Art Universals
Some of the human universals that come into play for art-making:
abstraction in speech and thought
actions under self-control distinguished from those not under control
aesthetics
anthropomorphization
anticipation
antonyms
baby talk
belief in supernatural/religion
beliefs about death
beliefs, false
black (color term)
body adornment
classification
classification of behavioral propensities
classification of colors
classification of inner states
classification of space
classification of tools
clusters
coalitions
collective identities
conjectural reasoning
containers
continua (ordering as cognitive pattern)
contrasting marked and nonmarked sememes (meaningful elements in language)
cooking
cooperation
cooperative labor
critical learning periods
culture
culture/nature distinction
daily routines
dance
decision making
differential valuations
directions, giving of
discrepancies between speech, thought, and action
diurnality
divination
division of labor
dreams/dream interpretation
emotions
empathy
entification (treating patterns and relations as things)
environment, adjustments to
explanation
face (word for)
facial communication
figurative speech
fire
folklore
future, attempts to predict
gestures
grammar
hairstyles
hope
identity, collective
imagery
intention
interest in bioforms (living things or things that resemble them)
interpolation
intertwining (eg, weaving)
jokes
language
language employed to manipulate others
language is translatable
language not a simple reflection of reality
leaders
lever
linguistic redundancy
logical notion of ‘and’
logical notion of ‘equivalent’
logical notion of ‘general/particular’
logical notion of ‘not’
logical notion of ‘opposite’
logical notion of ‘part/whole’
logical notion of ‘same’
logical notions (other)
magic
magic to increase life
magic to sustain life
magic to win love
marking at phonemic, syntactic, and lexical levels
meaning, most units of are non-universal
measuring
melody
memory
mental maps
mentalese
metaphor
metonym
mood- or consciousness-altering techniques and/or substances
moral sentiments
moral sentiments, limited effective range of
music
music related in part to dance
music related in part to religious activity
music seen as art (a creation)
music, children’s
music, vocal
music, vocal, includes speech forms
musical redundancy
musical repetition
musical variation
myths
narrative
nomenclature (perhaps the same as classification)
nonbodily decorative art
normal distinguished from abnormal states
numerals (counting)
one (numeral)
overestimating objectivity of thought
past/present/future
person, concept of
phonemes
phonemes defined by set of minimally contrasting features
phonemes, merging of
phonemes, range from 10 to 70 in number
phonemic change, inevitability of
phonemic change, rules of
phonemic system
planning
planning for future
play
play to perfect skills
poetic line, uniform length range
poetic lines characterized by repetition and variation
poetic lines demarcated by pauses
poetry/rhetoric
polysemy (one word has several meanings)
practice to improve skills
precedence, concept of (that’s how the leopard got its spots)
pretend play
private inner life
pronouns, minimum two numbers
proverbs, sayings
proverbs, sayings – in mutually contradictory forms
recognition of individuals by face
rhythm
risk-taking
rituals
role and personality seen in dynamic interrelationship (ie, departures from role can be explained in terms of individual personality)
self as neither wholly passive nor wholly autonomous
self as subject and object
semantic category of affecting things and people
semantic category of dimension
semantic category of giving
semantic category of location
semantic category of motion
semantic category of other physical properties
semantic components
semantic components, generation
semantics (other)
sememes, commonly used ones are short, infrequently used ones are longer
senses unified
social structure
socialization
special speech for special occasions
stop/nonstop contrasts (in speech sounds)
symbolic speech
symbolism
synesthetic metaphors
synonyms
taxonomy
time
time, cyclic
tool dependency
tool making
tools
tools for cutting
tools for pounding
tools patterned culturally
tools to make tools
tools, permanent
triangular awareness (assessing relationships among the self and two other people)
true and false distinguished
two (numeral)
tying material (ie, something like string)
units of time
white (color term)
world view
