Ye, Zhengdao (2000). The language of emotions in Chinese: A study based on Hong Lou Meng. MA thesis, Australian National University.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2000) Emotions in the gospels
Wierzbicka, Anna (2000). *Semantics, emotions and the meaning of the gospels. In Teresa Cabré, & Cristina Gelpi (Eds.), Lèxic, corpus i diccionaris (pp.103-121). Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Institut Universitari de Lingüística Aplicada.
(2000) English (Middle) – Emotions (joy)
Fabiszak, Małgorzata (2000). An application of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage to diachronic semantics. In Irma Taavitsainen, Terttu Nevalainen, Päivi Pahta, & Matti Rissanen (Eds.), Placing Middle English in context (pp. 293-312). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110869514.293
This paper is a methodological exercise in which Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), developed as a method of objective description in cross-cultural research, is applied to diachronic data concerning four Middle English emotion terms from the semantic field of ‘joy’. Wierzbicka’s framework provides the means for describing the data neatly, improves their processing, and contributes to the efficiency of their presentation. The application of her formal methodology has made the usage patterns characteristic of the analysed emotion terms more transparent and easier to generalise over.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
(2000) Iban – Emotions
Metom, Lilly (2000). An application and interpretation of Iban emotion concepts of shame/shyness, anger and apology using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage and concrete/abstract cultural continuum. In Michael Leigh (Ed.), Borneo 2000: Ethnicity, culture and society. Proceedings of the Sixth Biennial Borneo Research Conference (pp. 250-277). Kuching: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
Cultures differ in their style of communication. Iban culture is no exception. The style of interaction and communication of the Ibans is also unique; expressions of emotion in Iban cannot be simply explained or translated into English since meanings and use of the expressions are culture-specific. Furthermore, drawing on the fact that Iban people are more “concrete” in their relation with other members of the group, expressions of emotion such as anger, embarrassment, joy, fear and others are normally conveyed non-verbally. Hence, this paper explores and investigates how these emotion concepts are expressed and used in the daily conduct of the Iban people. Three categories of selected Iban emotions are explicated and analysed here, namely the emotion expression of shame/shyness, the emotion expression of anger, and the emotion expression of apology. In order to explain culturally the emotion words, Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) is used as an analytical tool to explicate the words, so as to avoid ethnocentric bias.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
(2000) Japanese – Emotions
Hasada, Rie (2000). An exploratory study of expression of emotions in Japanese: Towards a semantic interpretation. PhD thesis, Australian National University. PDF (open access)
The present study explores the emotional world of Japanese people. Using the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory, this thesis attempts to explicate the conceptual organization of aspects of Modern Standard Japanese, with a special focus on the lexicon. This thesis also aims to explicate the cultural norms that are related to the emotion words/expressions with the use of culture-independent, universal Natural Semantic Metalanguage. A great amount of data is taken from various sources: TV or radio broadcasting, actual conversation, published literature both in Japanese and English, film scripts, dialogues in magazines, newspaper/magazine articles, comic books, advertisements, letters, dictionaries, and popular songs.
The work is organized in the following way. Chapter 1 is the introduction. Chapter 2 consists of a review of the literature on emotions and includes philosophical, anthropological, and psychological approaches. Chapter 3 demonstrates the importance of linguistic study for the research on emotions, and suggests the Natural Semantic Metalanguage as the most appropriate method for achieving the main goals of this thesis. Chapter 4 discusses the grammatical features of emotion expression sentences. Chapter 5 deals with those body parts terms which are related to emotions in Japanese. Chapters 6 to 11 explicate the meanings of various Japanese emotion words and expressions. Chapter 12 focuses on communication of nonverbal emotion in Japanese culture. Chapter 13 examines characteristic Japanese speakers’ attitudes towards emotions. Chapter 14 is the conclusion.
