Wierzbicka, Anna. (1992). Wschodnioeuropejska kultura żydowska w świetle żydowskiej „etnografii mowy” [Eastern European Jewish Culture in the Light of Jewish “Ethnography of Speaking”]. Teksty Drugie 5(17) pp 5–25.
In Polish
(1997) Religion, religious understanding
Wierzbicka, Anna (1997). Peter Singer and Christian ethics. Quadrant, 41(4), 27-31.
Abstract:
“Is there still anything to live for?” asks Peter Singer in the first sentence of his 1995 book How are we to live? Ethics in an age of self-interest. For most people, at least in the West, he replies, life is the pursuit of a narrowly conceived self-interest. Singer argues that this kind of life is neither fulfilling nor worthwhile, and he proposes an alternative, namely, “living ethically”.
This paper critically discusses Singer’s views and, in the process, formulates some of Jesus’ teachings as well as a number of ethical scripts for various forms of self-interest in the universal and semantically simple terms used in the NSM approach (which is not named as such in the paper).
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(1998) Religion, religious understanding
Wierzbicka, Anna (1998). The meaning of Jesus’ parables: A semantic approach to the Gospels. In Benjamin Biebuyck, René Dirven, & John Ries (Eds.), Faith and fiction: Interdisciplinary studies on the interplay between metaphor and religion (pp. 17-55). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
No abstract available.
Translations:
Into Russian:
Chapter 16 (pp. 730-774) of Вежбицкая, Анна (1999), Семантические универсалии и описание языков [Semantic universals and the description of languages]. Москва [Moscow]: Языки русской культуры [Languages of Russian Culture].
Chapter 5 (pp. 218-272) of Вежбицкая, Анна (2001), Сопоставление культур через посредство лексики и прагматики [Comparison of cultures through vocabulary and pragmatics]. Москва [Moscow]: Языки Славянской Культуры [Languages of Slavic Culture].
Chapter 13 (pp. 501-547) of Вежбицкая, Анна (2011), Семантические универсалии и базисные концепты [Semantic universals and basic concepts]. Москва [Moscow]: Языки славянских культуры [Languages of Slavic Culture].
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(1999) Religion, religious understanding
Wierzbicka, Anna (1999). What did Jesus mean? The Lord’s Prayer translated into universal human concepts. In Ralph Bisschops, & James Francis (Eds.), Metaphor, canon and community: Jewish, Christian and Islamic approaches (pp. 180-216). Canterbury: Peter Lang.
Abstract:
The aim of this paper is not to suggest that Bible translators around the globe should henceforth start translating the Lord’s Prayer into universal concepts, avoiding culture-specific images and metaphorical terms such as father, kingdom, or bread. Images and terms of this kind are part and parcel of Jesus’ teaching, and some equivalents for them must be forged in any language into which the Gospels are translated.
The intended meaning of these images and terms, however, can be further elucidated in a language so simple that even a child can understand it, and based on concepts that are universally available. It is also important to recognize that behind the use of imagery and metaphor lie very specific messages – messages that can be reconstructed in a largely non-metaphorical language, and in any case without any metaphors that are not universal.
More information:
An earlier version of this chapter was published in 1995 and reissued in 2011 (with different pagination) in the LAUD Working Papers, Series A, General and Theoretical Papers, 360.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2000) Religion, religious understanding
Wierzbicka, Anna (2000). The salt of the earth: Explaining the meaning of some of Jesus’ sayings in the Sermon on the Mount. In L. L. Iomdin, & L. P. Krysin (Eds.), Slovo v tekste i v slovare. Sbornik statej k semidesjatiletiju akademika J. D. Apresjana (pp. 61-76). Moscow: Jazyki Russkoj Kul’tury.
Contribution to a festschrift honouring J. D. Apresjan.
(2001) Folk religious concepts
Трнавац, Радослава [Trnavac, Radoslava] (2001). Елементи концепта наде као хришћанске врлине [Elements of the concept of hope as a Christian virtue]. Српски језик [Serbian language], 6(1-2), 469-478.
No abstract available.
More information:
Written in Serbian.
(2001) What did Jesus mean? [BOOK]
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.
(2002) Metaphor, religion, religious understanding
Wierzbicka, Anna (2002). The semantics of metaphor and parable: Looking for meaning in the Gospels. Theoria et Historia Scientiarum, 6(1), 85-106.
