Universal meaning extensions of perception verbs are grounded in
3.3 Touch, taste and smell Touch, taste, and smell terms were rare in our data and were generally used with a literal perceptual sense. However, even this very small sample of conversation furnished a few examples of these terms with cognition-related connotations, as well as instances of touch terms expressing meanings of emotion, control, involvement, and obligation (see also Supplementary Materials: S22–S25).
In the Spanish data the experience of being touched was equated with experience and knowledge of something (8). Two friends are talking about a soap opera from the 1980s.
(8)
se
acuerda,
usted
le
tocó
eso o
no?
refl
remember,
2.sg.pol
3sg.dat
touch.pst
that or
not
‘Do you remember, did that one become known to you or not?’ (Spa_006/EN)
Taste and smell tokens in the database all referred to literal taste and olfaction. However, this could additionally be in the context of mental processes such as recognizing someone or finding something out, thereby showing a potential association with cognition. In Duna, the verb kori- ‘smell’ was used twice to describe how pigs are able to identify their owners by smell (9). In this conversation, the ability was being discussed as evidence of the superior mental ability of pigs (as opposed to other animals), suggesting that the sense of smell can be understood as indirectly relating to cognitive functions.
(9)
