Browsing results for English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2013). Kinship and social cognition in Australian languages: Kayardild and Pitjantjatjara. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 33(3), 302-321. DOI: 10.1080/07268602.2013.846458
While many anthropologists these days dismiss the study of kinship terminologies as something that belongs – or should belong – to the past, from an Australian perspective kin terms must still be seen as an essential guide to the ways in which speakers of many languages understand their social world. This being so, establishing what these terms really mean – from an insider’s, rather than an anthropologist’s or linguist’s point of view – remains an essential task. This paper argues that while this task cannot be accomplished with traditional methods of linguistic anthropology, it can be with the techniques of NSM semantics. The paper shows how this can be done by re-analysing
some basic kin terms in Kayardild and in Pitjantjatjara.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) brother, (E) duujinda, (E) kularrinda, (E) kuta, (E) malanypa, (E) thabuju, (E) wakatha, (E) yakukathu, (S) kinship
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 18, 2018.
Ye, Zhengdao (2013). Comparing the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach to emotion and the GRID paradigm. In Johnny R.J. Fontaine, Klaus R. Scherer, & Cristina Soriano (Eds.), Components of emotional meaning: A sourcebook (pp. 399-409). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592746.003.0028
Three important starting points of the GRID paradigm are that (a) the words and expressions ordinary people use to talk about their emotional experience are central to emotion research, (b) emotions are multi-componential phenomena, and (c) the study of the commonalities of human emotion should be firmly grounded in cross-cultural research. All these positions find strong resonance in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach to emotion. The aim of this paper is to introduce the NSM approach, compare it with the GRID approach, and explore the possibility of a joint effort between them in the quest for a better understanding of both the universals and the culture-specific aspects of human emotions. The examples discussed in the paper are drawn from English, Chinese, and Ewe, a West African language.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on July 18, 2017. Last updated on February 9, 2020.
Hashemi, Seyede Zahra (2013). Analysis of cultural scripts of objections and responses to objections in Persian and English within Natural Semantic Metalanguage framework. Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods, 3(1), 17-25.
Open access
Abstract:
Language is the main medium for expressing other phenomena. It expresses the beliefs, values, and meanings shared by members of a society, so it is more than a system of sounds, meaning units, and syntax. Social rules and cultural values are embedded in language and since they are not the same in different cultures they must be learnt by second and foreign language learners.
In this study, a number of social functions in Persian are analysed using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework. The results are then compared and contrasted with those obtained for English. The functions in focus are objections, and response to objections. The results of this study indicates that: the NSM is applicable to the communicative interaction routines in Persian, the cultural scripts can be used to develop an awareness of cultural differences in the learners, and the model in question is suitable for cross-cultural contrastive analysis.
More information:
This is a study in ethnopragmatics, even though the term as such is not used.
Rating:
Approximate application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (S) objections, (S) response to objections
Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on August 31, 2018.
Barrios Rodríguez, María Auxiliadora, & Goddard, Cliff (2013). ‘Degrad verbs’ in Spanish and English: Collocations, lexical functions and contrastive NSM semantic analysis. Functions of Language, 20(2), 219-249. DOI: 10.1075/fol.20.2.04bar
The Lexical Function Degrad is a device used in Meaning-Text Theory (MTT) to select the appropriate verb for expressing ‘to become permanently worse or bad’ in combination with different nouns. For example, in English one says that fruit rots, milk goes off, shoes wear out, flowers wilt, and iron rusts; thus, the verbs rot, go off, wear out, etc. can all be considered “values” of Degrad. Comparing these verbs with their translation equivalents in Spanish shows that verbs in the two languages have somewhat different collocational possibilities. Are such collocational differences arbitrary or do they result from subtle meaning differences between the translation equivalents? In this study we undertake a contrastive semantic analysis of a selection of words in the Degrad domain, using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) method of semantic explication. We conclude that collocational preferences are indeed semantically motivated, but at the same time we recognize that Degrad is a valuable lexicological tool for verb classification, as well as for coordinating translation equivalents across languages at an approximate level. The paper aims to encourage productive engagement between two well developed approaches to lexical semantics, while at the same time demonstrating the explanatory power of the detailed “micro-semantic” analysis enabled by the NSM methodology.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) agostarse, (E) desgastarse, (E) estropearse, (E) gastarse, (E) go off, (E) marchitarse, (E) pasarse, (E) pudrirse, (E) rot, (E) wear out, (E) wilt, (E) wither, (T) Spanish
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on February 9, 2020.
