Goddard, Cliff, & Wierzbicka, Anna (Eds.) (2002). Meaning and universal grammar: Theory and empirical findings. 2 volumes. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.60 (vol. 1), 10.1075/slcs.61 (vol. 2)
This book develops a bold new approach to universal grammar, based on research findings of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) program. The key idea is that universal grammar is constituted by the inherent grammatical properties of some 60 empirically established semantic primes, which appear to have concrete exponents in all languages. For six typologically divergent languages (Mangaaba-Mbula, Mandarin Chinese, Lao, Malay, Spanish and Polish), contributors (Robert D. Bugenhagen, Hilary Chappell, N.J. Enfield, Cliff Goddard, Catherine Travis, and Anna Wierzbicka, respectively) identify exponents of the primes and work through a substantial set of hypotheses about their combinatorics, valency properties, complementation options, etc. Each study can also be read as a semantically-based typological profile. Four theoretical chapters by the editors describe the NSM approach and its application to grammatical typology. As a study of empirical universals in grammar, this book is unique for its rigorous semantic orientation, its methodological consistency, and its wealth of cross-linguistic detail.
All chapters in this volume are also listed separately. For more details on individual chapters, see the relevant entry.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
