Browsing results for Broad topics
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 3, 2019.
Maher, Brigid (2006). Sfogarsi: A semantic analysis of an Italian speech routine and its underlying cultural values. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 207-233). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.15mah
This paper offers clear and precise paraphrases for the different meanings of the Italian key word sfogarsi which, in its most common use (roughly, ‘to vent one’s negative feelings’), refers to a way of releasing emotions that might otherwise build up inside a person in a dangerous way. It proposes two so-called “cultural scripts” aimed at describing some of the Italian folk theories (cultural norms and
values) relevant to the expression of emotions. The use of the simple, universal concepts of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage allows for both the paraphrases and the scripts to be tested against the intuitions of native speakers, and will help people from other language backgrounds gain a better understanding of selected aspects of Italian culture.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 29, 2018.
Hasada, Rie (2006). Cultural scripts: Glimpses into the Japanese emotion world. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics: Understanding discourse in cultural context (pp. 171-198). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110911114.171
This work aims to articulate aspects of Japanese people’s attitudes towards emotions in the form of cultural scripts, utilising the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) method developed by Anna Wierzbicka, Cliff Goddard and colleagues. It is the intention of this work to explicate some of the thinking patterns or sociocultural norms relating to typical patterns of Japanese behaviour associated with the expression of emotions. The approach taken for this purpose is the cultural scripts framework based on the universal Natural Semantic Metalanguage. We establish how cultural norms encourage or discourage certain kinds of emotion behaviour in Japan. Although Japanese people can be said to be quite “emotional”, and to put more value on emotion than reason, they often try to suppress not only negative emotions, but also positive emotions. This is because they are very sensitive to the eyes of seken, or to how other people will view and think of their actions. In Japan, keeping harmony with other people often takes precedence over other concerns. Individual emotions are allowed to be expressed when their cultural norms are met. Communicating with Japanese people without knowing these cultural scripts might lead to some misunderstanding for non-Japanese. Therefore, more comprehensive and systematic examination of how Japanese cultural norms of emotions are similar to and different from those in other cultures is indispensable for ensuring successful intercultural communication.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (S) against being regarded as the active agent of crying, (S) cheerfulness, (S) dealing with "emotional problems ", (S) how seken influences peoples' actions, (S) importance of knowing how one is feeling, (S) valuing emotionality over rationality, (S) when it is bad/not bad to be seen crying, (S) when one is expected to display to others what one feels
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 31, 2018.
Farrell, Patrick (2006). Portuguese saudade and other emotions of absence and longing. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 235-258). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.16far
Relying on semantic primes and universal syntax, this study underscores the culture-specificity and explicates the meaning of the Portuguese emotion word saudade. It makes comparisons with related concepts in Portuguese and, to some extent, English. Among the kinds of evidence included are claims encountered in previous studies, native-speaker intuitions about the acceptability of constructed expressions employing the word in different ways, actual use in literary works and internet sources, aspects of the word’s grammar and its distributional properties, and contrasts with respect to these matters between saudade and other emotions. The approach differs from that of earlier work not only in its use of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage but also in its heavy reliance on distributional evidence and colloquial corpora.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) coração, (E) falta, (E) nostalgia, (E) saudade
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 15, 2018.
Travis, Catherine E. (2006). The Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach to discourse markers. In Kerstin Fischer (Ed.), Approaches to discourse particles (pp. 219-241). Oxford: Elsevier.
This paper presents an analysis of discourse markers based within the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (Wierzbicka, 1996; and references therein). It argues that discourse markers can only be fully understood if the meaning(s) they carry when used in different contexts are exhaustively defined. Within this framework, discourse markers are treated as polysemous, having a range of different meanings all of which share some element in common. The shared element of meaning can be considered a partial semantic invariant, and it is this that ties the uses of the marker together, while other components of meaning that differ account for the variation across the range of use. Such an analysis makes a clear distinction between what is encoded in the semantics of the marker and what is encoded in its pragmatics of use. I will illustrate how this can be done through an analysis of the Spanish discourse marker bueno (‘well’, ‘good’, ‘right’), based on a corpus of conversational Colombian Spanish.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) bueno
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 24, 2019.
