Cultural Concepts of Person and Social Relationships in Tongan Language and Cultural Practices

This chapter analyzes linguistic forms and practices of person reference (particularly kinship terminology and honorific registers) in Tongan (a Polynesian language and society) to shed light on the underlying cognitive ideas of person and social relationships. The language data shows strong empirical evidence for a sociocentric person concept which is based on social stratification (status, rank, and mana) and reciprocity (mutual support). The existence of such a cultural concept emphasizing social relatedness is supported by anthropological data on non-linguistic practices (e.g., taboos, sitting order, and gift exchange) expressing the same fundamental idea. Consequently, the chapter argues for an interdisciplinary multi-methods approach (combining anthropological and linguistic investigations) in cultural model research to gain profound insights into the complex relationship of language, culture, and cognition.