Naming the Rooms: Implications of a Change in the Home Model

This article explores the lexical behavior of a sample of Italian subjects as regards the name given to the social space in their home. It is argued that differences in labeling the rooms can be accounted for by differences in the reference models adopted by the inhabitants. The article develops this hypothesis analyzing physical properties, activity patterns, and values expressed by the subjects in the framework of three different dwelling models related to recent changes in the structure of Italian society.