DuBartell, Deborah (2006). The development of a key word: The deictic field of Spanish crisis. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 259-287). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.17dub
Abstract:
This study represents a preliminary investigation into the application of the principles of the NSM approach in historical linguistics. It offers synchronic evidence of cultural keyword status for Spanish crisis, both in Peninsular and in Latin American varieties, and, using semantic primes and universal syntax, demonstrates how the word itself developed over time. It uses the process of formulating semantic explications as the foundation of a methodology by which to assess change of meaning. The detailed comparison of the explications employs a “configuration method” aimed at offering insight into the semantic components of key word development. The method combines Bühler’s field theory with functional sentence perspective and emphasizes the dynamism of metalinguistic elements in order to track diachronic change.
Rating:
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) crisis
Published on July 27, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2018.
Lorenzana, Angela E. (2006). Galit: The Filipino emotion word for ‘anger’. In Tenth international conference on Austronesian linguistics (10-ICAL). http://www-01.sil.org/asia/philippines/ical/index.html. PDF (open access)
Noteworthy semantic studies have been conducted to explicate anger concepts in different languages. One tool for such cross-cultural comparisons is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), a set of 56 indefinable words or semantic primes developed by Anna Wierzbicka over a period of 35 years. Using this tool in analysing emotion concepts through linguistic evidence such as literary excerpts, dialogs and interviews reveals the fact that while emotional universals allegedly exist, emotions are experienced and expressed differently. The use of the semantic primes allows the formulation of a detailed statement (otherwise known as explication) of the elements that compose the meaning or definition of a complex word. Semantic explications for anger words in different languages reveal marked differences in their causes, management and expression. For instance, emotion words for anger such as the Anglo-Saxon anger, the Ifaluk song, the Chinese nu or the Polish gniew were found to be different from the Filipino word galit. Using NSM as a common measure or tertium comparationis, one can correctly and meaningfully compare as many different languages as possible.
Approximate application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) galit
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.
Savage, Andrew (2006). What do Tuareg proverbs mean? In Cristina Mourón Figueroa, & Teresa Iciar Moralejo Gárate (Eds.), Studies in contrastive linguistics (pp. 907-916). Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela Publicacións.
This article demonstrates the application of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) tool in the process of ascertaining the meaning of Tuareg proverbs. It shows how NSM is helpful in making meaning understandable to cultural outsiders.
Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Ameka, Felix K. (2006). “When I die, don’t cry”: The ethnopragmatics of “gratitude” in West African languages. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics: Understanding discourse in cultural context (pp. 231-266). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110911114.231
This paper discusses the ethnopragmatics of speech formulas for “gratitude” in West African languages such as Ewe, Akan, and Buli, showing how they presuppose deeply culturally embedded values and beliefs about death and the rituals related to it.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 17, 2018.
Gladkova, Anna (2006-07). New and traditional emotion terms in Russian: Semantics and culture. Transcultural Studies, 2-3, 123-137. DOI: 10.1163/23751606-00201007
This article focuses on borrowings as a reflection of the influence of other cultures and languages on Russian. New words that enter Russian from other languages signify changes in way of life, thought and behaviour. The most revealing in this respect are emotion and value terms because their meanings are reflective of cultural beliefs, assumptions and understandings. Therefore, the approach implemented in this article is that language, and its lexicon in particular, can be considered a gateway into a people’s culture. Moreover, changes in a language are indicative of cultural changes.
The focus of the paper is on a term from the domain of emotions – емпатииа ėmpatiia (empathy). This word has been used in translated psychology literature for the last two to three decades, but it is gradually entering other spheres of Russian discourse. Against the claim that the content of the term емпатииа ėmpatiia is fully conveyed by the Russian word сопереживание sopereživanie, it is argued that English empathy and Russian сопереживание soperezhivanie are words with significantly different meanings that are largely related to the cultural assumptions of the societies they belong to. For this purpose, the author carries out a detailed comparative semantic analysis of the English word empathy and its closest Russian equivalent сопереживание sopereživanie.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) empathy, (E) sopereživanie сопереживание, (S) compassion, (S) empathy, (S) pity, (S) sympathy, (T) Russian
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 18, 2019.
