Goddard, Cliff (2006). Verbal explication and the place of NSM semantics in Cognitive Linguistics. In June Luchjenbroers (Ed.), Cognitive Linguistics investigations: Across languages, fields and philosophical boundaries (pp. 189-218). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/hcp.15.14god
This paper argues that verbal explication has an indispensable role to play in semantic/conceptual representation. The diagrams used within Cognitive Linguistics are not semiotically self-contained and cannot be interpreted without overt or covert verbal support. Many also depend on culture-specific iconography. When verbal representation is employed in mainstream Cognitive Linguistics, as in work on prototypes, cultural models and conceptual metaphor, this is typically done in an under-theorized fashion without adequate attention to the complexity and culture-specificity of the representation. Abstract culture-laden vocabulary also demands a rich propositional style of representation, as shown with contrastive examples from Malay, Japanese and English. As the only stream of Cognitive Linguistics with a well-theorized and empirically grounded approach to verbal explication, the NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) framework has much to offer cognitive linguistics at large.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