Abstract:
Human communication relies largely on metaphors. This applies to literature, to politics, to everyday interaction, to religion and to ethics. In some areas of life – e.g. in ethics and religion – there are certain key metaphors whose meaning has been debated for centuries and no doubt will continue to be debated into the third millennium; and yet there is no widely accepted methodology with the aid of which such debates can be resolved and possible meanings clearly formulated.
This paper tries to show how the NSM approach can provide such a methodology. The focus is on three extended metaphors, all from the “Sermon on the Mount”: the metaphor of the left hand, the metaphor of a speck in one’s brother’s eye and the metaphor of building on the rock.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2002) Religion – Folk religious concepts
Baumgartner, Joanne M. (2002). Key cultural concepts in Australian Aboriginal languages as used in biblical translation. In Nga kete o te matauranga / Global pressures, local impacts: Challenges for the Pacific Rim. Association of Pacific Rim Universities 2nd Doctoral Students Conference, 1-4 February 2001, University of Auckland. Los Angeles: University of Southern California [CD Rom]. 11 pp.
In Aboriginal Bible translation today, it is necessary to separate pagan beliefs and their associated word usage from Christian beliefs and its totally different concepts, and, having done this, to describe the work being translated in traditional Aboriginal terms. It is possible to do this using NSM, which employs universal terms to identify concepts that are common to all languages, thus preserving the cultural identity already in existence in Aboriginal language use. This avoids the confusion that occurs when academic English is applied to languages that require different cultural concepts, such as Aboriginal languages. This new way of translating can then be used by theologians when applying current translation techniques.
Rating:
Approximate application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
(2004) Cultural scripts, religion, religious understanding
Wierzbicka, Anna (2004). Jewish cultural scripts and the interpretation of the Bible. Journal of Pragmatics, 36(3), 575-599.
DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2003.09.002
Abstract:
When we read texts belonging to other epochs, lands, peoples and traditions, we must approach them in their proper cultural context and with some knowledge of this culture’s ready-made speech forms; in other words, we must try to understand the underlying cultural scripts that shaped the ways of thinking and the ways of speaking reflected in those texts. If these cultural scripts are to be made intelligible to us, they must be explained in terms that the culture alien to us shares with our own. The set of simple and universal human concepts that has been discovered in recent decades through empirical linguistic investigations can play a useful role in this regard; it can serve as a kind of a universal conceptual lingua franca to help minimize miscommunication and build cross-cultural bridges between readers and writers.
Mainstream Anglo culture, with its cherished traditions of rationality and empiricism, and with its emphasis on science and scientific discourse, values consistency, accuracy, logical formulations, absence of contradictions (on any level), absence of exaggeration, dispassionate reasoning, and so on. These are not the values of the culture of Hosea, or the culture of Jesus, just as they are not the values of the culture reflected in the stories of Sholom Aleichem or Isaac Bashevis Singer. For the modern Anglo reader of the Bible, a cross-cultural commentary is not an optional extra, but a necessity. The cultural script model can be an effective tool for the purposes of cross-cultural understanding — in personal interaction, social life, business, politics, literature, and also in religion. In particular, it can be an effective tool for the interpretation of the Bible, as literature and (for believers) as the Word of God.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2004) What did Jesus mean? (Book review)
Durst, Uwe (2004). Book review of Anna Wierzbicka, What did Jesus mean? Theologische Literaturzeitung, 129(1), 47-48. HTML version (open access).
Written in German.
(2011) English, Arabic – Folk religious concepts
Habib, Sandy (2011). Angels can cross cultural boundaries. RASK (International Journal of Language and Communication), 34, 49-75.
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to explore how ordinary Native English speakers and Muslim Arabs view English angel and its Arabic equivalent malāk, respectively. The two terms are examined and analysed based on linguistic data that show how people from each group understand and use one of these terms in their native language.
The results demonstrate that there are similarities and differences between the two concepts. The similarities include, among other things, (1) the categorization of angels and ‘malāʿika‘ (pl. of malāk), (2) their habitat, (3) their good nature, and (4) their relation with people. The differences are manifested mainly in the conceptualization of these creatures’ (visual) appearances. Being similar to each other, these two concepts may prove to be helpful in promoting cross-cultural communication between ordinary native English speakers and Muslim Arabs. Additionally, the analysis of the two terms can provide cultural outsiders with access to the insider perspective of each term.
