Browsing results for Indo-European
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2009). The ‘communication concept’ and the ‘language concept’ in everyday English. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 29(1), 11-25. DOI: 10.1080/07268600802516350
This paper presents a semantic/conceptual analysis of the concepts of communication and language, as represented in the lexicon of everyday English. Section 1 gives a brief orientation to the method to be employed, the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach originated by Anna Wierzbicka. In the main body of the paper, I propose semantic explications for several senses of the English words communicate, communication and language, supporting these explications by reference to naturally occurring data, and, in the case of polysemy, by reference to distinctive grammatical or phraseological properties of the polysemic meanings. The paper closes with observations on how the differing semantics of the ‘communication concept’ and the ‘language concept’ may contribute to the differing orientations of linguistics and communication studies.
Lexical Semantics; Communication; Language Concept; NSM
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2018.
Wearing, Catherine (2009). Metaphor and the Natural Semantic Metalanguage. Journal of Pragmatics, 41, 1017-1028. DOI: 10.1016/j.pragma.2009.01.004
Within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework, it is claimed that metaphorical content is paraphrasable by means of explications based on semantic primes. This paper examines this account of metaphor, explores the importance of paraphrasing metaphors for the NSM approach, and argues that the prospects for successful paraphrases are less promising than has been claimed. It is then shown that the explications that have been proposed for the metaphors a soft wine and language is a mirror of the mind do not suffice to explain how these metaphors work, and it describes how NSM explications must be supplemented to generate a more adequate explanation.
No actual improvements to the explications themselves are proposed.
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 13, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2009). Exploring English phraseology with two tools: NSM semantic methodology and Google. Journal of English Linguistics, 37(2), 101-129. DOI: 10.1177/0075424209334338
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 10 (pp. 395-406) of:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2010). Experience, evidence, and sense: The hidden cultural legacy of English. New York: Oxford University Press.
The study of phraseology, which not long ago was often dismissed as a linguistic activity of only minor interest, has now come into its own and is an increasingly popular and diversified field, with many different approaches and foci of interest. Significantly, regardless of their particular focus and goals, more and more writers adopt corpus-based approaches to phraseological phenomena. This article arises from a larger study of various phraseological networks based on the English cultural key word sense (as in, e.g., a sense of humour, a sense of direction and a sense of relief), and it explores some types of sense-based collocations with two tools: the NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) semantic methodology and Google. The article argues that the use of corpora and the Web combined with the use of NSM methodology opens new perspectives for the semantic and cultural study of English phraseology.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) mission, (E) sense, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 3, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2009). Not taking yourself too seriously in Australian English: Semantic explications, cultural scripts, corpus evidence. Intercultural Pragmatics, 6(1), 29-53. DOI: 10.1515/IPRG.2009.002
In the mainstream speech culture of Australia (as in the UK, though perhaps more so in Australia), taking yourself too seriously is culturally
proscribed. This study applies the techniques of Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) semantics and ethnopragmatics (Goddard 2006b, 2008; Wierzbicka 1996, 2003, 2006a) to this aspect of Australian English speech culture. It first develops a semantic explication for the language-specific expression taking yourself too seriously, thus helping to give access to an ‘‘insider perspective’’ on the practice. Next, it seeks to identify some of the broader communicative norms and social attitudes that are involved, using the method of cultural scripts (Goddard and Wierzbicka 2004). Finally, it investigates the extent to which predictions generated from the analysis can be supported or disconfirmed by contrastive analysis of Australian English corpora as against other English corpora, and by the use of the Google search engine to explore different subdomains of the World Wide Web.
Published on November 19, 2018. Last updated on November 19, 2018.
Годдард, Клифф [Goddard, Cliff] (2009). “Следуй путем рисового поля”: семантика пословиц в английском и малайском языках [“Sleduy putem risovogo polya”: semantika poslovits v angliyskom i malayskom yazykakh / “Follow the way of the rice plant”: The semantics of proverbs in English and Malay (Bahasa Melayu)]. Жанры речи [Zhanry rechi / Speech genres], 6, 184-207.
