Goddard, Cliff (2004). The atoms of meaning. IIAS Newsletter, 33, 17. PDF (open access)
Most linguists do not regard semantics (the systematic study of meaning) as a central part of their discipline. This is both strange and sad, because meaning is the link between language and communication, between language and culture, and between language and cognition. Lately, however, meaning-based approaches have been making a comeback within the broad movements known as cognitive linguistics and functional linguistics. This article concentrates on the leading meaning-based theory of language, the Natural Semantic Metalanguage or NSM theory originated by Anna Wierzbicka.