Evans, Nicholas (2007). Standing up your mind: Remembering in Dalabon. In Mengistu Amberber (Ed.), The language of memory in a crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 67-95). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.21.06eva
Abstract:
This paper explores the vocabulary of mental states, knowing, thinking and remembering in Dalabon, an Australian Aboriginal language. Though Dalabon has a rich vocabulary for the overall semantic domain of attention, thought, memory and forgetting, there are no expressions specifically dedicated to remembering. Rather, the ontology of cognitive states and processes is categorized into short-term versus long-term mental states and events. Aspectual choices are used to express transitions into mental states and events (‘remembering’ is ‘coming to have in mind’, and ‘forgetting’ is ‘coming to not have in mind’), without the entailments found in English, which distinguishes previously experienced mental states (remember, remind) or mental states experienced for the first time (get the idea that, realize).
The only section of the paper to include NSM-inspired explications is the appendix. One of the explications relates to two bound morphemes of Dalabon that refer to something akin to the English ‘mind’, viz. beng and kanûm. The latter also denotes the ear. Other NSM-inspired explications relate to the verbs bengdi ‘have in mind’ and bengkan ‘keep in mind’.
Rating:
Approximate application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) beng, (E) bengdi, (E) bengkan, (E) kanûm
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 May 19, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff, & Anna Wierzbicka (2007). Semantic primes and cultural scripts in language learning and intercultural communication. In Farzad Sharifian, & Gary B. Palmer (Eds.), Applied cultural linguistics: Implications for second language learning and intercultural communication (pp. 105-124). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: 10.1075/celcr.7.08god
Abstract:
This chapter illustrates a number of potential practical applications of the NSM approach: as a guide to core vocabulary in the early L2 syllabus, as a means of writing cultural scripts and interpreting cultural key words for language learners, and as the basis for a culture-neutral international auxiliary language. Illustrative material is drawn from English, Russian, and Korean.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (S) deference, (S) expressiveness, (S) personal autonomy
Published on July 18, 2017. Last updated on August 20, 2018.
Moonan, Robert John (2007). A cultural script analysis of an English-Thai bilingual speaker’s nominative usage of mommy in English yes/no question formation. PhD thesis, University of South Carolina.
Each culture has its own specific linguistic norms, values, and practices. To avoid any ethnocentric bias in the attempt to capture these linguistic norms, values, practices, Cultural Script Theory proposes the use of Natural Semantic Metalanguage in describing the linguistic practices of a specific culture. Natural Semantic Metalanguage consists of semantic primitives, words whose meaning cannot be reduced any further. These semantic primitives, of which there are currently over sixty, provide the tools to illustrate the grammatical structures and to capture the pragmatic meaning within the world’s languages.
This dissertation uses the theoretical and methodological frameworks of Cultural Script Theory to analyse the speech practices of a Thai-American woman, whom I refer to as Lucy, who is English-Thai bilingual and bicultural. Specifically, I examine Lucy’s choice of referring expressions in her construction of yes/no questions in two sets of data. The first set of data is a conversation between Lucy and her mother, a native speaker of Thai. The second set of data is a conversation between Lucy and her mother-in-law, a native speaker of English. The analysis consists of three steps. First, I provide semantic explications of the Thai terms of address แม่ mâe ‘mother’ and แม่ mâe ‘an older woman’. Additionally, I provide semantic explications of the English terms of address mother, ma’am, mrs. last name, miss first name, and first name and the English speech act verbs ask and inquire. Second, I construct Thai cultural scripts for แม่ mâe ‘mother’ and แม่ mâe ‘an older woman’ and Anglo-American cultural scripts for the use of the aforementioned English terms of address. Lastly, I use those explications and cultural scripts to help provide a discourse analysis of the two sets of data.
In this dissertation I hypothesize that the distinctive linguistic behavior of Lucy is explained by her use of two different cultural scripts, one based on Anglo-American cultural speaking practices and the other based on Thai cultural speaking practices.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) ask, (E) female, (E) first name, (E) given names, (E) inquire, (E) last name, (E) ma'am, (E) mâe แม่, (E) male, (E) marriage, (E) miss, (E) mother, (E) Mrs, (S) addressing someone, (S) interactions with female, (S) interactions with mother, (S) interactions with older female, (T) English
Published on May 24, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2007). A response to N. J. Enfield’s review of Ethnopragmatics (Goddard, ed. 2006). Intercultural Pragmatics, 4(4), 531-538. DOI: 10.1515/IP.2007.027
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (S) attitude towards someone older, (S) display of emotions, (S) terms of endearment
Published on May 24, 2017. Last updated on January 15, 2022.
