Browsing results for Mental states
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 22, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2003). Thinking across languages and cultures: Six dimensions of variation. Cognitive Linguistics, 14(2-3), 109-140.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cogl.2003.005
Abstract:
This article is an exercise in typological semantics. It adopts the principles of the NSM approach to survey cross-linguistic variation in ways of talking about ‘thinking’. It begins by summarizing research indicating that there is a universal semantic prime THINK that can provide a stable reference point for cross-linguistic comparison. Six different dimensions of variability are then canvassed: different patterns of lexical polysemy, different degrees and modes of lexical elaboration, different ethno-theories of the person, different ways in which think-related meanings can be encoded morphosyntactically, different cultural scripts that may encourage or discourage particular ways of thinking, and differing patterns of usage in discourse.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) believe that, (E) duša душа, (E) feel (+ adjective), (E) feel that, (E) hati, (E) hope, (E) love, (E) mind, (E) ná, (E) pleased, (E) się, (E) ter-, (E) think (+ clause), (E) think to (+ verb), (E) to (purposive), (E) tro, (E) worry, (S) freedom of speech, (S) I think vs I know, (S) inhibiting expression of opinions, (S) Philosophy of the Middle Way, (S) thinking
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 18, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2007). A culture-neutral metalanguage for mental state concepts. In Andrea C. Schalley, & Drew Khlentzos (Eds.), Mental states: Vol. 2. Language and cognitive structure (pp. 11-35). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.93.04god
Abstract:
In contemporary cognitive science, mental state concepts from diverse cultures are typically described via English-specific words for emotions, cognitive processes, and the like. This is terminological ethnocentrism, which produces inaccurate representations of indigenous meanings. The problem can be overcome by employing a metalanguage of conceptual analysis based on simple meanings such as KNOW, THINK, WANT and FEEL. Cross-linguistic semantic research suggests that these and other semantic primes are shared across all languages and cultures. After summarizing this research, the chapter shows how complex mental state concepts from English, Malay, Swedish, and Korean can be revealingly analysed into terms that are simple, clear and transposable across languages.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) amazed, (E) believe, (E) hati, (E) maum 몸, (E) mind, (E) shocked, (E) surprised, (E) terkejut, (E) terperanjat, (E) tro, (E) tycka
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on January 26, 2020.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2007). Is “remember” a universal human concept? “Memory” and culture. In Mengistu Amberber (Ed.), The language of memory in a cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 13-39). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.21.04wie
Abstract:
This paper argues that ‘remembering’ is not a universal human concept but a cultural construct, shared by some languages but not others. It also shows that culture-specific concepts like ‘remember’ and ‘memory’ can be explained and compared through genuinely elementary and universal NSM notions such as KNOW, THINK and BEFORE. To illustrate these general themes, the paper offers a detailed analysis of the Polish field of ‘memory’, linking Polish semantics with Polish history and culture.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) memories, (E) memory, (E) pamiątka, (E) remember, (E) wspomnienia
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 22, 2019.
Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2007). “Do you remember where you put the key?”: The Korean model of remembering. In Mengistu Amberber (Ed.), The language of memory in a crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 209-233). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.21.11yoo
Abstract:
The general treatment of the English concept ‘remember’ in cognitive science mistakenly suggests that it is a kind of innate human mental state that enjoys universal existence. This is denied by the existence of three translational equivalents of remember in Korean (sayngkakna-, kiekna- and kiekha-), which cannot be used indiscriminately: context is the decisive factor in the selection of the appropriate verb. This paper analyses the meanings of the selected Korean cognitive verbs that are employed as translational counterparts of remember. The NSM approach is adopted as the research framework for semantic analysis. Linguistic evidence is collected from various sources including corpora.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) kiekha, (E) kiekhaynay, (E) kiekna, (E) sayngkakna, (T) Korean
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 21, 2019.
Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2007). Mental states reflected in cognitive lexemes related to memory: A case in Korean. In Andrea C. Schalley, & Drew Khlentzos (Eds.), Mental states: Vol. 2. Language and cognitive structure (pp. 85-108). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.93.07yoo
Abstract:
This study explores the issue of universality and variation in conceptual systems across languages and cultures. It investigates cross-linguistic variability in such systems through a semantic study of various morphosyntactic patterns in Korean. The focus is on three words related to the mental experience of remembering: kiekha- ‘remember’, kiekna- ‘memory comes, remember’, and chwuekha- ‘reminisce’. Their semantic contents is described on the basis of linguistic evidence, using NSM as an analytical tool.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) chwuekha, (E) kiekha, (E) kiekna, (T) Korean
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 18, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2010). Universals and variation in the lexicon of mental state concepts. In Barbara C. Malt, & Phillip Wolff (Eds.), Words and the mind: How words capture human experience (pp. 72-92). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311129.003.0005
Abstract:
The first two sections of this chapter provide an overview of NSM research and findings, with a particular focus on mental state concepts. The next two sections show how NSM techniques make it possible to reveal complex and culture-specific meanings in detail and in terms that are readily transposable across languages. Examples include emotion terms, epistemic verbs, and ethnopsychological constructs in English, Chinese, Russian, and Korean. The next section discusses the relationship between linguistic meanings (word meanings) and cognition and elucidates the theoretical and methodological implications for cognitive science. The chapter concludes with the suggestion that people’s subjective emotional experience can be shaped or coloured to some extent by the lexical categories of their language.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) bēi 悲, (E) believe that, (E) chóu 愁, (E) heart, (E) maum 몸, (E) mind, (E) sad, (E) sčitat’ считать, (E) unhappy, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 25, 2019.
