Env → concept/expression of space
The maximum distance from the center of the island (Tikopia) to the coast is three-quarters of a mile. The native concept of space bears a distinct relation to this. They find it almost impossible to conceive of any really large land mass … I was once asked seriously by a group of them, ‘Friend, is there any land where the sound of the sea is not heard?’ Their confinement has another less obvious result. For all kinds of spatial reference they use the expressions inland and to seawards. Thus an axe lying on the floor of a house is localized in this way, and I have even heard a man direct the attention of another in saying: ‘There is a spot of mud on your seaward cheek.’
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