Browsing results for Verbs of motion

(1997) English – COME, GO

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.

Goddard, Cliff (1997). The semantics of coming and going. Pragmatics, 7(2), 147-162. DOI: 10.1075/prag.7.2.02god

It is often assumed that the English motion verbs come and go can be glossed as motion towards-the-speaker and ‘motion not-towards-the-speaker’, respectively. This paper proposes alternative semantic analyses which are more complex, but also, it is argued, more descriptively adequate and more explanatory. The semantic framework is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach developed by Anna Wierzbicka, in which meanings are stated as explanatory paraphrases (explications) couched in a small, standardized and translatable metalanguage based on natural language. A single explication is advanced for come, and it is shown that this unitary meaning is compatible with the broad range of ‘appropriateness conditions’ on its use. The same applies to go. A novel feature of the proposed analysis for come is that it does not rely on the conventional notion that ‘deictic projection’ is a pragmatic phenomenon. Instead the potential for ‘deictic projection’ is analysed as flowing directly from the lexical semantics of come. This approach, it is argued, enables an improved account of semantic differences between near-equivalents for come and go in various languages.

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(2009) Polish – Emotions, speech acts, motion verbs, animal names

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 22, 2018.

Wierzbicka, Anna (2009). The theory of the mental lexicon. In Sebastian Kempgen, Peter Kosta, Tilman Berger, & Karl Gutschmidt (Eds.), Die slavischen Sprachen/The Slavic languages: Eine internationales Handbuch zu ihrer Struktur, ihrer Geschichte und ihrer Erforsching/An international handbook of their structure, their history and their investigation: Volume 1 (pp. 848-863). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI : https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110214475.1.11.848

The main thesis of this article is that (contrary to what, for example, Chomsky claims) a great deal is by now known about the mental lexicon. First of all, there is currently a great deal of evidence that at the heart of this lexicon lies a set of sixty or so universal semantic primes, each with its own set of combinatory characteristics. Second, cross-linguistic evidence suggests that large sections of the mental lexicon have a hierarchical structure, with several levels of semantic molecules operating and thus allowing for great conceptual complexity to be combined with relatively simple semantic structures. Third, it is now clear that many sections of the mental lexicon are organized according to a certain pattern, or template, shared by a large number of words. Fourth, a large body of research has shown that the mental lexicon of the speakers of any given language includes many words whose meanings are unique to that particular language, and that such words – a language’s cultural key words – help bind the speakers of a language into a cohesive cultural community.

The chapter focuses in particular on the relatively new areas of semantic molecules and semantic templates. The illustrative material analysed is drawn from Polish and relates to emotions (including but not limited to emotions reminiscent of envy and compassion in English), speech acts (reminiscent of to order and to ask (someone about something) in English), names of animals (mice), and motion verbs.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2011) English, Russian, Italian – Spatial relations

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 16, 2020.

Stock, Kristin, & Cialone, Claudia (2011). Universality, language-variability and individuality: Defining linguistic building blocks for spatial relations. In Max Egenhofer, Nicholas Giudice, Reinhard Moratz, & Michael Worboys (Eds.), Spatial information theory. 10th international conference (COSIT 2011) (pp. 391-412). Berlin: Springer.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23196-4_21

Abstract:

Most approaches to the description of spatial relations for use in spatial querying attempt to describe a set of spatial relations that are universally understood by users. While this method has proved successful for expert users of geographic information, it is less useful for non-experts. Furthermore, while some work has implied the universal nature of spatial relations, a large amount of linguistic evidence shows that many spatial relations vary fundamentally across languages. The NSM approach is a methodology that has helped identify the few specific spatial relations that are universal across languages. We show how these spatial relations can be used to describe a range of more complex spatial relations, including some from non-Indo-European languages that cannot readily be described with the usual spatial operators. Thus we propose that NSM is a tool that may be useful for the development of the next generation of spatial querying tools, supporting multilingual environments with widely differing ways of talking about space.

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Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner

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(2016) English, German – Human locomotion

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.

Goddard, Cliff, Wierzbicka, Anna, & Wong, Jock (2016). “Walking” and “running” in English and German: The conceptual semantics of verbs of human locomotion. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 14(2), 303–336. DOI: 10.1075/rcl.14.2.03god

This study examines the conceptual semantics of human locomotion verbs in two languages – English and German – using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach. Based on linguistic evidence, it proposes semantic explications for English walk and run, and their nearest counterparts in German, i.e. laufen (in two senses, roughly, ‘run’ and ‘go by walking’), rennen (roughly, ‘run quickly’), gehen (roughly, ‘go/walk’), and the expression zu Fuß gehen (roughly, ‘go on foot’). Somewhat surprisingly for such closely related languages, the conceptual semantics turns out to be significantly different in the two languages, particularly in relation to manner-of-motion. On the other hand, it is shown that the same four-part semantic template (with sections Lexicosyntactic Frame, Prototypical Scenario, Manner, and Potential Outcome) applies in both languages. We consider the implications for systematic contrastive semantics and for lexical typology.
contrastive semantics; conceptual semantics; lexical polysemy; manner; verbs of motion; semantic template; Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM)

(2016) Historical English – NSM primes: MOVE

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 27, 2018.

Mateo Mendaza, Raquel (2016). The Old English exponent for the semantic prime MOVE. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 36(4), 542-559. DOI: 10.1080/07268602.2016.1169976

This journal article engages in the search for the Old English exponent of the semantic prime MOVE as described within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) model. For the semantics of movement and motion, this study draws on the NSM model, which selects the term MOVE as the proper primitive to express the different meanings related both to translational and internal motion. With this background,
this study describes the semantic and syntactic properties of the main Old English verbs related to motion in order to select the best candidate for the exponent of MOVE. The analytical part comprises the application of four criteria of prime identification, including the textual, the morphological, the semantic and the syntactic criterion. The conclusion is reached that the verb (ge)styrian is the Old English exponent for the semantic prime MOVE.

(2016) Longgu – Carrying

Published on August 19, 2021. Last updated on August 19, 2021.

Hill, Deborah (2016). Bride-price, Baskets, and the Semantic Domain of “Carrying” in a Matrilineal Society. Oceanic Linguistics 55(2): 500-521

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2016.0023

 

Abstract:

The semantic domain of “carrying” is culturally salient in the Oceanic lan- guage, Longgu. Like many Austronesian languages, Longgu has about a dozen lexically specific verbs that refer to modes of carrying things and small children. This paper discusses the semantics of verbs in this domain, paying particular attention to the most culturally significant verb sungia, which is heterosemous with the noun sungi ‘bride-price exchange’ and refers to the manner in which women carry things supported on their head. The paper discusses meaning components, such as manner and motion, of verbs in this domain and highlights the importance of the association between some verbs and material objects. Further, the paper argues that there are grounds for suggesting the gender of the carrier is entailed in the lexical meaning of some verbs. The paper also discusses whether, given there is no generic verb ‘carry’, there is an underlying semantic pattern to this domain, and suggests that it may revolve around the cultural prominence of the verb sungia ‘to carry something [supported] on the head’.

 


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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