Browsing results for English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 17, 2019.
Kornacki, Paweł (1995). Heart & face: Semantics of Chinese emotion concepts. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
Open access
Abstract:
This thesis uses NSM to explore the conceptual organization of a subset of the emotion vocabulary of Modern Standard Chinese. Chapter One (Introduction) provides background information on the analytic perspective adopted in the thesis, the sources of data, and a preliminary discussion of some of the issues in the early Chinese ethnotheory of “emotion”. Chapter Two explicates the key concept of 心 xin ‘heart/mind’, which is the cognitive, moral, and emotional ‘centre’ of a person. Chapter Three discusses two related notions, 面子 miànzi and 脸 liăn, usually glossed in English by means of the word face; both notions speak to the culturally perceived relevance to the self of other people’s judgements. Chapter Four develops this theme further, dealing with the ‘social feelings’ of Chinese, i.e. reactions to the things people say and think about us. Chapter Five focuses on the semantic field of Chinese ‘anger’-like expressions. Chapter Six analyses the lexical data pertinent to the conceptualization of different kinds of subjectively ‘bad’ feelings, whereas Chapter Seven discusses the emotional reactions to various types of good situations and events.
Wherever possible, the thesis seeks to probe into the culturally based aspects of the conceptual structure of emotion words by drawing on a variety of anthropological, psychological and sociological studies of the Chinese society. On the methodological level, the thesis attempts to demonstrate that the bias inherent in conducting the cultural analysis with complex, language-specific notions (e.g., ‘anger’, ‘shame’, ‘happiness’) can be subverted through a recourse to universally shared simple meanings.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) anger, (E) bù ān 不安, (E) bù hăoyìsi 不好意思, (E) cánkuì 惭愧, (E) chĭ 耻, (E) chóu 愁, (E) déyì 得意, (E) emotion, (E) face, (E) fèn 憤, (E) gāoxìng 高兴, (E) huáng 徨, (E) jì 寂, (E) jĭnzhāng 紧张, (E) kuàilè 快乐, (E) kŭmèn 苦闷, (E) liăn 脸, (E) miànzi 面子, (E) năo 恼, (E) năohuo 恼火, (E) nù 怒, (E) qíngxù 情绪, (E) shēngqì 生气, (E) tăoyàn 讨厌, (E) tòngkŭ 痛苦, (E) tòngkuài 痛快, (E) xīn 心, (E) xìngfú 幸福, (E) xiū 羞
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1995). *In defence of Australian culture. Quadrant, 39(11), 17-22.
In the current debate on culture many have challenged the notion of culture itself. Eric R. Wolf recently described it as a “perilous idea” and emphasised instead “the heterogeneity and … interconnectedness of cultures”.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on October 19, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (1995). ‘Cognitive mapping’ or ‘verbal explication’? Understanding love on the Malay Archipelago. Semiotica, 106(3/4), 323-354.
This is a review article of Karl G. Heider’s 1991 book Landscapes of emotion: Mapping three cultures of emotion in Indonesia. It is argued that a failure to grasp the nettle on the issue of translation, the exclusive reliance on a narrow range of artificial questionnaire-generated data and the lack of depth in the ethnographic commentary prevent Heider from making substantial progress toward his goal of understanding how culture influences emotion. For the purpose of modeling linguistic and cultural meanings, there is no escape from language, and the problem of translation must be faced fairly and squarely. Much progress has been made within linguistic semantics, especially within the NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) approach led by Anna Wierzbicka, toward developing a systematic and non-ethnocentric approach to verbal explication. An attempt is made to show how this approach can be fruitfully and revealingly applied to the semantic analysis of some Malay emotion words.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) anger, (E) cinta, (E) fear, (E) frightened, (E) kasih, (E) kasihan, (E) sayang, (E) song
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1995). Kisses, handshakes, bows: The semantics of nonverbal communication. Semiotica, 103(3/4), 207-252. DOI: 10.1515/semi.1995.103.3-4.207
Gestures, and other forms of meaningful bodily behaviour, differ from culture to culture: the Japanese bow, Anglos shake hands, Russians kiss and embrace, the Tikopia press noses, and so on. However, although in different societies different types of bodily behaviour are favoured, the meaning expressed by at least some of them may be the same everywhere. In fact, it is only when we assume sameness of meaning that we can explain why certain universally interpretable gestures are favoured or avoided in some societies but not others (for example, why Anglos avoid, and the Japanese favour, bowing).
