Immediacy of Experience and Linguistic Relativity: Epistemological Architectures in the Pirahã Debate
Articles
Sofia Segtovich Franklin
Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro image/svg+xml
Isadora de Carvalho Alvarez
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas image/svg+xml
Olivia Borges Salustiano
Federal University of São Carlos image/svg+xml
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2624-9910
Natália Gonçalves da Rocha
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro image/svg+xml
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3209-1133
Miroslav Horák
Mendel University in Brno image/svg+xml
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8327-8785
Published 2026-11-04
https://doi.org/10.15388/Problemos.2026.109.9
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Keywords

Pirahã
linguistic relativity
recursion
epistemology of language
immediacy of experience
explanatory architectures

How to Cite

Segtovich Franklin, S. et al. (2026) “Immediacy of Experience and Linguistic Relativity: Epistemological Architectures in the Pirahã Debate”, Problemos. Translated by N. Gonçalves da Rocha, 109, pp. 119–134. doi:10.15388/Problemos.2026.109.9.

Abstract

The Pirahã debate has been predominantly framed as an empirical dispute over recursion and universal grammar. This article argues that such framing leaves important epistemological assumptions insufficiently examined. Based on a systematic qualitative review of Web of Science-indexed publications (n = 25), the study uses structured coding to examine positions on recursion, conceptions of experience, and underlying epistemological assumptions. The qualitative synthesis was operationalised in a comparative matrix (Experience × Epistemology × Recursion × Relativity). The analysis identifies three ontologies of experience – data, norm, and structure – and four explanatory architectures: cultural–pragmatic, computational–universalist, methodological–formal, and ontological–phenomenological. It also situates the debate within weak linguistic relativity, including numerical cognition research on Pirahã. Across these perspectives, ‘immediacy of experience’ emerges as an epistemologically variable construct rather than a deterministic constraint. The article rejects strong determinism and reframes Pirahã as a limit case revealing competing hierarchies of explanation.

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Author contributions (CRediT)

  • Sofia Segtovich Franklin: Conceptualization, Writing – Review & Editing, Writing – Original Draft Preparation
  • Isadora de Carvalho Alvarez: Conceptualization, Writing – Review & Editing
  • Olivia Borges Salustiano: Conceptualization, Writing – Review & Editing
  • Natália Gonçalves da Rocha: Conceptualization, Writing – Review & Editing
  • Miroslav Horák: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Writing – Original Draft Preparation

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