Wakefield, John C. (2014). The forms and meanings of English rising declaratives: Insights from Cantonese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 42(1), 109-149.
Open access
Abstract:
The study reported in this paper exploited the existence of a pair of semantically related Cantonese question particles (咩 me1 and 呀 aa4) to learn more about the forms and meanings of the tones that mark declarative questions in English. First each particle was defined using NSM. Cantonese-to-English translations were then elicited from native-bilinguals to discover the English-equivalent forms of the particles. The NSM explications proposed for 咩 me1 and 呀 aa4 are hypothesized to apply equally to their English-equivalent forms. The results of this study provide empirical evidence that suggests there are at least two forms of rising declaratives in English with distinct meanings. It is argued that high-rising (but not mid-rising) declaratives express a prior belief in the negative form of their propositional content.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) aa4 呀, (E) me1 咩
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 1, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2014). “Pain” and “suffering” in cross-linguistic perspective. International Journal of Language and Culture, 1(2), 149-173.
DOI: 10.1075/ijolc.1.2.02wie
Abstract:
This paper builds on findings of the author’s 1999 book Emotions Across Languages and Cultures: Diversity and Universals, which tentatively identified eleven universals pertaining to human emotions. The paper probes some of those “emotional universals” further, especially in relation to ‘laughing’, ‘crying’, and ‘pain’. At the same time, the author continues her campaign against pseudo-universals, focusing in particular on the anthropological and philosophical discourse of “suffering”. The paper argues for the Christian origins of the concept of “suffering” lexically embodied in European languages, and contrasts it with the Buddhist concept of ‘dukkha’, usually rendered in Anglophone discussions of Buddhism with the word suffering.
More information:
Reissued as:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2016). “Pain” and “suffering” in cross-linguistic perspective. In Cliff Goddard & Zhengdao Ye (Eds.), “Happiness” and “pain” across languages and cultures (pp. 19-43). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/bct.84.02wie
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) cry, (E) douleur, (E) dukkha, (E) feel pain, (E) laugh, (E) suffer, (E) suffering, (E) weinen, (E) xiào 笑
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 7, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2014). On “disgust”. In Fabienne Baider, & Georgeta Cislaru (Eds.), Linguistic approaches to emotions in context (pp. 73-97). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: 10.1075/pbns.241.06god
Abstract:
This study relies on the NSM approach to explore conceptualisations of “disgust” in English via semantic analysis of descriptive adjectives (disgusted and disgusting) and interjections (Ugh! and Yuck!). As well as drawing out some subtle meaning differences between these expressions, the exercise establishes that there is no one-to-one mapping between the meanings of descriptive emotion lexemes, on the one hand, and expressive interjections, on the other.
More broadly, the study seeks to advance the semantic study of “disgust-like” concepts in a cross-linguistic perspective, first, by highlighting aspects of meaning that differ between the English expressions and their near-equivalents in other languages, such as German, French and Polish, and second, by proposing a set of touchstone semantic components that can help facilitate cross-linguistic investigation.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) disgusted, (E) disgusting, (E) Fu!, (E) pleased, (E) sad, (E) Ugh!, (E) Yuck!
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on February 17, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2014). Have to, have got to, and must: NSM analyses of English modal verbs of ‘necessity’. In Maite Taboada, & Radoslava Trnavac (Eds.), Nonveridicality and evaluation: Theoretical, computational and corpus approaches (pp. 50-75). Leiden: Brill. DOI: doi: 10.1163/9789004258174_004
The author develops a set of semantic explications of English modal verbs associated with necessity from the perspective of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach. He argues that this set of semantic explications would be applicable to account for the semantic differences between English modals of necessity. In terms of evaluation, he points out that evaluative meanings can be realized by modal expressions, for example have to conveys confidence, have got to has the semantic connotation of urgency, and must has the connotative meaning of desideration.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on August 5, 2017. Last updated on August 17, 2021.
Bullock, David (2014). Learn these words first: Multi-layer dictionary for second-language learners of English. http://LearnTheseWordsFirst.com
In this dictionary, the semantic primes of Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) are used to build definitions for 300 semantic molecules. These primes and molecules are then used to define each of the 2000 words in the controlled defining vocabulary of the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE).
