Browsing results for English (USA)
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 3, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1994). “Cultural scripts”: A semantic approach to cultural analysis and cross-cultural communication. Pragmatics and Language Learning [Monograph Series], 5, 1-24. PDF (open access)
This paper argues that the ways of speaking characteristic of a given speech community cannot be satisfactorily described (let alone explained) in purely behavioral terms. They constitute a behavioral manifestation of a tacit system of “cultural rules” or “cultural scripts”. To understand a society’s ways of speaking, we have to identify and articulate its implicit “cultural scripts”. Furthermore, it is argued that to be able to do this without ethnocentric bias we need a universal, language-independent perspective; this can be attained if the”rules” in question are stated in terms of lexical universals, that is, universal human concepts lexicalized in all languages of the world.
To illustrate these general propositions, the author shows how cultural scripts can be stated and how they can be justified. This is done with particular reference to Japanese, (White) Anglo-American, and Black American cultural norms.
The cultural scripts advanced in this paper are formulated in a highly constrained Natural Semantic Metalanguage, based on a small set of lexical universals (or near-universals) and a small set of universal (or near-universal) syntactic patterns. It is argued that the use of this metalanguage allows us to portray and compare culture-specific attitudes, assumptions, and norms from a neutral, culture-independent point of view and to do so in terms of simple formulae that are intuitively self-explanatory while at the same time being rigorous and empirically verifiable.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) enryo 遠慮, (S) advocate stance, (S) agreement, (S) apologies, (S) attitudes to emotion, (S) criticism of others, (S) freedom of expression, (S) imposition of opinions, (S) likes and dislikes, (S) non-advocate stance, (S) open-mindedness, (S) opinions of others, (S) resilience, (S) self-assertive behaviour, (S) speech, (S) spokesman stance, (S) toughness, (S) verbal restraint, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Gladkova, Anna (2003). The semantics of nicknames of the American presidents. In Peter Collins, & Mengistu Amberber (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2002 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2002.html. PDF (open access)
This study is focused on the recorded public nicknames of the American presidents, which were collected from onomastic dictionaries, reference literature on American presidents, and the internet. The data consisted of approximately 430 nicknames for 43 presidents. It is shown that the semantic structure of nicknames can be explicated with lexical universals to make their meaning transparent and avoid a culture-biased analysis and that the semantic analysis of nicknames can give clues to cultural values and assumptions determining their coining.
The semantic structure of nicknames contains both referential and expressive components. The referential components of nicknames can be evaluative. The expressive components are complex and can include emotive components, as well as components of status and familiarity. Nicknames differ in their expressive value, and their variety depends on the forms of personal names used in nicknames. It is possible to divide the nicknames examined here into several groups according to the cultural assumptions underlying their coining.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) expressive value of nicknames, (E) Father of the country, (E) Ike, (E) politician influenced by or compared to others, (E) self-made man, (E) undeserved leader
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 29, 2018.
Hasada, Rie (2006). Cultural scripts: Glimpses into the Japanese emotion world. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics: Understanding discourse in cultural context (pp. 171-198). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110911114.171
This work aims to articulate aspects of Japanese people’s attitudes towards emotions in the form of cultural scripts, utilising the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) method developed by Anna Wierzbicka, Cliff Goddard and colleagues. It is the intention of this work to explicate some of the thinking patterns or sociocultural norms relating to typical patterns of Japanese behaviour associated with the expression of emotions. The approach taken for this purpose is the cultural scripts framework based on the universal Natural Semantic Metalanguage. We establish how cultural norms encourage or discourage certain kinds of emotion behaviour in Japan. Although Japanese people can be said to be quite “emotional”, and to put more value on emotion than reason, they often try to suppress not only negative emotions, but also positive emotions. This is because they are very sensitive to the eyes of seken, or to how other people will view and think of their actions. In Japan, keeping harmony with other people often takes precedence over other concerns. Individual emotions are allowed to be expressed when their cultural norms are met. Communicating with Japanese people without knowing these cultural scripts might lead to some misunderstanding for non-Japanese. Therefore, more comprehensive and systematic examination of how Japanese cultural norms of emotions are similar to and different from those in other cultures is indispensable for ensuring successful intercultural communication.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (S) against being regarded as the active agent of crying, (S) cheerfulness, (S) dealing with "emotional problems ", (S) how seken influences peoples' actions, (S) importance of knowing how one is feeling, (S) valuing emotionality over rationality, (S) when it is bad/not bad to be seen crying, (S) when one is expected to display to others what one feels
Published on July 18, 2017. Last updated on August 20, 2018.
