Browsing results for Religion

(2018) Ancient (New Testament) Greek – Emotions

Published on April 2, 2018. Last updated on June 29, 2019.

Wierzbicka, Anna (2018). Emotions of Jesus. Russian Journal of Linguistics, 22(1), 38-53.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-9182-2018-22-1-38-53 / Open access

Abstract:

The idea that we can pinpoint what Jesus meant with one word, from a particular language (be it Russian, English, Greek or Aramaic), is simplistic. To fully understand Jesus’ teaching about ‘anger’ in a precise and unbiased way, we need to go beyond single words of this or that language; we need to try to articulate it through simple sentences couched in universal words. In addition, what applies to Jesus’ teaching about emotions also applies to Jesus’ ’emotional practice’. What did he feel when he saw someone doing something very bad, or someone to whom something very bad was happening?

NSM allows us to replace crude formulations such as “Did Jesus feel angry?” or “What did Jesus teach about anger?” with questions that are far more fine-grained, and that enable us to reach far more fine-grained and meaningful answers.

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(2018) Folk religious concepts

Published on April 3, 2018. Last updated on May 27, 2019.

Wierzbicka, Anna (2018). Speaking about God in universal words, thinking about God outside English. In Paul Chilton, & Monika Kopytowska (Eds.), Religion, language, and the human mind (pp. 19-51). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190636647.003.0002

Abstract:

This chapter argues that vocabulary that is not intelligible to many “ordinary speakers” and not translatable into most languages of the world imprisons its users in a conceptual space defined by culture-specific English words and prevents genuine cross-cultural dialogue about God and religion. It seeks to demonstrate that it is possible to speak about God without relying on such complex and culturally shaped concepts and to think about God and religion afresh, in a new conceptual language based on the lexical and grammatical common core of all languages. As a result of a program of cross-linguistic investigations, researchers believe that we now have a very good idea of what the shared lexical and grammatical core of all languages looks like and believe that different language-specific versions of this common core can function as minimal languages and be used for furthering understanding across cultures without bias.

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(2018) Polish — Address terms, Religion

Published on January 15, 2022. Last updated on January 15, 2022.

Wierzbicka, Anna. (2018). Polskie słowo Boże w perspektywie porównawczej [The Polish word God in comparative perspective]. In Jolanta Chojak and Zofia Zaron (eds.) Ku rzeczom niebłahym, 221–234. Wydanie I, Warszawa: BEL Studio.

Written in Polish

Abstract
All European languages have a word for God, and this word means exactly the same in all of them. But when it comes to addressing God, the situation is very different. Speakers of different European languages tend to relate to God in different ways. Each group has its own characteristic ways of addressing God, encoded in certain words, phrases and grammatical forms. These words, phrases, and grammatical forms both reflect and shape the speakers’ habitual way of thinking about God and relating to God. Often, they also reflect some other aspects of their cultural memory and historical experience. This paper is about the Polish vocative Boże, commonly used in Polish to address God in prayer. The paper discusses the meaning of this vocative comparing it with addressative expressions such as O God in English, Mon Dieu in French and Gospodi in Russian, within the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM).


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(2019) English — Emotions, love

Published on January 15, 2022. Last updated on January 15, 2022.

Wierzbicka, Anna. (2019). The biblical roots of English ‘love’: The concept of ‘love’ in a historical and cross-linguistic perspective. International Journal of Language and Culture 6(2) 225-254. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.18006.wie

Abstract

Seen from a broad cross-linguistic perspective, the English verb (to) love is quite unusual because it has very broad scope: it can apply to a mother’s love, a husband’s love, a sister’s love, etc. without any restrictions whatsoever; and the same applies to its counterparts in many other European languages. Trying to locate the origins of this phenomenon, I have looked to the Bible. Within the Bible, I have found both continuity and innovation. In the Hebrew Bible, the verb ’āhēb, rendered in the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint with the verb agapao, implies a “preferential love”, e.g. it is used for a favourite wife of a favourite son. In the New Testament, the concept of ‘love’ loses the “preferential” components and thus becomes applicable across the board: between anybody and anybody else.
The paper argues that the very broad meaning of verbs like love in English, aimer in French, lieben in German, etc. reflects a shared conceptual heritage of many European languages, with its roots in the New Testament; and it shows that by taking a semantic perspective on these historical developments, and exploring them through the rigorous framework of NSM and Minimal English, we can arrive at clear and verifiable hypotheses about a theme which is of great general interest, regardless of one’s own religious and philosophical views and commitments.

 


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(2019) English, Arabic, Hebrew – Religion

Published on July 28, 2020. Last updated on July 28, 2020.

Habib, Sandy (2019). Sin in English, Arabic, and Hebrew: a case of true translation equivalence. International Journal of Arabic Linguistics, 5(1), 20-44.

Open access

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to investigate English sin and its Arabic and Hebrew counterparts. It is demonstrated that each of these three words is polysemous, having three meanings. Two of these meanings are religious, i.e. related to the word God, while the third is non-religious. It is also demonstrated that the three target words are true translation equivalents, as they are used in the same way in all contexts. This paper is a contribution to the study of nouns, a field that has not been given adequate attention by semanticists. It is also a contribution to the field of theosemantics, the interface between religion and the scientific study of meaning.

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(2019) What Christians believe [BOOK]

Published on February 28, 2019. Last updated on August 15, 2021.

Wierzbicka, Anna (2019). What Christians believe: The story of God and people in minimal English. New York: Oxford University Press.