Rating:
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2011) English, Hebrew, Arabic – Religion
Habib, Sandy (2011). Contrastive lexical-conceptual analysis of folk religious concepts in English, Arabic, and Hebrew: NSM approach. PhD thesis, University of New England, Armidale.
Abstract:
The primary aim of this dissertation is to explore a number of religious concepts in English, Arabic, and Hebrew. It is the first detailed study of folk religious concepts from a linguistic vantage point. The concepts included in the study are those behind the English words angels, the devil, God, heaven, hell, martyr, sin, and grace, as well as their Arabic and Hebrew near-equivalents. The theoretical framework is that of the NSM approach.
To lay the groundwork, Arabic and Hebrew versions of NSM are established, which had not been done before. Semantic explications of the target religious concepts are then developed in terms that are both comprehensible to ordinary people and translatable between the three languages (English, Arabic, and Hebrew). This allows for easy identification of the similarities and differences among the various concepts in the languages under investigation.
Rating:
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2012) English, Hebrew, Arabic – Folk religious concepts
Habib, Sandy (2012). Meeting the prince of darkness: A semantic analysis of English the devil, Arabic ashshaytan, and Hebrew hasatan. In Gil’ad Zuckermann (Ed.), Burning Issues in Afro-Asiatic Linguistics (pp. 123-160). Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Abstract:
In Christianity, he is a fallen angel; in Islam, he is a kind of jinn, and, in Judaism, he is the only being of his kind. This being is known as the devil by English-speaking Christians, as الشيطان ashshayṭān by Muslim Arabs, and as הסטן hasatan by native Hebrew speakers. Notwithstanding the theological differences, the phrase the devil is almost always glossed in dictionaries and translated in books and stories as الشيطان ashshayṭān, in Arabic, and הסטן hasatan, in Hebrew, and vice versa. Consequently, there is good reason to believe that ordinary native English speakers, Muslim Arabs, and native Hebrew speakers would think that the devil, الشيطان ashshayṭān, and הסטן hasatan refer to the same non-human being. To verify this matter, this study explores these three concepts and delineates the similarities and differences between them.
Since the three concepts originate in three different cultures, each concept is analysed and described in a way that would make it understood, not only to cultural insiders, but also to outsiders. To explain the term the devil, for instance, using words such as supernatural and evil might be problematic, especially when such words (1) are themselves no less complex than devil and hence need explication and (2) do not have equivalents or exact equivalents in other languages. As a consequence, not any linguistic analysis can achieve the goals of this chapter. One method that can is the NSM approach.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2014) Christianity, Islam – Religion
Habib, Sandy (2014). Dying in the cause of God: The semantics of the Christian and Muslim concepts of martyr. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 34(3), 388-398.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07268602.2014.898223
Abstract:
Martyrdom is unquestionably an important concept in the discourse of Christianity and Islam. This religious concept challenges the minds of many people, particularly because it calls believers to adhere to their beliefs even if they are tortured to death. Notwithstanding, countless martyrs populate the historical accounts of these two monotheistic religions.
This paper examines and defines the Christian and Muslim concepts of martyr and شهي shahīd, respectively. The focus is not on the English word martyr and the Arabic word شهي shahīd as such. The labels have been chosen for the sake of convenience. The explication of martyr represents the concept as perceived by Christians in general, irrespective of their mother tongues. The same goes for the Islamic concept of شهي shahīd. The explication represents the Islamic concept as perceived, not only by Arabic-speaking Muslims, but by Muslims in general. The paper delineates the similarities and differences between the two concepts and provides an NSM explication of each.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2015) English, Arabic – Folk religious concepts
Habib, Sandy (2015). Can God and Allah promote intercultural communication? RASK (International Journal of Language and Communication), 42, 77-103.