Moonan, Robert John (2007). A cultural script analysis of an English-Thai bilingual speaker’s nominative usage of mommy in English yes/no question formation. PhD thesis, University of South Carolina.
Each culture has its own specific linguistic norms, values, and practices. To avoid any ethnocentric bias in the attempt to capture these linguistic norms, values, practices, Cultural Script Theory proposes the use of Natural Semantic Metalanguage in describing the linguistic practices of a specific culture. Natural Semantic Metalanguage consists of semantic primitives, words whose meaning cannot be reduced any further. These semantic primitives, of which there are currently over sixty, provide the tools to illustrate the grammatical structures and to capture the pragmatic meaning within the world’s languages.
This dissertation uses the theoretical and methodological frameworks of Cultural Script Theory to analyse the speech practices of a Thai-American woman, whom I refer to as Lucy, who is English-Thai bilingual and bicultural. Specifically, I examine Lucy’s choice of referring expressions in her construction of yes/no questions in two sets of data. The first set of data is a conversation between Lucy and her mother, a native speaker of Thai. The second set of data is a conversation between Lucy and her mother-in-law, a native speaker of English. The analysis consists of three steps. First, I provide semantic explications of the Thai terms of address แม่ mâe ‘mother’ and แม่ mâe ‘an older woman’. Additionally, I provide semantic explications of the English terms of address mother, ma’am, mrs. last name, miss first name, and first name and the English speech act verbs ask and inquire. Second, I construct Thai cultural scripts for แม่ mâe ‘mother’ and แม่ mâe ‘an older woman’ and Anglo-American cultural scripts for the use of the aforementioned English terms of address. Lastly, I use those explications and cultural scripts to help provide a discourse analysis of the two sets of data.
In this dissertation I hypothesize that the distinctive linguistic behavior of Lucy is explained by her use of two different cultural scripts, one based on Anglo-American cultural speaking practices and the other based on Thai cultural speaking practices.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) ask, (E) female, (E) first name, (E) given names, (E) inquire, (E) last name, (E) ma'am, (E) mâe แม่, (E) male, (E) marriage, (E) miss, (E) mother, (E) Mrs, (S) addressing someone, (S) interactions with female, (S) interactions with mother, (S) interactions with older female, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on February 17, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2010). Cultural scripts: Applications to language teaching and intercultural communication. Studies in Pragmatics (Journal of the China Pragmatics Association) 3, 105-119.
Cultural scripts provide a powerful new technique for articulating cultural norms, values and practices using simple, cross-translatable phrasing. The technique is based on many decades of research into cross-cultural semantics by Anna Wierzbicka and colleagues in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach. This paper illustrates the cultural scripts approach with three examples of pragmatics of Anglo English: request strategies, personal remarks, and phatic complimenting in American English. It argues that the cultural scripts approach can be readily adapted for use in teaching intercultural pragmatics and intercultural communication, and shows with concrete examples (so-called pedagogical scripts) how this can be done.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (S) compliments, (S) expressive positivity, (S) personal autonomy, (S) personal remarks, (S) pleasant interaction, (S) requests, (T) Chinese, (T) English
Published on June 25, 2017. Last updated on September 24, 2018.
Karimnia, Amin, & Afghari, Akbar (2010). On the applicability of cultural scripts in teaching L2 compliments. English Language Teaching, 3(3). DOI: 10.5539/elt.v3n3p71. PDF (open access)
In this study, Natural Semantic Metalanguage (henceforth NSM) was used to carry out a comparative analysis. The compliment response behaviour of native Persian speakers was compared to that of Native American English speakers to see if it can provide evidence for the applicability of the NSM model. The descriptive technique was the cultural scripts approach, using conceptual primes proposed in the NSM theory. The cultural scripts were presented in both English and Persian metalanguages. The data were taken from a corpus of 50 hours of recorded live interviews from Persian and English TV channels. The results show the applicability of the NSM model for cross-cultural comparisons. The paper concludes with the pedagogical implications of the development of the theory of cultural scripts for teaching L2 socio-pragmatics in general and compliments in particular.
Crude application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) (making a compliment), (E) (responding to a compliment)
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on February 17, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2012). Cultural scripts and communication style differences in three Anglo Englishes (English English, American English and Australian English). In Barbara Kryk-Kastovsky (Ed.), Intercultural miscommunication past and present (pp. 101-120). Frankfurt: Peter Lang. DOI: 10.3726/978-3-653-01353-5
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 29, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2012). ‘Early interactions’ in Australian English, American English, and English English: Cultural differences and cultural scripts. Journal of Pragmatics, 44, 1038-1050.
DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2012.04.010
Abstract:
Different communicative styles pertaining to initial self-presentation have implications for mutual misperception, negative evaluation and stereotyping. This study applies the techniques of contrastive ethnopragmatics to communicative style in initial conversational interactions in three varieties of Anglo English: Australian English, American English, and English English. It proposes for each variety a distinctive suite of cultural scripts concerning matters such as presumed stance in relation to sameness and difference, degree of attention to accent and speech style, expected degree of interest in personal information about the interlocutor, expressions of accomplishments and ambitions, and ‘phatic complimenting’. Evidence is drawn from personal testimonies about cultural cross-talk, sociological and cultural studies, and contrastive corpus data.
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Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 24, 2018.
Karimnia, Amin (2012). A cross-cultural approach to contrasting offers in English and Persian. World Applied Sciences Journal, 16(2), 280-289. DOI: 10.1.1.389.5350. PDF (open access)
This study is an attempt to carry out a comparative analysis using Natural Semantic Metalanguage (henceforth NSM). The offering routine patterns of native Persian speakers was compared with that of Native American English speakers to see if it can provide evidence for the applicability of the NSM model. The descriptive technique was the cultural scripts approach, using conceptual primes proposed in the NSM theory. The cultural scripts were presented in both English and Persian metalanguages. The data were taken from a corpus of 20 hours of recorded live interviews from Persian and English TV channels. The results show the applicability of NSM model for cross-cultural comparisons. The paper concludes with the pedagogical implications of the development of the theory of cultural scripts for teaching L2 sociopragmatics in general and offers in particular.
Approximate application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) (accepting an offer), (E) (making an offer), (E) (refusing an offer)
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on February 9, 2020.
Wakefield, John C. (2013). When cultural scripts collide: Conflicting child-rearing values in a mixed-culture home. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 42(4), 376-392.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2013.838984
Abstract:
This paper discusses some key differences between the child-rearing values of American-English culture and Hong Kong-Cantonese culture. Evidence is drawn from contrasts in the child-rearing-related speech behaviour of people from the two cultures, including the American English-speaking author and his Hong Kong Cantonese-speaking partner. Speaker-oriented cultural scripts written in NSM are developed in an attempt to articulate and explain these differences in verbal behaviour. It is proposed that a major contrast between the two cultures is whether or not parents believe children can or should determine for themselves what is appropriate to say and do.
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Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) giu3, (S) child-rearing behaviour, (S) children require instruction, (S) example setting for children, (S) parental love withdrawal, (S) wh-imperatives
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 31, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2015). “Swear words” and “curse words” in Australian (and American) English: At the crossroads of pragmatics, semantics and sociolinguistics. Intercultural Pragmatics, 12(2), 189-218. DOI 10.1515/ip-2015-0010
This study seeks to show that Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) analytical techniques allow an integrated semantic-pragmatic approach to the use of “swear words” and “curse (cuss) words”. The paper begins with a semantic exegesis of the lexical items swear word and curse word. This is helpful to delimit and conceptualize the phenomena being studied, and it also hints at some interesting differences between the speech cultures of Australian English and American English. Subsequent sections propose semantic explications for a string of swear/curse words and expressions as used in Australian English, including: exclamations (Shit! Fuck! Damn! Christ! Jesus!), abuse formulas (Fuck you!, Damn you!), interrogative and imperative formulas (e.g. Who the fuck do you think you are?; Get the hell out of here!), and the free use of expressive adjectives, such as fucking and goddamn, in angry swearing. A novel aspect, with interesting implications for the relationship between semantics and pragmatics, is that the explications incorporate a metalexical awareness section, modelling speaker awareness of the ethnometapragmatic status of the word in the community of discourse. The study goes on to address so-called “social/conversational” swearing. Cultural scripts are proposed to capture some Anglo ethnopragmatic assumptions about how the use of swear/curse words can be affected by perceptions of familiarity, solidarity, and mutuality. Differences between Australian English and American English are discussed at various points.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) Christ!, (E) curse words, (E) cuss words, (E) Dammit!, (E) Damn you!, (E) Damn!, (E) Fuck you!, (E) Fuck!, (E) fucking, (E) Get the hell out of here!, (E) goddamn, (E) Jesus!, (E) Shit!, (E) swear words, (E) Where (who/what...) the hell, (S) swear/curse words and children, (S) swear/curse words and gender, (S) swear/curse words in high solidarity situations, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 5, 2019.