Of course, not all forms of bodily behaviour are universal or universally interpretable. Some are based on local conventions, and although these too are more likely to be partly iconic or indexical in nature than to be totally arbitrary, they may nonetheless be totally incomprehensible to outsiders. But many gestures, postures, facial expressions, and so on can be assigned ‘universal meanings’; and this applies even to those forms of behaviour that are not universally attested.
The same level of extended body parts (whether noses or hands) appears to suggest sameness, and, by implication, equality of the two people. The contact of the corresponding body parts (nose-to-nose, hand-to-hand, mouth-to-mouth) appears to suggest expected, assumed, or desired sameness of feelings. Voluntary bodily contact (if it is not of the kind that would cause the addressee to feel ‘something bad’, in particular pain) implies ‘good feelings toward the addressee’. And so on.
Clearly, much further research is needed before the exact meaning of gestures, postures, and facial expressions can be stated with certainty and precision; and before the universal aspects of nonverbal communication can be identified and distinguished from those that are culture-specific. It is important to recognize, however, that, universal or not, the meanings of gestures, postures, and facial expressions can be described in a rigorous and yet illuminating manner; and that they can be described in the same framework as arbitrary, ‘local’ gestures (such as, for example, clapping), and indeed, as vocal symbols (that is, speech). Smiles, kisses, interjections, and articulated utterances carry messages of the same kind. To understand human communicative behaviour, we need an integrated description of verbal and nonverbal communication. The ‘Natural Semantic Metalanguage’ based on universal semantic primitives provides a tool with the help of which such an integration can be achieved.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) arm-linking, (E) blushing, (E) bow, (E) bowing, (E) clapping, (E) crawling position, (E) crying, (E) hand-holding, (E) handshake, (E) hug, (E) kiss, (E) kiss on the hand, (E) kneeling, (E) laughter, (E) nose-to-nose contact, (E) ob'jatie, (E) prostration, (E) Sir, (E) slap on the back, (E) smile, (E) stamping one's foot, (E) wringing someone's hand
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 22, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (1995). Who are we? The natural semantics of pronouns. Language Sciences, 17(1), 99-121. DOI: 10.1016/0388-0001(95)00011-J
Working within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework of Anna Wierzbicka, this study proposes reductive paraphrase explications for a range of first-person pronominal meanings. A general explicatory schema is first developed for English we. It is then shown how this can be elaborated to accommodate the inclusive/exclusive distinction, dual number and trial number, and how it can be applied to minimal-augmented systems. Data is taken from various languages of Australia and Asia. It is argued that NSM explications are preferable to conventional feature analyses for two reasons: they are less subject to charges of arbitrariness and obscurity; and they are located within a comprehensive theory of semantic representation.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) 'ār عار, (E) kami, (E) kita, (E) nayin-nime, (E) ngagurr, (E) ngakorrbbarrah, (E) ngakorru, (E) ngali, (E) ngan'gityemerri, (E) nganana, (E) we, (E) yar, (E) yarrbbarrah, (E) yarru, (E) yukku, (E) yε, (E) ε, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on February 17, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (1996). Can linguists help judges know what they mean? Linguistic semantics in the court-room. Forensic Linguistics, 3(2), 250-272. DOI: 10.1558/ijsll.v3i2.250
This paper considers how linguistic semantics can assist judges in determining the ‘plain meaning’ of words for the purpose of statutory interpretation. It describes the main schools of contemporary semantics, showing that leading experts in the field differ enormously in their basic assumptions and methods. It gives a detailed critique of surveys as a research method in semantics, concentrating on a 1994 American study proposed as a model of how linguists can help judges. Although the author advocates Anna Wierzbicka’s reductive paraphrase approach and seeks to demonstrate its value for conceptual analysis in legal contexts, he argues that in view of the fragmented and under-developed state of lexical semantics it would be ill-advised for courts to recognize linguists as experts on word meanings.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) die, (E) enterprise, (E) lie, (E) reckless, (E) suddenly
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2018.
Yell, Michael Roderick (1996). Musical metaphors: Metaphorical structures in genres of discourse on music. BA(Hons) thesis, University of New England.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on November 11, 2018.
Harkins, Jean (1996). Linguistic and cultural differences in concepts of shame. In David Parker, Rosamund Dalziell, & Iain Richard Wright (Eds.), Shame and the modern self (pp. 84-96). Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing.