Wherever possible, the thesis seeks to probe into culturally-based aspects of the conceptual structure of emotion words/expressions, by drawing on a variety of anthropological, psychological, and sociological studies of Japanese society.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Amharic – Emotions
Amberber, Mengistu (2001). Testing emotional universals in Amharic. In Jean Harkins & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 39-72). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110880168.35
In her 1999 book Emotions across languages and cultures: Diversity and universals, Wierzbicka proposes the following set of working hypotheses:
a. All languages have a word for FEEL.
b. In all languages, feelings can be described as “good” or “bad”.
c. All languages have “emotive” interjections (i.e. interjections expressing cognitively-based feelings).
d. All languages have some “emotion terms” (i.e. terms for cognitively-based feelings).
e. All languages have words overlapping (though not identical) in meaning with the English words ‘angry’, ‘afraid’, and ‘ashamed’.
f. All languages have words comparable (though not necessarily identical) in meaning to ‘cry’ and ‘smile’.
g. In all languages, people can describe cognitively-based feelings via observable bodily symptoms.
h. In all languages, cognitively-based feelings can be described via bodily sensations.
i. In all languages, cognitively-based feelings can be described via figurative “bodily images”.
j. In all languages, there are alternative grammatical constructions for describing (and interpreting) cognitively-based feelings.
The main purpose of the present study is to test the above set of hypotheses in Amharic. The description and analysis presented in the study shows that emotional universals are borne out by the Amharic data. Explications are proposed for words that roughly correspond to the English phrases be happy/be joyful, be sad/be disappointed, be angry at someone/rebuke/reprimand, be ashamed/be embarrassed/be shy, his face became ashen (with fright), I felt sorry.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Arrernte – Emotions
Harkins, Jean (2001). Talking about anger in Central Australia. In Jean Harkins, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 201-220). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110880168.197
This exploration of a small group of emotion expressions in the Arrernte language of Central Australia takes the view that it is useful and illuminating, when investigating emotional or other meanings, to cultivate awareness of the cultural and intercultural dimensions of the enterprise, and to see both the processes and outcomes of the investigation in this light. It demonstrates the practicality of the NSM approach in facilitating intercultural discussion and understanding of people’s emotional life and behaviour in cultural context, and, furthermore, as a tool for stating meanings in the language of inquiry.
This small study has found confirmation for several of the hypotheses about emotional meanings put forward by Wierzbicka and other practitioners of the NSM approach to semantic analysis, and has raised some questions about other parts of the theory. There was surprising convergence between the Arrernte perceptions and the NSM picture of emotions as cognitively based feelings. Arrernte anger-like feelings all contain the impulse to act, proposed as a universal of anger-like feelings by Wierzbicka (1999). The Arrernte ayeye akweke did not have the full prototype structure for cognitively based feelings (“sometimes a person thinks…”, etc.) proposed by Wierzbicka (1999). An attempt to apply such a frame rendered the ayeye akweke unintelligible in Arrernte, and it is not entirely clear how this problem could be resolved, or whether it would be appropriate to do so. A simplified frame for practical definitional purposes may be the way to go, as it could very well be the case that the full prototype structure is a little too abstract for workable natural language definitions.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Chinese – Emotions
Ye, Zhengdao (2001). An inquiry into “sadness” in Chinese. In Jean Harkins, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 359-404). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110880168.359
This paper attempts to overcome the methodological problems that plague emotion studies by relying on the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). Through the explication of three so-called “sadness-like” Chinese emotion terms (悲 bēi, 哀 ai, and 愁 chóu), this paper will show how the NSM approach can provide a neutral comparative grid for further inquiries into the meaning of emotion concepts across languages and cultures.
The paper first provides a very general discussion of the Chinese emotion lexicon from a morphological point of view, followed by an in-depth semantic analysis of 悲 bēi, 哀 ai, and 愁 chóu in NSM. The discussion draws on linguistic evidence, including well-known textual examples, lexicalized items and conventionalized phrases and idioms that are familiar to the Chinese ear.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Chinese – Emotions
Kornacki, Paweł (2001). Concepts of anger in Chinese. In Jean Harkins, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 259-292). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110880168.255
This paper focuses on five Mandarin Chinese words – 怒 nu, 生气 shēngqì, 恼(火) nao(huo), 憤 fen, 討厭 taoyan – as well as their figurative associations and elaborations, all of which are pertinent to the conceptualization of the “emotions” often rendered with, or comparable to, the English words angry or anger. Ever since Darwin’s classic treatment of emotions, “anger”, “something like anger”, or “a family of anger concepts/expressions” have been recurrently proposed by a number of Western psychologists as one of the “fundamental”, “universal”, “primitive” or “basic” human “emotions”, but this approach has also been criticized. My aim here will be to examine some of the insights that the analysis of the Chinese lexical data might contribute to this debate.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Chinese (Mandarin) – ‘Sadness’
Ye, Zhengdao (2001). Los sentimientos morales de la “tristeza” china: una ilustración del acercamiento del Metalenguaje Semántico Natural (MSN) al análisis de algunas emociones chinas “básicas” [Moral feelings of “sadness” in Chinese: An illustration of the NSM approach to the analysis of some “basic” Chinese emotions]. Isegoría, 25, 201-222.
