The sea as a challenge for ecolinguistic research : proposing a comparative cognitive framework to unravel differences in conceptualisation

By a contrastive and comparative research between French and Wolof in Senegal, this paper interrogates in how far the conceptualisation of the environment is language-bound. This paper synthesises the psycholinguistic method Attribute Listing Task (ALT) with picture description, to create a comparative cognitive linguistic framework. In explaining the results of the mixed-methods approach, the paper draws on an awareness of cultural codes, which is in line with studies in anthropological linguistics. Such an interdisciplinary approach broadens the methodological framework of ecolinguistics to study fluid aspects of the environment as the sea. The study illustrates that while the conceptualisation of 'sea' largely corresponds between French and Wolof speakers, the conceptualisations of 'beach' significantly diverge. The Wolof term for 'beach', tefes, evokes words semantically related to fishing and has relevance as the entrance point to the sea. The terms associated with 'beach', plage, by French speakers point to the domains of sports, entertainment, and tourism. In describing photographs, French speakers, especially tourists, centrally utter their concern for plastic waste, while Wolof speakers point to an island in the background.