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 31, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2014). Jesus! vs. Christ! in Australian English: Semantics, secondary interjections and corpus analysis. In Jesús Romero-Trillo (Ed.), Yearbook of Corpus Linguistics and Pragmatics 2014: New empirical and theoretical paradigms (pp. 55-77). Cham: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-06007-1_4
Using corpus-assisted semantic analysis, conducted in the NSM framework, this chapter explores the meanings and uses of two closely related secondary interjections, namely, Jesus! and Christ!, in Australian English. The interjections Shit! and Fuck! are touched on briefly. From a methodological point of view, the chapter can be read as a study in how corpus techniques and semantic analysis can work in tandem; in particular, how interaction with a corpus can be used to develop, refine and test fine-grained semantic hypotheses. From a content point of view, this study seeks to demonstrate two key propositions: first, that it is possible to identify semantic invariants, i.e. stable meanings, even for highly context-bound items such as interjections; second, that it is possible to capture and model speakers’ awareness of the degree and nature of the “offensiveness” of secondary interjections, in a Metalexical Awareness component that attaches, so to speak, to particular words. Both these propositions challenge conventional assumptions about the nature and interfacing between semantics and pragmatics. A final question raised in the study is how linguists can come to terms with the fact that people use interjections not only orally but also mentally, in “inner speech”.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) Christ!, (E) Fuck!, (E) Jesus!, (E) Shit!, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 1, 2018.
Sinkeviciute, Valeria (2014). “When a joke’s a joke and when it’s too much”: Mateship as a key to interpreting jocular FTAs in Australian English. Journal of Pragmatics, 60, 121-139. DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2013.11.004
This exploratory study focuses on interactions containing jocular FTAs in Australian English in relation to cultural attitudes that are valued in an Anglo-Australian cultural context. ‘Not taking yourself too seriously’ is considered to be a preferred attitude in the English-speaking world, but what seems to make it even more prominent in Australia is not its humour potential, but rather a strong link with ‘mateship’, i.e. projecting equality. The results of this study show not only a difference between public and personal offence taken at FTAs, but also a clear connection that can be observed between the category of ‘mateship’ and public offence. Furthermore, a distinction between laughter (an omnipresent reaction in the analysed data), funniness and ‘mateship’ in relation to public offence is made. The findings are based on interactions from the television gameshow Big Brother Australia 2012.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (S) taking the mickey, (S) taking the piss
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on January 15, 2022.
Waters, Sophia Elizabeth (2014). The cultural semantics of “sociality” terms in Australian English, with contrastive reference to French. PhD thesis, University of New England.
This thesis investigates the lexical semantics of nice and a set of other superficially “simple” sociality concepts (rude, polite and manners) in Australian English. When appropriately analysed, these words reveal much about the socially accepted and approved ways of behaving in Australian society. As expected of heavily culture-laden words, nice and rude lack precise translation equivalents in many languages and can be regarded as cultural key words. The comparative reference to French (for example, nice vs. gentil lit. ‘kind’, rude vs. mal élevé lit. ‘badly brought up’) highlights differences in ways of behaving and construals of sociality.
The thesis engages with the (im)politeness literature, and addresses the problem of transparent definitions of sociality words as they are used by ordinary speakers. This thesis enriches the current literature on (im)politeness and sociality by providing clear and accessible lexical semantic analyses of these words in Australian English, in a range of contexts, collocations and constructional frames in 24 explications. The methodology for the semantic analysis is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach. The lexical semantic analysis of the abstract noun manners pioneers the theoretical innovation of “manners scripts”, which are an extension of the cultural scripts approach.
A quasi-ethnographic approach was taken to compile the dataset of example sentences of Australian English and French sourced from the search engine Google. These form a purpose-built corpus of almost 3000 tokens.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) mal élevé, (E) manners, (E) nice, (E) polite, (E) rude, (E) table manners, (E) well-mannered, (S) expressiveness, (S) no elbows on the table, (S) no reaching, (S) not chewing with the mouth open, (S) not speaking with the mouth full, (S) saying excuse me, (S) saying hello, (S) saying please, (S) saying sorry, (S) saying thank you, (S) using cutlery, (T) French
Published on May 20, 2018. Last updated on August 15, 2021.
Sadow, Lauren (2014). Cultural scripts in practice: An investigation into applying cultural scripts as a pedagogical tool in ESL classrooms. Master’s thesis, University of New England.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on December 17, 2017. Last updated on August 16, 2021.