Written in Spanish.
This study undertakes, within the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach developed by Anna Wierzbicka and colleagues, a detailed contrastive and comparative semantic analysis of a couple of Chinese emotion concepts: 悲 bēi and 哀 ai (often glossed interchangeably as sadness, sorrow, and grief), which are considered to be basic emotions in traditional Chinese philosophical texts. It illustrates that (a) they are by no means interchangeable, nor are they equivalent of the Western idea of sadness, (b) they are artifacts of the Chinese culture, shaped by Chinese people’s social and moral experiences, and their view of life and the universe. Essentially, 悲 bēi encompasses a fatalistic view, and 哀 ai is a moral emotion.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective [BOOK]
Harkins, Jean, & Wierzbicka, Anna (Eds.) (2001). Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110880168
Abstract:
This volume aims to enrich the current interdisciplinary theoretical discussion of human emo-tions by presenting studies based on extensive linguistic data from a wide range of languages of the world. Each language-specific study gives detailed semantic descriptions of the meanings of culturally salient emotion words and expressions, offering fascinating insights into people’s emotional lives in diverse cultures including Amharic, Chinese, German, Japanese, Lao, Malay, Mbula, Polish and Russian.
The book is unique in its emphasis on empirical language data, analysed in a framework free of ethnocentrism and not dependent upon English emotion terms, but relying instead on independently established conceptual universals. Students of languages and cultures, psychology and cognition will find this volume a rich resource of description and analysis of emotional meanings in cultural context.
Table of contents:
Introduction (Anna Wierzbicka, Jean Harkins)
Testing emotional universals in Amharic (Mengistu Amberber)
Emotions and the nature of persons in Mbula (Robert D. Bugenhagen)
Why Germans don’t feel”anger” (Uwe Durst)
Linguistic evidence for a Lao perspective on facial expression of emotion (N. J. Enfield)
Hati: A key word in the Malay vocabulary of emotion (Cliff Goddard)
Talking about anger in Central Australia (Jean Harkins)
Meanings of Japanese sound-symbolic emotion words (Rie Hasada)
Concepts of anger in Chinese (Pawel Kornacki)
Human emotions viewed through the Russian language (Irina B. Levontina, Anna A. Zalizniak)
A culturally salient Polish emotion: Przykro (pron. pshickro) (Anna Wierzbicka)
An inquiry into “sadness” in Chinese (Zhengdao Ye)
Each chapter has its own entry, where additional information is provided.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) German – Emotions
Durst, Uwe (2001). Why Germans don’t feel “anger”. In Jean Harkins, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 119-152). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110880168.115
There is no German word that perfectly matches the English word anger, and none of the German words Ärger, Wut, and Zorn has a clear counterpart in English. Each of the German words has a meaning that is somewhat different, and there is no evidence for the “basicness” of one of these words. To grasp their meanings and to be able to compare them and to define them, we have to submit each word to a detailed semantic analysis.
In this paper, the lexical items Ärger, Wut, and Zorn, which constitute the most frequent and most common ‘anger’ words in German, are subjected to semantic and comparative investigation. The analysis is given within the theoretical framework of the NSM approach to semantics, which has turned out to be a most useful way to gain suitable results for this task.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Indonesian – Emotions
Mulyadi (2001). Konsep emosi dalam Bahasa Melayu [Emotion concepts in Malay]. Dewan Bahasa, February 2001, 28-35.
