Myhill, John (1996). Is BAD a semantic primitive? Evidence from Biblical Hebrew. Lexicology, 2(2). 99-126.
(1997) Biblical Hebrew – Emotion words
Myhill, John (1997). What is universal and what is language-specific in emotion words: Evidence from Biblical Hebrew. Pragmatics and Cognition, 5(1), 79-129. DOI: 10.1075/pc.5.1.07myh
This paper proposes a model for the analysis of emotions in which each emotion word in each language is made up of a universal component and a language-specific component; the universal component is drawn from a set of universal human emotions which underlie all emotion words in all languages, and the language-specific component involves a language-particular thought pattern which is expressed as part of the meanings of a variety of different words in the language. The meanings of a variety of emotion words of Biblical Hebrew are discussed and compared with the meanings of English words with the same general meaning; it is shown that a number of the Biblical Hebrew words (though by no means all) directly represent the biblical conception of God and the role of God combined with one or another of the proposed universal emotions.
Approximate application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
(1999) Biblical Hebrew – NSM primes (BAD)
Durst, Uwe (1999). BAD as a semantic primitive: Evidence from Biblical Hebrew. Pragmatics & Cognition, 7(2), 375-403. DOI: 10.1075/pc.7.2.08dur
In an article entitled “Is BAD a semantic primitive?” (1996), John Myhill suggested that the concept ‘bad’ should be removed from the list of semantic primitives put forward by Anna Wierzbicka and Cliff Goddard. Myhill argued (1) that ‘bad’ is semantically decomposable, (2) that there is no word in Biblical Hebrew that corresponds to the English word bad and, thus, no linguistic form that represents the primitive BAD in this language, and (3) that ‘bad’ is dispensable in the semantic analysis and can be replaced with other components without any loss or change of meaning. Discussing and illustrating some fundamental questions in the search for universal semantic primitives, the present author reconsiders these findings and finds a different answer to John Myhill’s question.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2016) Ethnopsychology and personhood
Wierzbicka, Anna (2016). Two levels of verbal communication, universal and culture-specific. In Andrea Rocci, & Louis de Saussure (Eds.), Verbal communication (pp. 447-482). Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110255478-024
Abstract:
Models of the human person embedded in everyday language differ a great deal across languages, cultures and epochs, and often lead us to the heart of the shared cultural values of the speech communities where they are found. Even within European languages, there is considerable diversity. Remarkably, though, all human cultures appear to agree that human beings have a body, which is visible, and ‘something else’, which is not. Models of the human person differ with respect to the construal of that ‘something else’. For speakers of modern English, it is usually interpreted as the ‘mind’; and in the era of global English, the model of a human being as composed of a body and a mind is often taken for granted by Anglophone humanities and social sciences (and even by cognitive and evolutionary science).
Yet the ‘mind’ is a conceptual artefact of modern English – an ethno-construct no more grounded in reality than the French esprit, the Danish sind, the Russian душа duša, the Latin anima, or the Yolngu birrimbirr. The reification of the English ‘mind’ and its elevation to the status of a ‘scientific’ prism through which all other languages, cultures, indigenous psychologies, and even stages in the evolution of primates can be legitimately interpreted is a striking illustration of the blind spot in contemporary social science that results from the ‘invisibility’ of English as a more and more globalized way of speaking and thinking.
This paper demonstrates that the meanings hidden in such language-specific cultural constructs can be revealed and compared, in a precise and illuminating way, through the use of NSM. It also shows how the understanding of such culturally central concepts can lead to better communication across languages and cultures.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2018) English, Hebrew, Arabic – Folk religious concepts
Habib, Sandy (2018). Heaven and hell: A cross-linguistic semantic template for supernatural places. RASK, 48, 1–34.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to devise a cross-linguistic semantic template for supernatural place terms. To achieve this objective, six supernatural place concepts were analysed, and an explication for each concept was built. Comparing the explications yielded a seven-part semantic template. The usefulness of this semantic template is threefold. First, it eases the task of explicating supernatural place concepts because the parts of the template can serve as guidelines to be followed while constructing the explications. Second, it makes it easier to compare related supernatural place concepts from different languages. Third, it unveils the devices that are embodied in the structure of supernatural place concepts and that enable people to use these complex concepts without difficulty.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2019) English, Arabic, Hebrew – Religion
Habib, Sandy (2019). Sin in English, Arabic, and Hebrew: a case of true translation equivalence. International Journal of Arabic Linguistics, 5(1), 20-44.
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.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
