Wierzbicka, Anna (1988). The semantics and lexicography of ‘natural kinds’. In Karl Hyldgaard-Jensen, & Arne Zettersten (Eds.), Symposium on Lexicography III (pp. 155-182). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.
Abstract:
The views advanced in the present paper can be summarized as follows:
- The names of animals (and of other ‘natural kinds’) can, and should, be defined.
- In defining such words (as any other words), scientific knowledge should be distinguished from meaning; the place for scientific knowledge is in an encyclopedia, the place for meaning is in a dictionary.
- In defining words for animals, the lexicographer should aim at capturing the ‘folk concept’. This means that the cultural stereotypes are just as important for a good definition as ‘objective’ information concerning the appearance or behaviour of the animal in question.
- Definitions should be couched in simple and generally understandable terms. The defining vocabulary should be very restricted and should be standardized; it should also be maximally culture-free and based, as far as possible, on lexical universals.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
