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Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on December 8, 2019.
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
Tags: (E) biku-biku, (E) dokiq, (E) gyoq, (E) haq, (E) hara-hara, (E) hiya-hiya, (E) odo-odo
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 22, 2019.
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
Tags: (E) hati orang, (E) heart, (E) kecil hati, (E) puas hati, (E) sakit hati, (E) senang hati, (E) susah hati, (T) Malay
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2001). The polyfunctional Malay focus particle pun. Multilingua, 20(1), 27-59. DOI: 10.1515/multi.2001.002
This is a study of the usage and semantics of the focus particle pun in contemporary Malay (Bahasa Melayu), the national language of Malaysia. Drawing on a sizeable corpus of naturally occurring textual examples, I propose a small set of semantic explications for pun, within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework. The polyfunctionality of pun, and its diverse range of translation equivalents and effects, is shown to be attributable partly to polysemy and partly to the operation of contextual inference.
Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on August 28, 2018.
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
Tags: (E) ikam- phrases, (E) kete- phrases, (E) kopo- phrases, (E) kuli- phrases, (E) kwo- phrases, (E) lele- phrases, (E) mata- phrases, (E) ni- phrases, (E) ŋgure- phrases, (E) talŋa- phrases, (E) ur koi pa
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on December 8, 2019.
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
Tags: (E) było mi głupio, (E) było mi przykro, (E) feel bad, (E) hurt, (E) offended, (E) sorry
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 11, 2018.
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
Tags: (E) neudobno неудобно, (E) obida обида, (E) sovestno совестно, (E) stydno стыдно
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 15, 2021.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2001). What did Jesus mean? Explaining the sermon on the mount and the parables in simple and universal human concepts. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/0195137337.001.0001
Translated into Polish as:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2002). Co mówi Jezus? Objaśnianie przypowieści ewangelicznych w słowach prostych i uniwersalnych. Warszawa: PWN.
This book explores the meaning of Jesus’ key sayings and parables from a radically new perspective – that of simple and universal human concepts, found in all languages. Building on modern biblical criticism in general and the vast literature on the Sermon on the Mount and the parables in particular, the author also brings to the task a close knowledge of recent developments in linguistics, anthropology, and cultural psychology. Her explanations of “what Jesus meant” build on her work as the author of many books on cultural diversity and the universals of language and thought.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 29, 2018.
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
Tags: (E) dǎn pò 胆破, (E) gānhuǒ 肝火, (E) hún bú fù tǐ 魂不附体, (E) jiān’áo 煎熬, (E) qiān cháng guà dù 牵肠挂肚, (E) xīn xiang zhen zha side, (E) xinli (xiang shiwu zhi diaotong) qi shang ba xia, (E) xuan xin
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 20, 2019.
Hasada, Rie (2002). The “Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM)” method for explicating the meaning of words and expressions: A linguistic approach to the study of emotion. 東京外国語大学留学生日本語教育センタ [Bulletin of Japanese Language Center for International Students, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies], 28, 69-102.
Open access
Abstract:
The focus of this paper is on the application of the NSM method to the study of emotion terminology. The author shows how the NSM approach can solve problems that cannot be solved by other approaches, especially the problems of ‘translation’, ‘definition’, and ‘ethnocentricity’, which have occurred mainly in non-linguistic, psychological, anthropological, or philosophical work.
No new explications are proposed. The paper is essentially a state-of-the-art report on the NSM framework as it was shaping up around the turn of the century.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) angry, (E) liget
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on February 17, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2002). Explicating emotions across languages and cultures: A semantic approach. In Susan R. Fussell (Ed.), The verbal communication of emotions: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 19-53). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
This chapter sketches out the integrated and meaning-based approach to the study of emotions that has been pioneered by Anna Wierzbicka. It seeks to bring together the study of the emotion lexicon of different languages with the study of different “cultural scripts” that are one factor (among others, of course) influencing the expression of emotions in discourse. More than this, it also aims to take in the encoding of emotional meanings by means of other linguistic devices, such as exclamations and specialized grammatical constructions, and even the encoding of emotional meanings in facial expressions and kinaesthetics. Because the Natural Semantic Metalanguage is based on simple, universally available meanings, it provides a tool that enables us to undertake this very broad range of investigations across languages and cultures, while minimizing the risk of ethnocentrism creeping into the very terms of description.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) amae 甘え, (E) appalled, (E) cemburu, (E) outraged, (E) przykro, (E) sad, (E) unhappy, (S) apologizing, (S) causing 'bad feelings' in others, (S) cheerfulness, (S) displaying insincere good feelings towards someone, (S) emotional caution and sensitivity, (S) responding to favours in a positive way, (S) saying what you feel
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.
