Riddling and Enculturation: A Glance at the Cerebral Child

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Can’t use the file because of accessibility barriers? Contact us with the title of the item, permanent link, and specifics of your accommodation need.

Date

1976

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Working Papers in Sociolinguistics

Abstract

This paper attempts to illustrate with concrete data that riddles serve as a didactic device to sharpen the wits of young children. The riddle is described as a verbal routine which adapts the interrogative system of a speech community to purposes of play. Piddles concerning motion or locomotion of animal, machines and toys were collected in a single riddling session, from three Chicano children aged 5-7. The output of these neophyte riddles is discussed in the context of the acquisition and refinement of cognitive categories, and a folk taxonomy focused on the semantic domain of locomotion is suggested. Riddling is viewed as a didactic mechanism conducive to experimentation with received notions of order, and elaboration of novel cognitive orders. In riddlirg, at various stages, children learn to formulate culturally acceptable classifications; to articulate classifications at variance with cultural conventions; and finally to assess language and classification as arbitrary instruments reflecting only partially the continuous texture of experience.

Description

Keywords

Citation

McDowell, John H. "Riddling and Enculturation: A Glance at the Cerebral Child," (1976) Working Papers in Sociolinguistics, no. 36, 1-16.

Journal

DOI

Link(s) to data and video for this item

Relation

Rights

Type

Working Paper