Shame is one of a set of ‘social emotions’ that have a strong influence upon the behaviour of individuals in relation to the society in which they live. Emotions of this kind, and related norms of behaviour, are socially constructed within a particular linguistic and cultural context. Serious cross-cultural misunderstanding can result from assuming that emotions, or the behaviour associated with them, will be the same for different cultural groups. For example, shame-like emotions in some contexts can strongly motivate people to conform, but in others they can increase a person’s alienation from and hostility to society. This essay examines shame-like concepts in some languages of Aboriginal Australia and the Pacific, showing how the NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) method of analysing emotion words and cultural rules can pinpoint the cognitive and emotive elements contained within culture-specific emotion concepts, and can make some predictions about ‘scripts’ for behaviour associated with these emotions.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) ashamed, (E) shame, (E) whakamaa, (S) reintegrative shaming
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 3, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1996). *Contrastive sociolinguistics and the theory of “cultural scripts”: Chinese vs English. In Marlis Hellinger, & Ulrich Ammon (Eds.), Contrastive sociolinguistics (pp. 313-344). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110811551.313
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2018.
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
Tags: (E) 'af, (E) 'aval, (E) 'evra, (E) 'eyma, (E) anger, (E) fear, (E) hara 腹, (E) hema, (E) hit'abel, (E) joy, (E) ka'as, (E) niHat, (E) nivhal, (E) paHad, (E) qacaf, (E) sadness, (E) safad, (E) sus, (E) yagon, (E) yare', (E) yir'ah, (E) za'am
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 13, 2018.
Harkins, Jean, & Wierzbicka, Anna (1997). Language: A key issue in emotion research. Innovation in Social Sciences Research, 10(4), 319-331. DOI: 10.1080/13511610.1997.9968537
Linguistic evidence shows significant differences in the use of supposedly equivalent words for emotions in different languages and cultural settings, even in the case of emotions thought to be as basic or widespread as ‘anger’. This paper argues that such differences in usage often reflect differences in semantic content, and shows how the NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) approach can provide a way of making explicit both the similarities and the differences in meanings of related emotion words. Stating the semantic components of a word’s meaning in this way also facilitates understanding of these emotion words in their cultural and social context, in relation to cultural values, norms of behaviour, and cultural identity.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) angry, (E) cheeky, (E) distressed, (E) indignant, (E) sulky, (S) name-calling, (S) teasing
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.
Tags: (E) come, (E) go, (E) move away, (E) move from...to, (E) move towards, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.
Travis, Catherine (1997). Kind, considerate, thoughtful: A semantic analysis. Lexikos, 7, 130-152. DOI: 10.5788/7-1-976. PDF (open access)
This paper presents a semantic analysis of three English words denoting positive character or personality traits, namely kind, considerate and thoughtful. These three words are closely related, and the differences (and similarities) in their meanings can be very difficult to pinpoint. It shall be shown that modern dictionaries demonstrate a great deal of circularity in their definitions of these words, reflecting the closeness of their meanings. An analysis of usage examples provides evidence on the basis of which their differences can be understood. Some of the differences that shall be noted are the following: kind and thoughtful necessarily involve doing something for another person, while considerate does not; kind involves not wanting anyone to feel bad, considerate involves not wanting anyone to feel bad as a result of one’s actions, and thoughtful focuses on a specific situation another is in, and not wanting them to feel bad in that situation; kind involves wanting to do something for another’s good, while considerate involves wanting to avoid something that may harm another; and both considerate and thoughtful imply some kind of thinking about another before one acts, as reflected in their morphology. The Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach, as developed by Wierzbicka (1972, 1980, 1996) and colleagues, is used to propose definitions for these words, with the aim of exhaustively capturing their meaning. and clearly delineating their range of use. Such definitions can be particularly valuable to second language learners, and can provide a basis for cross-linguistic, and cross-cultural, comparisons of related concepts.
Tags: (E) considerate, (E) kind, (E) thoughtful
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Osmond, Meredith (1997). The prepositions we use in the construal of emotion: Why do we say fed up with but sick and tired of? In Susanne Niemeier, & René Dirven (Eds.), The language of emotions: Conceptualization, expression, and theoretical foundation (pp. 111-133). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/z.85.09osm
On the basis of my findings I submit that the prepositions used in the construction X is adj./past part. ___ Y are indeed meaningful. The eight prepositions represent eight ways of construing a situation in which an emotion is related to its appraised object. The conditions under which combinations of emotion term, preposition, and following nominal are predictable, are conceptual, not structural.
While there is some NSM in this paper, it does not contain any fully developed explications.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Langford, Ian (1997). The semantics of legal speech acts: Property transfer verbs. BA(Hons) thesis, University of New England.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.
