Amberber, Mengistu (2008). Semantic primes in Amharic. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Cross-linguistic semantics (pp. 83-119). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.102.09amb
Abstract:
This study explores the lexical exponents of the full set of NSM primes in Amharic. It is shown that the identification of the Amharic exponents of the semantic primes is straightforward and the syntactic properties of the primes do not present any particular difficulties. Nevertheless, there are some proposed exponents whose status requires further investigation. For instance, the prime MORE seems to have two lexical exponents, one of which is employed in nominal comparative contexts. There are also some exponents whose polysemous meanings must be clearly distinguished on formal grounds. Overall, the chapter attempts to provide a broad overview of the universal and language-specific combinatorial properties of semantic primes in Amharic.
Rating:
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