Waters, Sophia (2007). “Ben, voilà, quoi”: les significations et les emplois des particules énonciatives en français parlé [“Ben, voilà, quoi”: The meanings and uses of discourse particles in spoken French]. BA(Hons) thesis, University of New England, Armidale.
Written in French.
The aim of this thesis is to extract the meanings of three French utterance particles, used in the spoken language, viz. quoi, voilà and ben. The author relies on authentic examples to describe the use of each. The tool used to this end is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, which allows us to make explications accessible both to speakers of French and to those for whom French is a second language.
The author also emphasizes the importance of a thorough understanding of the particles of a language.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) ben, (E) quoi, (E) voilà, (T) French
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Koselak, Arkadiusz (2007). Sémantique des sentiments: “Quand je pense à toi, je ressens quelque chose de mauvais” en français et en polonais [The semantics of emotions: “When I think of you, I feel something bad” in French and in Polish]. PhD thesis, Université Paul-Verlaine (Metz). PDF (open access)
Written in French.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.
Elduayen, Luis Gastón (2007). Introduire le discours d’autrui: Actes de parole et verbes “secondaires” dans la presse franco-espagnole [Introducing other people’s discourse: Speech acts and “secondary” verbs in the French-Spanish press]. Revista española de lingüística aplicada, 20, 37-58. PDF (open access)
Is it necessary to recall that it is ultimately through the speech acts generated by verba dicendi that reported speech is introduced, clarified, even explicated, and that readers are placed on the path of good reception? With public life being nothing short of an immense interlocutional labyrinth, the importance of the words spoken and reported by the written press (in this case the French-Spanish written press), on the one hand, and that of the “relating” verbs, on the other, comes into even sharper focus. The object of this analysis, which is fundamentally semantic, will be this class of “secondary” items – secondary by reason of their frequency. It is a class that, at times, may even include collateral items, i.e. items which, precisely because of their function, belong to the said class but whose semantics is often unrelated to it.
Published on September 26, 2018. Last updated on September 26, 2018.
Arnawa, Nengah (2007). Semantik universal dan pembelajaran bahasa: Studi kasus pada anak-anak usia 4-6 tahun [Universal semantics and language learning: A case study of children aged 4-6]. Widyadari, 4, 14-23. PDF (open access)
Language learning theory suggests that learning materials should be designed at a higher level than the linguistic competencies of learners. To implement this idea, a description of children’s language is needed. One instrument that can be used to describe children’s language is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, which includes in its lexicon a set of universal meanings (semantic primes) that exist in spite of the variability of human cultures. These meanings are the first to be mastered by children acquiring their first language. Combining the semantic primes in accordance with the morphosyntactic rules of a language produces canonical sentences. Canonical sentences produced by children can be used as a basis for composing language learning materials.
This paper is about language acquisition and language learning. It does not contain any explications or scripts. No rating is provided.
Tags: (T) Indonesian
Published on July 30, 2018. Last updated on June 21, 2019.
Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2007). Contrastive semantics of Korean ‘maum’ vs. English ‘heart’ and ‘mind’. The Journal of Studies in Language, 22(3), 171-197.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18627/jslg.22.3.200702.171 / Open access
Abstract:
This paper uses the semantic framework provided by the NSM approach to contrast three ethnopsychological constructs: 몸 maum in Korean, and heart and mind in English. The latter are the most common translational equivalents of the Korean term. There is no semantic equivalence: which of the two English words is used to translate 몸 maum in any particular context is contextually driven. All three play a significant role in expressing emotions and thoughts, but no contrastive semantic analysis of the terms is found in the literature. This study shows it is possible to compare culturally loaded and complex concepts in terms of semantic similarities and differences by using an appropriate tertium comparationis. At the same time it indicates that NSM can endow ethnopsychology with a practical and descriptive tool.
More information:
An earlier version of this paper was published as:
Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2004). Korean maum vs. English heart and mind: Contrastive semantics of cultural concepts. In Christo Moskovsky (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2003.html.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) heart, (E) maum 몸, (E) mind