Mooney, Annabella (1997). Poetic primitives: An NSM analysis of the poetry of T. S. Eliot. Master’s thesis, Australian National University.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (1997). Contrastive semantics and cultural psychology: ‘Surprise’ in Malay and English. Culture & Psychology, 3(2), 153-181. DOI: 10.1177/1354067X9700300204
This paper argues that psychology has yet to come fully to grips with the extent of semantic variation between languages, and that it can benefit, in this regard, from certain developments in linguistic semantics. It outlines Anna Wierzbicka’s ‘Natural Semantic Metalanguage’ (NSM) approach to cross-cultural semantics, and demonstrates the approach through a contrastive study of ‘surprise-like’ words from two languages: Malay (terkejut, terperanjat, hairan) and English (surprised, amazed, shocked, startled). It is shown that there is no exact Malay equivalent to English surprise; and also that there is no semantic core shared by the various terms, only a loose set of cross-cutting and overlapping semantic correspondences. These results are at odds with the classic “basic emotions” position, which would have it that ‘surprise’ is a universal and discrete biological syndrome. The overriding contention of the paper is that Wierzbicka’s approach to linguistic semantics can furnish psychology with valuable new analytical and descriptive tools.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) amazed, (E) anger, (E) hairan, (E) marah, (E) shocked, (E) song, (E) startled, (E) surprised, (E) terkejut, (E) terperanjat, (T) Malay
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 20, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1997). Understanding cultures through their key words: English, Russian, Polish, German, Japanese. New York: Oxford University Press.
Abstract:
This book develops the dual themes that languages can differ widely in their vocabularies, and are sensitive indices to the cultures to which they belong. The author seeks to demonstrate that every language has key concepts, expressed in (cultural) key words, which reflect the core values of a given culture. She shows that cultures can be revealingly studied, compared, and explained to outsiders through their key concepts, and that NSM provides the analytical framework necessary for this purpose. The book demonstrates that cultural patterns can be studied in a verifiable, rigorous, and non-speculative way, on the basis of empirical evidence and in a coherent theoretical framework.
Table of contents:
- Introduction
- Lexicon as a key to ethno-sociology and cultural psychology: Patterns of “friendship” across cultures
- Lexicon as a key to ethno-philosophy, history, and politics: “Freedom” in Latin, English, Russian, and Polish
- Lexicon as a key to history, nation, and society: “Homeland” and “fatherland” in German, Polish, and Russian
- Australian key words and core cultural values
- Japanese key words and core cultural values
Translations:
Into Polish:
(Chapter 3 only) Wierzbicka, Anna (1999). Język – umysł – kultura [Language, mind, culture]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2007). Słowa klucze: Różne języki – różne kultury. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.
Into Russian (Chapters 1, 2 and 3 only):
Chapters 7 (pp. 263-305), 8 (pp. 306-433) and 9 (pp. 434-484) of Вежбицкая, Анна (1999), Семантические универсалии и описание языков [Semantic universals and the description of languages]. Москва [Moscow]: Языки русской культуры [Languages of Russian Culture].
Вежбицкая, Анна (2001). Понимание культур через посредство ключевых слов. Москва [Moscow]: Языки славянской культуры [Languages of Slavic Culture].
Into Japanese:
アンナ・ヴィエルジュビツカ著 [Anna Wierzbicka] (2009). キーワードによる異文化理解: 英語・ロシア語・ポーランド語・ 日本語の場合 . 東京 [Tokyo]: 而立書房 [Jiritsu Shobō].
More information:
Chapter 4 builds on: Lexicon as a key to history, culture, and society: “Homeland” and “fatherland” in German, Polish and Russian (1995)
Chapter 5, section 2 builds on: Cross-cultural pragmatics: The semantics of human interaction (1991), chapter 5
Chapter 5, section 3 builds on: Australian b-words (bloody, bastard, bugger, bullshit): An expression of Australian culture and national character (1992)
Chapter 6 builds on: Japanese key words and core cultural values (1991)
Reviewed by:
Peeters, Bert (2000). Word, 51(3), 443-449. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.2000.11432505 / Open access
This review includes several suggestions for improvements to the explications in the book, as well as a revised explication of the Russian word друг drug.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
The tags mentioned below are limited to those not listed in work on which this book is based.
Tags: (E) colleagues, (E) drug друг, (E) family, (E) freedom, (E) friend, (E) koledzy, (E) libertas, (E) liberty, (E) mate, (E) omoiyari 思いやり, (E) podruga подруга, (E) prijatel' приятель, (E) przyjaciel, (E) rodnye родные, (E) rodzina, (E) svoboda свобода, (E) tovarišč, (E) volja воля, (E) wolność, (E) znajomi, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1998). The semantics of English causative constructions in a universal-typological perspective. In Michael Tomasello (Ed.), The new psychology of language: Cognitive and functional approaches to language structure: Vol. 1 (pp. 113-153). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Reissued as:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2014). The semantics of English causative constructions in a universal-typological perspective. In Michael Tomasello (Ed.), The new psychology of language: Cognitive and functional approaches to language structure: Vol. 1 (pp. 105-142). London: Psychology Press.