Romero-Trillo, Jesús & Avila-Ledesma, Nancy E. (2017). The ethnopragmatic representation of positive and negative emotions in Irish immigrants’ letters. In Keith Allan, Alessandro Capone & Istvan Kecskes (Eds.), Pragmemes and theories of language use (pp. 393-420). Cham: Springer.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-43491-9_21
Abstract:
This chapter explores the ethnopragmatic conceptualization of happiness and sadness in the language of the Irish citizens who immigrated to North America between 1811 and 1880, on the basis of a corpus of Irish emigrants’ personal correspondence. In particular, this study proposes a Natural Semantic Metalanguage examination of the emotional load of the positive adjectives happy and glad, and their negative counterparts, unhappy and sad, to elucidate Irish emigrants’ psychological states of mind and emotional responses to transatlantic migrations and life abroad. It investigates the pragmatic uses of key emotion terms in the corpus based upon the semantic explications developed by Wierzbicka and adds to these an explication of the adjective glad. It is shown that the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework can be fruitfully used as an analytic tool to unveil the linguistic specificities embedded in the conceptualization of psychological acts such as emotions.
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Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) delighted, (E) glad, (E) happy, (E) sad, (E) unhappy
Published on December 8, 2019. Last updated on December 8, 2019.
Yu, Kyong-Ae (2017). Perceptions and functions of Korean mianhada: comparison with American English sorry. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 25(2), 197-224.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.14353/sjk.2017.25.2.07 / Open access
Abstract:
Sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic conventions for apology vary from culture to culture. While the illocutionary purpose of apologizing in English is the speaker’s sense of social obligation and Japanese sumimasen involves social-self with a social alter, this study argues that Korean mianhada is an apology from the speaker’s moral perspective linked with collective-self. Employing NSM, this study discusses that sorry is a separate concept but mianhada is a nebulous concept mixed with other emotions, e.g., thanks and love. In addition, presenting the examples from corpus-based dictionaries, COCA, and the Sejong 21st Century Corpus, this study discusses that sorry is authentically used as indirect and ritualistic apologies while mianhada is used as direct, indirect, ritualistic and substantive apologies. Finally, distinguishing main functions of mianhada into a sincere apology, a pseudo-apology, gratitude, a request initiator, a preclosing signal, and a territory invasion signal to strangers, this study provides cultural and ethnographical explanations.
More information:
Only Kim (2008) has analysed the semantic differences in cultural perceptions between Australian sorry and Korean mianhada using NSM, but the analysis proposed here for Korean mianhada is different.
Rating:
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) gomapgo yeomchiga eopda, (E) mianhada, (E) nonverbal apology, (E) sorry, (E) thank
Published on June 19, 2020. Last updated on November 22, 2020.
Forbes, Alexander (2020). Using Minimal English to model a parental understanding of autism. In Lauren Sadow, Bert Peeters, & Kerry Mullan (Eds.), Studies in ethnopragmatics, cultural semantics, and intercultural communication: Vol. 3. Minimal English (and beyond) (pp. 191-212). Singapore: Springer.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9979-5_8
Abstract:
The challenges faced by families of children who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder have been well-studied, as have the impacts on the family of this diagnosis. What a parent prototypically thinks when confronted with the word ‘autism’, however, has not been well-studied. This study reviewed liter- ature and examined multiple texts in order to posit two cognitive models held by the prototypical parent of an autistic child. These cognitive models are expressed in Minimal English, allowing readers to ‘get inside the head’ of a prototypical parent who hears that ‘X has autism’. Two scripts (cognitive models) are provided in this study: one noting perceptions of the autistic person and the other noting perceptions of other parents of autistic children. Script 1 reveals how the prototypical parent of an autistic child perceives an autistic person in relation to other people, including how the autistic person thinks, does things, feels and interacts with other people. It further describes how this prototypical parent assumes others perceive autistic people, and how the prototypical parent may want to do things in a particular way with an autistic person as opposed to non-autistic people. Script 2 reveals how the prototypical parent thinks of the parents of an autistic child, including assumptions of shared experiences, social isolation, and fear for the future. This innovative study breaks ground in the use of Minimal English and offers a new way forward for representing prototypical understandings of concepts.
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Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (S) parental experiences of autism, (S) parents thinking about an autistic child