Goddard, Cliff (1997). The universal syntax of semantic primitives. Language Sciences, 19(3), 197-207. DOI: 10.1016/S0388-0001(96)00059-9
Anna Wierzbicka’s ‘Natural Semantic Metalanguage’ (NSM) theory has given rise to a new approach to investigating the fundamentals of syntax. The central idea is that all languages share an irreducible core which consists of a set of universal semantic primitives with certain universal combinatorial (i.e. syntactic) properties. This paper outlines a series of hypotheses about the universal syntax of semantic primitives – hypotheses which are tested in the individual language studies which comprise the rest of the volume. Topics include: the valency options and complementation possibilities of primitive predicates such as DO, HAPPEN, WANT, THINK, SAY and KNOW, the grammar of temporal and locative primitives (such as WHEN/TIME, BEFORE, AFTER, WHERE/PLACE, ABOVE, BELOW, NEAR, FAR), and of the conditional IF…) and counterfactual IF…WOULD) constructions.
