that the abstract term Itpit is a verb in Jahai, so rather than saying, “It smells like popcorn in this movie theater,” I might say something akin to “It sure Itpits in this movie theater.” I could then use that abstract term in any similarly smelling room. Another term, Cnes, is used by Jahai speakers to refer to the smell of smoke, the smell of a particular species of millipede, and the smell of the wood of the wild mango tree, among other uses.
⸻ pg. 123
Footnote:
[10]. See also Niclas Burenhult and Asifa Majid, “Olfaction in Aslian Ideology and Language,” Sense and Society 6 (2011) 19–29.