(2001) Introduction [to Harkins & Wierzbicka (2001)]
Wierzbicka, Anna, & Harkins, Jean (2001). Introduction. In Jean Harkins, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.) (2001), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 1-34). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110880168.1
Abstract:
The purpose of the crosslinguistic studies presented in this volume is to demonstrate how the tools of linguistic analysis can be applied to produce more accurate descriptions of the meanings of emotion words and, more generally, ways of speaking about emotions in different languages. Such analyses of linguistic meaning not only complement findings from other approaches to the study of emotions, but help to resolve methodological problems that arise when these other approaches have to deal with data from different languages. Before proceeding to the language-specific studies, we draw readers’ attention to the relevance of language in the study of human emotions, and give some background to the approaches to analysing language data that are used in these studies.
By presenting detailed semantic descriptions of culturally-situated meanings of culturally salient words used in the “emotion talk” in different cultures, we can offer glimpses into other people’s emotional lives – without
imposing on those lives a perspective derived from the vocabulary and other resources of our own native language. Since the descriptions presented here are phrased in universal, that is, shared, concepts, they can be
both faithful to the perspective of the speaker whose emotions we purport to be talking about, and intelligible to others. (These others include scholars, who often don’t seem to realise that they too are speakers of another
language, with their own spectacles, tinted by their own native language.) We can combine the insiders’ point of view with intelligibility to outsiders.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Japanese – Emotions
Hasada, Rie (2001). Meanings of Japanese sound-symbolic emotion words. In Jean Harkins & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 221-258). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110880168.217
It has often been noted that the Japanese language is rich in sound-symbolic words, which form a conspicuous group in the Japanese lexicon. Japanese onomatopoeic words are generally referred to as giongo-gitaigo, and divided into three classes. The first class is phonomimes (giseigo/giongo), which imitate sounds. The second class is phenomimes (gitaigo), which describe appearances, states, conditions of the external world. The third class is psychomimes (gijoogo), which express one’s inner feelings or mental conditions. Phenomimes and psychomimes are often called mimetic words, as opposed to phonomimes which are called (sound-)onomatopoeia.
Japanese everyday conversation is full of these sound-symbolic words. In contrast to the Indo-European languages whose sound-symbolic words are mostly phonomimes (sound-onomatopoeia), Japanese has more mimetic words than sound-onomatopoeic words. It has also been noted that Japanese is rich in psychomimes that describe various emotion/sensation states.
While nonnative speakers of Japanese will certainly face difficulties in acquiring psychomimetic words, they need to master the correct use of them if they wish to communicate effectively with Japanese people. Psychomimetic words play a vital role in Japanese everyday language life, and thus they are an indispensable key for outsiders to understand the Japanese people and culture.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Malay – Cultural key words / Emotions / Ethnopsychology and personhood
Goddard, Cliff (2001). Hati: A key word in the Malay vocabulary of emotion. In Jean Harkins, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 167-195). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110880168.167
Abstract:
The word hati is one of the key words of Malay culture: it functions as a conceptual focal point for an entire complex of characteristically Malay values, attitudes and expectations. By studying the meaning and uses of this one word we can learn a surprising amount about Malay culture – in particular, about the conceptualization of emotion in Malay culture.
The aims of this paper are threefold: first, to outline the range of use and collocational possibilities of hati, informally comparing and contrasting it with English heart; second, to advance and argue for an explicit semantic explication of hati in its core or central meaning (as in an expression like hati orang ‘a person’s hati‘); third, to explicate the semantics of five common fixed expressions involving hati, all of which designate what we might term feeling states or emotional reactions: susah hati ‘troubled, worried’, senang hati ‘relaxed, easy at heart’; sakit hati ‘annoyed, offended’, puas hati ‘satisfied (with someone)’, and kecil hati ‘feel hurt’.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Mbula – Emotions, personhood
Bugenhagen, Robert D. (2001). Emotions and the nature of persons in Mbula. In Jean Harkins, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 73-118). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110880168.69
The present paper seeks to precisely specify the meanings of a number of emotion expressions in the Mbula language of Papua New Guinea, focussing on those involving body part images. In doing so, use is made of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage.