Translated into Russian as:
Вежбицкая, А. [Wierzbicka, Anna] (1999). Семантика английских каузативных конструкций в универсально-типологической перспективе. In Вежбицкая, А. [Wierzbicka, Anna], Семантические универсалии и описание языков, под ред. Татьяна В. Булыгиной [Semantic universals and the description of languages, ed. Tatyana V. Bulygina] (pp. 171-223). Москва [Moscow]: Языки русской культуры [Languages of Russian Culture].
(Modified) excerpt:
This chapter seeks to elucidate the differences in meaning between different causative verbs like to cause, to force, to make, to get, to let, and so on and to analyse the complex interplay between different relevant factors (the category to which the causer belongs, the category to which the causee belongs, the category to which the predicate of the complement clause belongs, the causative verb chosen in a given sentence, and so on). To do so successfully, we do not need any formidable technical formalisms. Nor do we need to endlessly concern ourselves with the perennially contested issue of how (or even if) syntax can be combined with semantics. Rather, what we need is an analytical framework in which syntax and lexical semantics are integrated from the very beginning.
The overall picture produced by an analysis that pays attention to all the relevant factors is, admittedly, complex and intricate much more so than one that operates only with tree diagrams and other similar formalisms; but it is, I believe, the only kind of analysis that can achieve descriptive adequacy and explanatory power. It is language itself that is immensely complex. At the same time, if we allow that all languages may have a relatively simple irreducible core, we can use this irreducible core of all languages as a basis for an understanding of the immensely complex and diverse systems that all human languages are.
Syntactic typology that deliberately closes its eyes to the semantic dimensions of formal diversity of languages is, ultimately, sterile and unilluminating. Opening typology to semantics may involve difficulties, but rather than avoiding them, it is surely more fruitful to sharpen our analytical tools and to develop safeguards of various kinds. Above all, we need a semantic metalanguage for a cross-cultural comparison of meanings, whether they are encoded in the lexicon or in grammar. As, I hope, this chapter illustrates, the “Natural Semantic Metalanguage” based on empirically established universal concepts can meet this need.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 16, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1998). German ‘cultural scripts’: Public signs as a key to social attitudes and cultural values. Discourse & Society, 9(2), 241-282.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926598009002006
Abstract:
This paper is based on the following set of assumptions:
- ways of speaking characteristic of a given speech community constitute a 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;
- to be able to do this without ethnocentric bias we need a universal, language-independent perspective; and
- 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.
This paper applies the cultural script approach to German and compares German norms with Anglo norms (that is, norms prevailing in English-speaking societies). The author notes that, in recent decades, great changes have undoubtedly occurred in German ways of speaking and, it can be presumed, in underlying cultural values. For example, the dramatic spread of the use of the “familiar” form of address (du, as opposed to Sie), and the decline in the use of titles (e.g., Herr Müller instead of Prof. Müller) point to significant changes in interpersonal relations, in the direction of more egalitarian informality. At the same time, evidence of contemporary public signs, which are discussed here, suggests that some traditional German values, like the value of social discipline and of Ordnung (order) based on legitimate authority, are far from obsolete. It is shown that, in studying such values, we can rely on concepts more precise and more illuminating than ‘authoritarianism’ or ‘authoritarian personality’, often used in the past in analyses of German culture and society, and that the cultural scripts approach offers a rigorous and efficient tool for studying change and variation, as well as continuity, in social attitudes and cultural values.
Above all, rather than perpetuating stereotypes based on prejudice and lack of understanding, cultural scripts help outsiders grasp the ‘cultural logic’ underlying unfamiliar ways of speaking that may otherwise look like a strange collection of idiosyncracies — or worse.
Translations:
Into Russian:
Chapter 15 (pp. 682-729) of Вежбицкая, Анна (1999), Семантические универсалии и описание языков [Semantic universals and the description of languages]. Москва [Moscow]: Языки русской культуры [Languages of Russian Culture].
Chapter 4 (pp. 159-217) of Вежбицкая, Анна (2001), Сопоставление культур через посредство лексики и прагматики [Comparison of cultures through vocabulary and pragmatics]. Москва [Moscow]: Языки Славянской Культуры [Languages of Slavic Culture].
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) (imperative constructions), (E) (infinitive-as-imperative constructions), (E) Achtung!, (E) bitte, (E) dürfen, (E) important, (E) nicht gestattet, (E) no [verb]ing, (E) verboten, (S) personal authority
