Are tip-of-the-tongue states universal? Evidence from the speakers of an unwritten language.

Schwartz (1999, 2002) has claimed that tip-of-the-tongue states (TOTs) are universal. The studies reported in this paper examine this claim for illiterates, unschooled literates, and schooled readers, all speakers of an unwritten Guatemalan language. The first study showed that, although there was little evidence of a dedicated verbal expression for this state of consciousness in the Mayan language of Q'eqchi', a majority of participants in all three groups recognised a description of the phenomenology associated with tip-of-the-tongue states.