Gąsior, Weronika Zofia (2014). Intercultural pragmatics: An investigation of expressing opinions in Irish English amongst Irish and Polish students. PhD thesis, University of Limerick. PDF (open access)
Research in cross-cultural pragmatics has been limited to a handful of speech acts, and opinions remain rather poorly documented. The aim of this research was to explore the speech act of opinions from the dual perspective of pragmalinguistics-sociopragmatics, focusing additionally on the Irish variety of the English language and the Irish-Polish intercultural context. An empirical study of the expression of opinions among Polish and Irish students was conducted, using a mixed-method approach. The corpus of opinions was gathered through open role-plays among Irish and Polish university students, and it was complemented with focus group interviews which explored issues of sociopragmatic attitudes and awareness in expressing opinions.
The findings suggest that opinions should be treated as a speech act set, quite complex in its execution and an example of a rich environment for investigation of cooccurrence of many speech acts. Consequently, opinions are not achieved by simple ‘I think (that) x…’ sentences, but rather involve a negotiation of meaning represented in the use of concessive (dis)agreements, the most prominent being the use of ‘yes, but’ expressions. Additionally, opinions present not only face-saving strategies, such as those for polite disagreements, but they also promote face-enhancing moves and foster relationship-building communication.
The findings suggest further that in the Irish culture opinions are based on beliefs, while from the Polish participants’ perspective they are also based on facts and expected to be supported in conversation by good arguments. These different perspectives may have repercussions on how both cultures approach exchanges of opinions. While a direct cultural clash between them is not a direct conclusion to be drawn from the data, a possible misinterpretation of each other’s intentions should be pointed out. Consequently, some pedagogical and interculturally-oriented recommendations with reference to opinions are put forward.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 7, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2014). Interjections and emotion (with special reference to “surprise” and “disgust”). Emotion Review, 6(1), 53-63.
DOI: 10.1177/1754073913491843
Abstract:
All languages have ‘emotive interjections’ (i.e. interjections expressing cognitively based feelings), and yet emotion researchers have invested only a tiny research effort into interjections, as compared with the huge body of research into facial expressions and words for emotion categories. This article provides an overview of the functions, meanings and cross-linguistic variability of interjections, concentrating on non-word-based ones such as Wow!, Yuck!, and Ugh! The aims are to introduce an area that will be unfamiliar to most readers, to illustrate how the NSM approach deals with interjectional meaning, and to start a discussion about an interdisciplinary research agenda for the study of emotive interjections. Examples are drawn from English, Polish, and Cantonese.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) ai1 jaa3! 呢樽, (E) Fu!, (E) Gee!, (E) Gosh!, (E) Tfu!, (E) Ugh!, (E) waa3! 哇, (E) Yikes!, (E) Yuck!
Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on May 7, 2019.
Baider, Fabienne (2014). Bad feelings in context. In Fabienne Baider, & Georgeta Cislaru (Eds.), Linguistic approaches to emotions in context (pp. 189-212). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: 10.1075/pbns.241.11bai
Abstract:
This study revisits some earlier explications for anger-like words in English and Russian, then calls for the NSM approach to be combined with the socio-cognitive approach advocated by Rachel Giora and Istvan Kecskes. Oral and written data are used to define the salient features of the main hatred- and anger-like words in two languages: French (as spoken in France) and Greek (as spoken on Cyprus). The analysis reveals some differences regarding the referential dimension of the selected words, highlighting the fact that revenge occurs by default with hatred, but not (unlike previously suggested) with anger. Cypriot Greek μισός misos is equated with English anger, and θυμός thymos with French colère, and explications are proposed for each.
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In spite of some good insights and an interesting proposal to bring Giora’s concept of salience to bear on NSM data gathering practices, the paper does not live up to expectation. It remains an open question whether μισός misos can indeed be equated with English anger, and θυμός thymos with French colère. The author’s explications of these terms are problematical in more ways than one. |
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Rating:
Approximate application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) anger, (E) colère, (E) misos μισός, (E) thymos θυμός
Published on August 4, 2018. Last updated on August 23, 2018.
Jayantini, I Gusti Agung Sri Rwa (2014). The medical concept of damage and its Indonesian equivalent cedera: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach. Lingual: Journal of Language and Culture, 3(2). DOI: 10.24843/LJLC.2014.v03.i02.p06. PDF (open access)
This paper investigates the meaning configuration of the English medical concept ‘damage’ and its Indonesian equivalent ‘cedera’ as one of the interesting phenomena faced in English-Indonesian medical terminology translation. The former is found in the medical textbook entitled General Ophtamology while the latter is its Indonesian translation identified in Oftamologi Umum. The two books are references for the study of eye disease and medication. Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) theory is utilized to explicate the meaning of the terms. Adding the specific features of meaning once the basic explication is drawn up allows for the distinctive characteristics of ‘damage’ and ‘cedera’ to be comprehensively presented.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) cedera, (E) damage
Published on August 2, 2018. Last updated on May 23, 2019.
