Neale, Miles (2015). A comparison of English and Japanese proverbs using Natural Semantic Metalanguage. New Voices in Japanese Studies, 7, 85-101.
DOI: 10.21159/nvjs.07.05 / Open access
Abstract:
This study examines the meaning of semantically similar English and Japanese proverbs. It uses textual data sourced from online corpora to highlight and compare the different cultural and conceptual elements embedded within these proverbs. The findings demonstrate that matching proverbs from different languages is a potentially problematic exercise, both in dictionaries and in the second-language classroom.
The proverbs that are being explicated in NSM are (English) Look before you leap and (Japanese) Nen ni wa nen o ireyo (lit., ‘put care into care’), followed by (English) The proof of the pudding is in the eating and Japanese Ron yori shoko (lit., ‘argument less than proof/demonstration’).
Rating:
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
