Russel-Research-Method-in-Anthropology

536 Chapter 18
from coyote, indicates that the covert category contains more than what’s
listed in the figure). In a scientific taxonomy, foxes are not in the same genus
with dogs and wolves. The latter are in the genus Canis, while foxes are in the
genus Vulpes. Many speakers of English, however, classify foxes and wolves
in the category of ‘‘things in the dog family,’’ or ‘‘canines,’’ and a folk taxonomy
of English animal terms respects that.
The intermediate category of ‘‘cat’’ is not covert. How can you tell? As
D’Andrade says, you can say ‘‘Look at that cat!’’ if you’re talking about a
tiger, but it’s weird to say ‘‘Look at that dog’’ if you’re pointing to a fox, so
‘‘cat’’ is a named intermediate category and ‘‘dog’’ isn’t.
Two more things about figure 18.5. Note how we use words for generic animals
in English that would be at the species level in a scientific taxonomy
(wolf, coyote, and dog are all members of the genus Canis, species lupus,
latrans, and familiaris, respectively), and how the species level in the folk
taxonomy comprises names for subspecies in a scientific taxonomy.
Finally, look at how D’Andrade has placed octopus and snake in figure
18.5. The horizontal lines show that D’Andrade has classified these creatures
as nonaffiliated generics. They might be classified as life forms, but, as
D’Andrade points out, there are many nonaffiliated generics in the ocean,
including clams, lobsters, seahorses, jellyfish, and octopi.
Cultural Domains and Folk Taxonomies
It was quickly recognized that folk taxonomies could be developed for any
cultural domain, not just for ethnobotanical and ethnozoological knowledge,
and that we use folk taxonomies all the time to order our experience and guide
our behavior.
Take someone to a supermarket—one they’ve never been to before—and
ask them to find peanut butter. Follow them as they make their way around
the store and get them to talk about what they think they’re doing. Here’s a
typical response:
Well, let’s see, milk and eggs are over there by that wall, and the meat’s usually
next to that, and the canned goods are kind of in the middle, with the soaps and
paper towels and stuff on the other side, so we’ll go right in here, in the middle.
No, this is the soap aisle, so let’s go over to the right. Sure, here’s the coffee, so
it’s got to be on this aisle or the next, with cans of things like ravioli.
Any competent member of U.S. or Canadian culture will find the peanut
butter in a hurry, but not everything is so clear. Shredded coconut and walnuts
are often shelved with flour in the United States because they are used in bak-