Body part terms in Kammu - A descriptive and comparative study

Abstract: This paper presents a survey of the body part domain in the Mon-Khmer language Kammu. The descriptive part of the paper consists of word lists with belonging discussions and illustrations. The two major systems of relations between body part terms are the hierarchical possessive system and the spatial system. These findings support the notion that we categorize our body in different coexisting systems. Kammu adheres to most of the posited body part universals, with the notable exception that in some contexts one can refer to the foot with greater detail than to the hand. The last part of the paper compares Kammu with the distantly related language Jahai and the unrelated Tai-Kadai language Lao. Lao has had a lot of influence over Kammu, and this has affected the body part categorization.