Enfield, N. J., & Wierzbicka, Anna (2002). Introduction: The body in description of emotion. Pragmatics & Cognition, 10(1/2), 1-25. DOI: 10.1075/pc.10.12.02enf
Introduction to a special issue of Pragmatics & Cognition.
Anthropologists and linguists have long been aware that the body is explicitly referred to in conventional description of emotion in languages around the world. There is abundant linguistic data showing expression of emotions in terms of their imagined “locus” in the physical body. The most important
methodological issue in the study of emotions is language, for the ways people talk give us access to “folk descriptions” of the emotions. “Technical terminology”, whether based on English or otherwise, is not excluded from this “folk” status. It may appear to be safely “scientific” and thus culturally neutral, but in fact it is not: technical English is a variety of English and reflects, to some extent, culture-specific ways of thinking (and categorising) associated with the English language. People — as researchers studying other
people, or as people in real-life social association — cannot directly access the emotional experience of others, and language is the usual mode of “packaging” one’s experience so it may be accessible to others. Careful description of linguistic data from as broad as possible a cross-linguistic base is thus an important part of emotion research. All people experience biological events and processes associated with certain thoughts (or, as psychologists say, “appraisals”), but there is more to “emotion” than just these physiological phenomena. Speakers of some languages talk about their emotional experiences as if they are located in some internal organ such as “the liver”, yet they cannot localise feeling in this physical organ. This phenomenon needs to be understood better, and one of the problems is finding a method of comparison that allows us to compare descriptions from different languages which show apparently great formal and semantic variation. Some simple concepts including feel and body are universal or near-universal, and as such are good candidates for terms of description which may help to
eradicate confusion and exoticism from cross-linguistic comparison and semantic typology. Semantic analysis reveals great variation in concepts of emotion across languages and cultures—but such analysis requires a sound and well-founded methodology.While leaving room for different approaches to the task, we suggest that such a methodology can be based on empirically established linguistic universal (or near-universal) concepts, and on “cognitive scenarios” articulated in terms of these concepts. Also, we warn against the danger of exoticism involved in taking all body part references “literally”. Above all, we argue that what is needed is a combination of empirical cross-linguistic investigations and a theoretical and methodological awareness, recognising the impossibility of exploring other people’s emotions
without keeping language in focus: both as an object and as a tool of study.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 27, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2002). Philosophy and discourse: The rise of “really” and the fall of “truly”. Cahiers de praxématique, 38, 85-112. DOI: 10.4000/praxematique.574
Does it matter that speakers of English have started to use more and more the word really and less and less the word truly? Does it matter that the word really has become very widely used in English – much more so than truly ever was? And does it matter that the references to “truth” in conversation appear to have become much less common than they used to be?
This paper argues that these things are indeed highly significant, that really does not mean the same as truly, and that the phenomenal rise of really throws a great deal of light on Anglo culture – both in a historical and comparative perspective.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) (tag question), (E) evidence, (E) fact, (E) real, (E) true, (E) truly, (S) really, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 27, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2002). Right and wrong: From philosophy to everyday discourse. Discourse Studies, 4(2), 225-252. DOI: 10.1177/14614456020040020601
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 3 (pp. 61-102) of:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2006). English: Meaning and culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
One of the most interesting phenomena in the history of the English language is the remarkable rise of the word right, in its many interrelated senses and uses. This article tries to trace the changes in the meaning and use of this word, as well as the rise of new conversational routines based on right, and raises questions about the cultural underpinnings of these semantic and pragmatic developments. It explores the hypothesis that the “discourse of truth” declined in English over the centuries; that the use of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ as parallel concepts (and opposites) increased; and it notes that the use of right as an adjective increased enormously in relation to the use of true.
