Folkbiology in endangered languages: Cognitive universals and lexical relativity.

This article examines the classification of living kinds in folkbiology from a linguistic perspective, focusing on endangered Indigenous languages and ecosystems. It argues that the traditional dichotomy between universalist approaches—emphasizing shared cognitive patterns in human perception—and relativist approaches—highlighting cultural specificity in naming systems—is false. While universal taxonomic hierarchies based on visual perception exist across cultures, Indigenous languages encode ecological and cultural knowledge in diverse, often nontranslatable ways, including parallel classification systems and fluid naming practices influenced by belief systems. The paper emphasizes the importance of respecting lexical relativity—the idea that word meanings are language-specific—in ethnobiological research and language revitalization efforts, advocating for interdisciplinary collaboration to support biocultural diversity conservation.