Explications are proposed for a number of mata- phrases, many of which relate to seeing (mata = ‘eye’) and to emotions triggered by seeing (e.g. jealousy). Lele- phrases (lele = ‘insides’), kete- phrases (kete = ‘chest/liver’), ni- phrases (ni = ‘being’), kuli- phrases (kuli = ‘skin’), and kopo- phrases (kopo = ‘stomach’) are surveyed as well, each with their related emotions. Body parts less frequently used in body image
expressions are included towards the end of the paper
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Polish – Emotions (PRZYKRO)
Wierzbicka, Anna (2001). A culturally salient Polish emotion: Przykro [pron. ‘pshickro]. In Jean Harkins, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 337-357). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110880168.337
Abstract:
The author analyses, on the basis of naturally occurring examples, the Polish word przykro, which, she argues, plays an important role in Polish emotion talk. She compares and contrasts this word with its closest English counterparts, such as hurt, offended, sorry, and sad, and she shows how each of these English words differs in meaning from the Polish key word przykro. To be able to show, clearly and precisely, what these differences are, she uses NSM and, in doing so, seeks to demonstrate the explanatory power of the proposed framework (the “NSM” semantic theory). At the same time, the author shows how language-specific lexical categories such as the Polish word przykro are linked with a culture’s core values. She also shows the cultural implications of the lexical category “hurt” in Anglo culture, and discusses the cultural implications of the absence of a word like przykro in English, and of a word like hurt in Polish.
More information:
Also published as:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2001). A culturally salient Polish emotion: Przykro [‘pshickro]. The International Journal of Group Tensions, 30(1), 3-27. DOI: 10.1023/a:1026697815334
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) Russian – Emotions
Levontina, Irina B. & Zalizniak, Anna A. (2001). Human emotions viewed through the Russian language. In Jean Harkins & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 291-336). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110880168.291
Russian emotions can be studied in two ways. First, by searching for specifically Russian words, i.e. words comprising conceptual configurations peculiar to the Russian language and missing in other languages. Second, by dealing with words that refer to universal human categories and can be translated into other languages, but have some language-specific aspects of meaning. This paper analyses words of both types. The authors do not aim to provide a complete description of the world of feelings in Russian. They focus on those concepts that are not mentioned in the literature or have not been described in detail. In so doing, they try to uncover various aspects of the emotional life of a person who speaks Russian.
Explications are provided for обида obida ‘resentment’, стыдно stydno / совестно sovestno ‘ashamed’, and неудобно neudobno ‘uncomfortable’.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2002) Chinese (Mandarin) – Emotions and the body
Ye, Zhengdao (2002). Different modes of describing emotions in Chinese: Bodily changes, sensations, and bodily images. Pragmatics & Cognition, 10, 307-339. DOI: 10.1075/pc.10.12.13ye
In Chinese talk about emotions, the body is linguistically codified in different ways. There are three general modes of emotion description: one that relies on externally observable (involuntary) bodily changes, a second one that relies on sensations, and a third one that relies on figurative bodily images. While an attempt is made to introduce a typology of subcategories within each mode of emotion description, the paper focuses on the meaning of different iconic descriptions through the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). On the one hand, the linguistic evidence, from a Chinese perspective, attests to the emotional universals proposed by Wierzbicka (1999). On the other, it points to cultural diversity in the bodily conceptualization and interpretation of emotional experiences, which are crystallized in the linguistic conventions of Chinese emotion talk, including certain syntactic constructions. The paper also demonstrates the importance of examining the language of emotions in emotion studies, and concludes that a full account of emotions must include an examination of the language used to talk about them.
Explications are included for the following words and phrases: 煎熬 jiān’áo ‘simmering and stewing’, xin xiang zhen zha side ‘(my) heart is being pricked by needles’, 胆破 dǎn pò ‘broken gallbladders’, 魂不附体 hún bú fù tǐ ‘escaped souls’, 牵肠挂肚 qiān cháng guà dù ‘pulling on an intestine and hanging on a stomach’, xuan xin ‘heart dangling’, 心里七上八下 xīn li qī shàng bā xià ‘a heart like seven up and eight down’, 肝火 gānhuǒ ‘liver fire’.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