Originally, right meant ‘straight’, as in a right line (straight line). Figuratively, perhaps, this right in the sense ‘straight’ was also used in an evaluative sense: ‘good’, with an additional component building on the geometrical image: ‘clearly good’. Spoken of somebody else’s words, right was linked (implicitly or explicitly) with ‘true’. However, in the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, right appears to have begun to be used more and more with reference to thinking rather than speaking. The association of right with thinking seems to have spread in parallel with a contrastive use of right and wrong – a trend apparently encouraged by the influence of the Reformation, especially within its Calvinist wing. Another interesting development is that, over the last two centuries or so, the discourse of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ appears to have found a competitor in a discourse of ‘cooperation’ and mutual concessions. Judging by both the frequency and range of its use, the word right flourished in this atmosphere, whereas wrong was increasingly left behind.
This article traces the transition from the Shakespearean response “Right.”, described by the OED as ‘you are right; you speak well’, to the present-day “Right.” of non-committal acknowledgement and it links the developments in semantics and discourse patterns with historical phenomena such as Puritanism, British empiricism, the Enlightenment and the growth of democracy.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) right, (S) disagreement, (S) freedom of expression, (S) opinions, (S) truth and untruth, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 6, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2002). English causative constructions in an ethnosyntactic perspective: Focusing on LET. In Nick Enfield (Ed.), Ethnosyntax (pp. 162-203). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199266500.003.0008
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 6 (pp. 171-203) of:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2006). English: Meaning and culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
This chapter focuses on one area of ‘cultural elaboration’ in grammar, namely, on the elaboration of causal relations in modern English. Topics discussed include causation and patterns of social interaction, Natural Semantic Metalanguage as a tool for studying ethnosyntax, the meaning of causatives in a cross-linguistic perspective, German lassen constructions, and English let constructions, and comparison of Russian and German.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) lassen, (E) let, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2018.
Hamid, Hazidi bin Haji Abdul (2002). Similar words, different meanings: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage exploration of cultural differences. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 2(1). PDF (open access)
Anna Wierbicka and other Natural Semantic Metalanguage (henceforth NSM) practitioners often argue that anthropologists and psychologists, particularly Western, are wrong for applying concepts like mind, anger and depression to foreign cultures because these cultures do not have words with similar intention and extensions. Their critics on the other hand argue that the NSM critique is unjustified because, while other cultures do not necessarily have similar words, they must have corresponding concepts simply because people in these other cultures, like in Malaysia, experience feelings like these. This paper intends to show that the NSM critique is justified because these corresponding concepts can be similar to a certain extent but can also carry great semantic difference when broken down to their more basic elements of meaning. More importantly, this is done using analysis of the Malay language.
Approximate application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) amok, (T) Malay
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 3, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2002). Ethnosyntax, ethnopragmatics, sign-functions, and culture. In N. J. Enfield (Ed.) Ethnosyntax: Explorations in grammar and culture (pp. 52-73). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199266500.003.0003
This chapter articulates and discusses the concept of ethnosyntax from the standpoint of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) theory of Anna Wierzbicka and colleagues. It recognizes two senses of the term ‘ethnosyntax’: a narrow sense referring to culture-related semantic content encoded in morphosyntax, and a broad sense encompassing a much wider range of phenomena in which grammar and culture may be related. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 3.1 discusses ethnosyntax in the narrow sense, illustrating it with a slightly reinterpreted version of some of Wierzbicka’s classic work on ‘fatalism’ in Russian grammar. Section 3.2 discusses the relationship between ethnosyntax and ethnopragmatics, drawing on the NSM theory of cultural scripts. Section 3.3 argues for the importance of recognizing that language involves different kinds of sign-function — semantic (symbolic), iconic, indexical — and asks how we can deal with ethnosyntactic connections in the field of iconic-indexical meaning. Section 3.4 broadens the focus further in an effort to situate ethnosyntax in a large semiotic theory of culture, but argues that a semiotic concept of culture is not viable unless it adequately recognizes iconic and indexical, as well as semantic phenomena.
Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Ameka, Felix K. (2002). Cultural scripting of body parts for emotions: On ‘jealousy’ and related emotions in Ewe. Pragmatics & Cognition, 10(1), 27-55. DOI: 10.1075/pc.10.12.03ame
Different languages present a variety of ways of talking about emotional experience. Very commonly, feelings are described through the use of ‘body image constructions’ in which they are associated with processes in, or states of, specific body parts. The emotions and the body parts that are thought to be their locus and the kind of activity associated with these body parts vary cross-culturally. This study focuses on the meaning of three ‘body image constructions’ used to describe feelings similar to, but also different from, English ‘jealousy’, ‘envy’, and ‘covetousness’ in the West African language Ewe. It is demonstrated that a ‘moving body’, a psychologised eye, and red eyes are scripted for these feelings. It is argued that the expressions are not figurative and that their semantics provide good clues to understanding the cultural construction of both in terms of the parts of the body that are scripted and of what they mean.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 9, 2018.
Maher, Brigid (2002). Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory and some Italian speech act verbs. Studies in Pragmatics (Journal of the Pragmatics Society of Japan), 4, 33-48.
This paper examines some Italian speech act verbs, looking at how we can best express their meanings in an accurate way intelligible to people unfamiliar with Italian, but without falling into the trap of ethnocentrism. If we are to achieve a fruitful examination of speech act verbs, a framework for analysis is required, one that helps us to avoid the trap of ethnocentrism. The framework used in this paper is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory (or NSM). It is shown that even a relatively brief examination of some Italian speech act verbs can provide an insight into some semantic, pragmatic, and cultural aspects of the Italian language. Even two quite closely related languages, such as English and Italian, differ considerably in the kinds of speech acts they require, and it is important to understand the exact meanings of these speech acts. Looking at the semantic composition of speech act verbs piece by piece, avoiding any reliance on complex culture-specific concepts, we gain not only a clearer insight into their meanings, but also into how speech acts can reflect cultural practices.
The paper also includes a slightly revised explication of the Japanese word on.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) on 恩, (E) raccomandare, (E) raccomandarsi, (E) salutare, (T) Italian
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 20, 2019.
Hasada, Rie (2002). ‘Body part’ terms and emotion in Japanese. Pragmatics & Cognition, 10(1), 107-128.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.10.12.06has
Abstract:
This paper uses NSM to examine the use and meaning of the body-part terms or quasi-body-part terms associated with Japanese emotions. The terms analysed are 心 kokoro, 胸 mune, 腹 hara, 気 ki, and 虫 mushi. In Japanese, kokoro is regarded as the seat of emotions. 胸 mune (roughly, ‘chest’) is the place where Japanese believe 心 kokoro is located. 腹 hara (roughly, ‘belly’) can be used to refer to the seat of ‘thinking’, for example in the expression of anger-like feelings that entail a prior cognitive appraisal. The term 気 ki (roughly, ‘breath’) is also used for expressions dealing with emotions, temperament, and behaviour; among these, 気 ki is most frequently used for referring to mental activity. 虫 mushi – literally, a ‘worm’ that exists in the 腹 hara ‘belly’ – is also used for referring to specific emotion expressions.
The data used for analysis are from various sources: published literature both in Japanese and English, newspaper and magazine articles, film scripts, comic books, advertisements, dictionaries, and popular songs.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) hara 腹, (E) ki 気, (E) kokoro 心, (E) mune 胸, (E) mushi 虫
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Priestley, Carol (2002). Insides and emotion in Koromu. Pragmatics & Cognition, 10(1/2), 243-270. DOI: 10.1075/pc.10.12.11pri
This paper describes several emotion expressions in Koromu, a language of Papua New Guinea. As in other languages, emotions can be expressed by reference to body events and processes. Bodily images are used for common and pertinent emotion expressions in Koromu; the alternative grammatical constructions in which some of these expressions occur enable speakers to express varying emotions while still indicating that there are shared semantic components between the expressions. In addition, as the emotion expressions are examined and their meanings explicated, a number of universal concepts and components of meaning can be observed. A study of these language-specific expressions therefore contributes to a cross-linguistic understanding of the relationship between emotion and the body.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) oru mei hekeni wera, (E) oru mere, (E) oru mere mae, (E) oru mereri, (E) oru meresera