Gladkova, Anna (2016). Propositional attitudes and cultural scripts. In Alessandro Capone, & Jacob L. Mey (Eds.), Interdisciplinary studies in pragmatics, culture and society (pp. 329-352). Berlin: Springer.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12616-6_12
Abstract:
In linguistic literature inspired by work in philosophy, the key concepts for the analysis of ‘propositional attitudes’ include mental states such as ‘belief’, ‘hope’, ‘doubt’ and ‘know’, among others. This literature, and the work on which it is based, ignores cultural and linguistic variation in the conceptualization of mental states that can be labelled as ‘propositional attitudes’. It also overlooks the fact that categorization of mental states, in general, and ‘propositional attitudes’, in particular, is aligned with cultural attitudes and understandings.
This chapter proposes a comparative analysis of selected words reflecting propositional attitudes in English and Russian. The focus is on to believe vs. считать sčitat’ and on belief vs. мнение mnenie, and the analysis is undertaken in terms of universal meanings, using NSM. It is demonstrated that the supremacy of logical concepts in current scientific thinking is not reflected in the architecture of the mental lexicon as it is revealed in universal human concepts. Instead, it is argued that NSM semantic universals can be regarded as more appropriate elements in the analysis of propositional attitudes.
The concepts central to the analysis are KNOW and THINK, which have been shown to have exact semantic equivalents in Russian and English as well as other languages. The chapter shows that the analysed concepts differ in meaning and can be related to culture-specific cognitive styles that can be formulated as cultural scripts.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) belief, (E) believe, (E) mnenie мнение, (E) sčitat’ считать, (S) categoricalness, (S) non-imposition, (S) opinions, (S) refusal to compromise, (S) sincerity, (S) truth and untruth, (T) Russian
Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on May 23, 2019.
Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko (2016). Being ‘indecisive’ in Japanese: Analysis of kana, darou ka and (n) janai ka. Studies in Language, 40(1), 63-92.
DOI: 10.1075/sl.40.1.03asa
Abstract:
Japanese speakers are often characterized as ‘indecisive’. The indecision is indicated by epistemic markers being frequently added to express doubt. The sentence-final particle kana shows an indecisive attitude and is usually translated into English as I wonder or maybe. There are other similar Japanese expressions, for example, darou ka and (n) janai ka. Both expressions represent uncertainty and are generally interpreted as I wonder or maybe. Although kana, darou ka and (n) janai ka are often treated as synonyms, they are not necessarily interchangeable.
The aim of this study is to define these Japanese epistemic markers using NSM. New definitions are presented to clarify semantic differences and the invariant concept embedded in each expression. This analysis elucidates Japanese speakers’ epistemic stance when they are in doubt.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) darou ka だろう か, (E) ka か, (E) kana かな, (E) n janai ka ん じゃない か, (T) Japanese
Published on February 16, 2019. Last updated on June 20, 2020.
Goddard, Cliff (2020). Overcoming the linguistic challenges for ethno-epistemology: NSM perspectives. In Masaharu Mizumoto, Jonardon Ganeri and Cliff Goddard (Eds.), Ethno-epistemology: New directions for global epistemology (pp. 130-153). New York: Routledge.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003037774-7
Abstract:
Scholars working in ethno-epistemology need to tread carefully in how they formulate their discussions in order to circumvent or minimize several dangers, such as conceptual imposition from English or other home languages, relying too heavily on some semantic subtlety peculiar to their own language, and misinterpreting unfamiliar patterns of polysemy or metaphor in another language. The NSM approach to meaning offers a well developed framework for overcoming these dangers. Based on a decades-long program of conceptual analysis and cross-linguistic empirical research, NSM is the only comprehensive approach to meaning that confronts the challenges of Anglocentrism and Eurocentrism head on, by seeking to base its representations on simple words with equivalents in all languages. It offers the prospect of authentically modelling the thoughts and meanings of ordinary native speakers, insofar as it uses non-technical words that are accessible to speakers in their own language. It also provides procedures for dealing with ambiguity and vagueness of words, including how to distinguish lexical polysemy (distinct-yet-related meanings) from semantic generality. This presentation overviews the NSM program, summarizing the research base behind it and exemplifying its key concepts and methods with examples relevant to ethno-epistemology. The paper contends that the NSM program can provide a metalanguage for ethno-epistemology.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