Abstract:

Many people today, both Christians and non-Christians, are confused about or unaware of the essentials of Christian faith. In this book, Anna Wierzbicka takes a radically new approach to the task of communicating “what Christians believe” to the widest possible audience. “The Story of God and People”, the heart of the book, sets out the core tenets of Christian faith in narrative form using simple language that is accessible to anyone, even those with no familiarity with Christianity or Christian vocabulary. The Story is not only simple but also universal: though written in English, it is not phrased in full English — English as we know it today, shaped by history, culture, and tradition — but in “Minimal English”. Minimal English contains only those 400 or so English words that can be translated into any other language; essentially, it corresponds to the shared core of all languages.

In the introduction to the book, Wierzbicka explains Minimal English and minimal languages in general, and in “The Story of God and People” that follows, she demonstrates the effectiveness of Minimal English as a tool for global understanding. At the same time, the use of Minimal English allows her not only to retell the Christian story in a strikingly new way, but also to rethink its meaning, bringing into relief its internal cohesion, logic and beauty.

Table of contents:

I. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

  1. Who are ‘Christians’?
  2. God and cross-cultural communication
  3. God and language
  4. Minimal English

II. THE STORY OF GOD AND PEOPLE

III. BRIEF COMMENTARIES ON THE CHAPTERS OF PART II

APPENDICES

  1. On the word “forgiveness”
  2. On the word “love”
  3. On the word hilastērion

Additional resources:

Anna Wierzbicka – Speech given at the launch of What Christians Believe, 16 May 2019

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(2020) English, Arabic, Hebrew – Religion

Published on July 28, 2020. Last updated on July 28, 2020.

Habib, Sandy (2020). Heaven and hell are here! The non-religious meanings of English heaven and hell and their Arabic and Hebrew counterparts. In Bert Peeters, Kerry Mullan, & Lauren Sadow (Eds.) (2020). Studies in ethnopragmatics, cultural semantics, and intercultural communication: Vol. 2. Meaning and culture (pp. 149-165). Singapore: Springer.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9975-7_8

Abstract:

The religious meanings of English heaven and hell, Arabic الجنة aljanna and الجحيم jahannam الجحيم,  and Hebrew גן העדן gan eden and גֵיהִנוֹם geyhinom have been explored in previous work. The aim of the present chapter is to throw light on their non-religious meanings, which turn out to be identical across the three languages. The six words are explicated using the simple, universal terms of the NSM approach. This results in explications that are easily understood and readily translatable into all languages, giving cultural outsiders an insider’s view of these concepts.

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(2020) Polish, English, French, German, Russian — Address terms, Religion

Published on January 15, 2022. Last updated on January 15, 2022.

Wierzbicka, Anna. (2020). Addressing God in European languages: different meanings, different cultural attitudes. Russian Journal of Linguistics 24 (2). 259—293. DOI: 10.22363/2687-0088- 2020-24-2-259-293

Abstract

All European languages have a word for God, and this word means exactly the same in all of them. However, speakers of different European languages tend to relate to God in different ways. Each group has its own characteristic ways of addressing God, encoded in certain words, phrases and grammatical forms, which both reflect and shape the speakers’ habitual ways of thinking about God and relating to God. Often, they also reflect some other aspects of their cultural memory and historical experience. In this paper I will compare the meanings of the vocative expressions used for addressing God in several European languages, including “Gospodi” in Russian, “O God” in English, “Mon Dieu” in French, “Herr” in German, and “Boże” in Polish. But to compare those meanings, we need a common measure. I believe such a common measure is available in the “NSM” framework, from Natural Semantic Metalanguage (see e.g. Goddard and Wierzbicka, 2014; Wierzbicka 2014a and 2018a; Gladkova and Larina 2018a, b).
The data is taken mainly from well-known works of literature, such as Lev Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and Boris Pasternak’s poem “V bol’nice” (“In Hospital”) for Russian, Charles Peguy’s Le mystère de la charité de Jeanne d’Arc and its English translation by Julien Green for French and English, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s prison poems and Heinrich Böll’s novel Billard um halbzehn for German. The results have shown that each European language offers its users a range of options for addressing God. Some of these options are shared, others appear to be unique to the language. All are underpinned by broader historical phenomena. The exact nature of all these links remains to be investigated.

Аннотация

Во всех европейских языках есть слово для обозначения Бога, и это слово имеет одинаковое значение. Тем не менее, носители разных европейских языков, как правило, обращаются к Богу по-разному. У каждой группы есть свои характерные способы обращения к Богу, зако- дированные в определенных словах, фразах и грамматических формах, которые отражают и формируют привычные способы мышления о Боге и отношение к Богу. Часто они также от- ражают некоторые другие аспекты культурной памяти и исторического опыта.Статья посвя- щена сопоставлению значений вокативных слов и фраз, используемых для обращения к Богу на нескольких европейских языках, включая «Господи» на русском языке, «O God» на ан- глийском языке, «Mon Dieu» на французском языке, «Herr» на немецком и «Boże» на поль- ском. Для сравнения этих значений необходимо единое измерение. Есть все основания пола- гать, что в качестве такого измерения может быть использован Естественный Семантическмй Метаязык (NSM) (см., например, Goddard and Wierzbicka, 2014; Wierzbicka 2014a и 2018a; Gladkova and Larina 2018a, b и др.). Материал для исследования был взят в основном из из- вестных литературных произведений, таких как роман Льва Толстого «Анна Каренина» и стихотворение Бориса Пастернака «В больнице» для русского языка, «Мистерия о милосер- дии Жанны Д’Арк» Шарля Пеги и ее английский перевод Жюльена Грина для французского и английского языков, тюремные стихи Дитриха Бонхеффера и роман Генриха Белля «Биль- ярд в половине десятого» для немецкого языка. Результаты показали, что каждый европей- ский язык предлагает своим пользователям различные варианты обращения к Богу. Некото- рые из них являются общими, другие представляются уникальными для того или иного языка. Все они обусловлены более широким историческим контекстом, конкретное влияние которого еще предстоит изучить.

 


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