Neale, Miles (2014). No rest for the wicked; no leisure for the poor: A comparison of Japanese and English proverbs using Natural Semantic Metalanguage. BA(Hons) thesis, University of Queensland.
Abstract:
Can two proverbs created by different cultures in different languages have the same meaning? This dissertation presents the results of an investigation comparing the core meanings of ten Japanese and English proverbs that certain proverb dictionaries define as being equivalent in meaning. The thesis compares Japanese proverbs chosen from iroha karuta, a proverb-based card game, with English ‘equivalents’ listed in Japanese proverb dictionaries. The investigation uses data from the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese, the British National Corpus and a corpus of internet blogs to develop semantic explications that demonstrate the core meaning of each proverb. These explications reveal that many of the Japanese proverbs rely on a different metaphor, offer different advice and index a different real-world situation compared to their English ‘equivalents’. The results of this investigation demonstrate how proverbs reproduce folk wisdom, ritual and the differing ideologies of Japanese and English culture.
More information:
The following proverbs are explicated and compared:
Nen niwa nen o ireyo versus Look before you leap
Binbō hima nashi versus No rest for the wicked
Inu mo arukeba bō ni ataru versus Every dog has its day
Ryōyaku wa kuchi ni nigashi versus Good medicine tastes bitter
Ron yori shōko versus The proof of the pudding is in the eating
Nakittsura ni hachi versus To pour salt on the wound
Atama kakushite shiri kakusazu versus The foolish ostrich buries its head in the sand (and thinks it is not seen)
Chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru versus Many a little makes a mickle
Hana yori dango versus Pudding before praise
Raku areba ku ari versus There is no pleasure without pain
Rating:
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 25, 2019.
Gladkova, Anna (2014). HERE, NEAR, FAR: Spatial conceptualisation and cognition in a cross-linguistic perspective (English vs. Russian). In Luna Filipović, & Martin Pütz (Eds.), Multilingual cognition and language use: Processing and typological perspectives (pp. 121-150). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.44.05gla
Abstract:
This chapter explores variation and similarities in the conceptualization of space in Russian and English on the basis of selected terms of ‘location’ and ‘proximity/distance’. It adopts the NSM approach, which identifies eight semantic universals of space, three of which, HERE, NEAR, FAR, were tested for their realization in both languages. A semantic analysis of terms denoting ‘here’, ‘near’, ‘not far’, and ‘far’ confirms the presence of the three universal primes in English and Russian, though they differ in how they conceptually carve up the notion of space.
The study has implications for research into bilingualism and language acquisition and demonstrates that the NSM formulae can be used experimentally to test spatial conceptualization and cognition cross-linguistically.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) afar, (E) close by, (E) close to, (E) ne daleko не далеко, (E) nearby, (E) nedaleko недалеко, (E) nepodaleku неподалеку, (E) nevdaleke невдалеке, (E) next to, (E) otsjuda отсюда, (E) poblizosti поблизости, (E) rjadom рядом, (E) sjuda сюда, (E) vblizi вблизи, (E) vdaleke вдалеке, (E) vdali вдали, (T) Russian
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 25, 2019.
Gladkova, Anna, & Romero-Trillo, Jesús (2014). Ain’t it beautiful? The conceptualization of beauty from an ethnopragmatic perspective. Journal of Pragmatics, 60, 140-159.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.11.005
Abstract:
This study addresses the question of the ethnopragmatic conceptualization of ‘beautiful’ in three European languages – English, Russian and Spanish. Specifically, it investigates the polysemy and the spheres of application of English beautiful, Russian красивый krasivyj, and Spanish bonito/a. Through corpus analysis methodology, the authors investigate the most common collocations and the pragmatic and contextual uses of these terms. On the basis of the analysis, the study then adopts NSM to propose semantic explications of the three words in universal human concepts. In particular, it investigates the presence of the perception universals SEE, HEAR, and FEEL, which in the data are central to the analysis of the aesthetics vocabulary, along with the primes GOOD, SOMEONE, SOMETHING and THINK.
The data for the study comes from three online corpora: the Russian National Corpus (Russian), Cobuild’s Wordbanks Online (English) and the Corpus de referencia del español actual (Spanish).
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) beautiful, (E) bonito, (E) krasivyj красивый, (E) sympathy, (T) Russian, (T) Spanish