Abstract:
This article deals with the concept of English God and its Arabic equivalent Allah. The two concepts are analysed based on how ordinary native English speakers and Muslim Arabs, respectively, use them in their native languages. Additionally, an explication is constructed for each concept. Comparing the explications shows that the two concepts are very similar to each other. The only differences found are as follows: (1) God appears to be perceived as being in the same place to which “good” people go after they die, while Allah is not; (2) God seems to be conceived of as an omnipresent spirit; as for Allah, no linguistic evidence was found to suggest this same idea, and (3) only God seems to have a visual representation, which is that of an old father. Being very similar to each other, these two concepts might prove useful in promoting intercultural communication between native English speakers and Muslim Arabs. In addition, the analysis of the two concepts can provide cultural outsiders with access to an insider perspective on each concept.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2016) English – Evidentiality, religion
Wakefield, John C. (2016). Emotional feelings as a form of evidence: A case study of visceral evidentiality in Mormon culture. In Alessandro Capone, & Jacob L. Mey (Eds.), Interdisciplinary studies in pragmatics, culture and society (pp. 899-923). Cham: Springer.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12616-6_35
Abstract:
This paper develops a set of cultural scripts articulating some of the sociopragmatic knowledge held by the speech community popularly known as the Mormons – officially members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). These scripts focus on the value that Mormons place on using feelings as the best and ultimate form of evidence for verifying the truth of anything related to their religious beliefs. They are proposed to account for the linguistic behaviour of Mormons in relation to their knowledge claims, in relation to their stated source of this knowledge, and in relation to their sense of duty to cause others to acquire this knowledge.
The scripts in this paper are supported by linguistic evidence, which comes primarily from the discourse of respected members of the LDS community. The online searches for evidence and the formulation of the scripts were guided by the author’s intuitive knowledge as an L1 speaker of “Mormonese”, born and raised within the Mormon community.
Basing beliefs on feelings is a value that most cultures and individuals possess to some degree, and the things that are “proven” by one’s feelings to be true will vary depending on the specific belief system of the culture or individual. This phenomenon is referred to as culturally-constructed visceral evidentiality (CVE). The LDS community overtly articulates the value of visceral evidentiality to an unusual degree, so this speech community provides an excellent opportunity for analysing the characteristics of a specific case of CVE.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2017) English, Arabic – Religion
Habib, Sandy (2017). Dying for a cause other than God: Exploring the non-religious meanings of martyr and shahīd. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 37(3), 314-327.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07268602.2017.1298395
Abstract:
This paper looks into the non-religious meanings of English martyr and its near Arabic equivalent شهيد shahīd. It compares and contrasts them and provides an explication of each, using NSM. Both concepts refer to a person who was killed. Both are hailed for sacrificing their lives. To be called a martyr, a person has to have been killed for adhering and fighting for a higher cause, such as peace, the environment or their country; this person can be from any country and of any ethnicity. To be called شهيد shahīd, on the other hand, a person must have been killed on political grounds only and has to have been an Arab living in an Arab country.
The two explications are built out of mostly simple and universal words. This means that they are easy to comprehend and translatable into any language. Their translatability grants cultural outsiders access to their exact meaning.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2017) English, Hebrew, Arabic – Folk religious concepts
Habib, Sandy (2017). The meanings of ‘angel’ in English, Arabic, and Hebrew. In Zhengdao Ye (Ed.), The semantics of nouns (pp. 89-119). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198736721.003.0004
Abstract:
This chapter explores the meanings of English angels and its Arabic and Hebrew near-equivalents. Using the NSM framework, semantic analysis is carried out, and an explication is constructed for each term. The results show that there are similarities and differences between the three concepts. The similarities include, among other things, the categorization of the three non-human beings and their good nature. The differences appear mainly in the conceptualization of the hierarchy among these beings, their visual representations/appearances, and relation to people. As the explications are constructed from simple, universal human concepts, they are translatable into any language, and thus accessible to cultural outsiders.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2017) What Christians believe [BOOK]
Wierzbicka, Anna (2017). W co wierzą chrześcijanie? Opowieść o Bogu i o ludziac [What Christians believe: The story of God and people]. Kraków: Znak.
Abstract:
What do Christians believe?
Does anyone who thinks of themselves as Christian know what they actually believe? – asks the author provocatively, and in an innovative way she presents the reader the most important truths of faith, as transmitted by the Holy Scriptures and the Apostolic writings.
Anna Wierzbicka’s book is a tale of Christian faith based on the results of extensive research on the languages of the world. In the forty chapters of The story of God and people, the author retells and re-thinks the basics of Christian faith using so-called minimal language, that is, using words and sentences understandable to everyone, having equivalents in all languages of the world. The book is a semantic and theological experiment, and at the same time, it is an experiment in cross-cultural communication: Minimal Polish and Minimal English match, word for word and phrase by phrase.
Preceded by an extensive introduction, The story of God and people does not use traditional religious or scientific language, and allows both Christians and non-Christians to look at faith in a fresh way.
More information:
Written in Polish. A more recent publication building on this one is:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2019). What Christians believe: The story of God and people in minimal English. New York: Oxford University Press.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