Russian translation of a paper presented at the Wenner-Gren Foundation Symposium on Ritual Communication, Portugal, 17-23 March 2007. Updated and published in English as chapter 8 of:
Goddard, Cliff & Wierzbicka, Anna (2014). Words and meanings: Lexical semantics across domains, languages, and cultures. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
No English abstract available. The proverbs explicated (in Russian) include: (English) A stitch in time saves nine, Make hay while the sun shines, Out of the frying pan into the fire, Practice makes perfect, All that glitters is not gold, Too many cooks spoil the broth, You can’t teach an old dog new tricks; Where there’s smoke there’s fire; (Malay) Ikut resmi padi ‘Follow the way of the rice plant’, Seperti ketam mangajar anak berjalan betul ‘Like a crab teaching its young to walk straight’, Binasa badan kerana mulut ‘The body suffers because of the mouth’, ‘Ada gula, ada semut ‘Where there’s sugar, there’s ants’, Seperti katak di bawah tempurung ‘Like a frog under a coconut shell’, Keluar mulut harimau masuk mulut buaya ‘Out from the tiger’s mouth into the crocodile’s mouth’, Bila gajah dan gajah berlawan kancil juga yang mati tersepit ‘When elephant fights elephant it’s the mousedeer that’s squashed to death’.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (T) Russian
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2009). “Like a crab teaching its young to walk straight”: Proverbiality, semantics, and indexicality in English and Malay. In Gunter Senft, & Ellen B. Basso (Eds.), Ritual communication (pp. 103-125). New York: Berg.
My objective is to give a balanced, contrastive treatment of the textual semantics, cultural-historical positioning, and interdiscursivity of proverbs in two widely different speech cultures. In what follows, I look first at contemporary English, addressing the way proverbs, as instances of a language-specific category, can be identified on linguistic evidence. I propose a template in the NSM metalanguage to articulate the semantic framing inherent in the proverb genre (essentially, the semantic content of “proverbiality”) and demonstrate the utility of the approach with a full analysis of several English metaphorical proverbs (“A stitch in time saves nine”) and maxims (“Practice makes perfect”). I discuss aspects of the interdiscursivity of proverbs in English, with particular reference to the ethos of modernity. In the remainder of the chapter, I apply a parallel analysis and discussion to proverbs (peribahasa) in contemporary Malay, including the metaphorical Malay proverb Seperti ketam mengajar anak berjalan betul ‘like a crab teaching its young to walk straight’.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff, & Wierzbicka, Anna (2009). Contrastive semantics of physical activity verbs: ‘Cutting’ and ‘chopping’ in English, Polish, and Japanese. Language Sciences, 31, 60-96. DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2007.10.002
This study explores the contrastive lexical semantics of verbs comparable to ‘cut’ and ‘chop’ in three languages (English, Polish, and Japanese), using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) technique of semantic analysis. It proposes a six-part semantic template, and argues that this template can serve as a basis for a lexical typology of complex physical activity verbs in general. At the same time, it argues that language-specific aspects of the semantics are often culturally motivated. Nine verbs are examined (English cut, chop, slice, Polish ciąć ‘‘cut’’, krajać ‘‘cut/slice’’, obcinać ‘‘cut around’’, rąbać ‘‘chop’’, Japanese kiru ‘‘cut’’, kizamu ‘‘chop’’), and NSM explications are proposed for each one based on its range of use in natural contexts, thus capturing the semantic similarities and differences in fine-grained detail.
Contrastive semantics; Lexical semantics; Physical activity verbs; NSM; Lexical typology; Semantic template; Lexicology; Polysemy; Semantics and culture
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 20, 2018.
Trbojević-Milošević, Ivana (2009). Some contrasts in politeness structure of English and Serbian. In Marek Kuźniak, & Bożena Rozwadowska (Eds.), PASE Papers 2008: Studies in language and methodology of teaching foreign languages (pp. 177-184). Wrocław: Oficyna Wydawnicza ATUT.
Published on December 16, 2017. Last updated on August 16, 2021.
Guarddon Anelo, María del Carmen (2009). The Natural Semantic Metalanguage of Old English compound adpositions. ES: Revista de filología inglesa, 30, 61-84. PDF (open access)
This paper examines the lexical content of a number of complex adpositions in Old English and the semantic processes that have produced them. Specifically, I have analyzed the complex adpositions that have in, on and at as controlling elements. The theoretical framework used is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage. The semantic primes put forward within this model are used to approach four fundamental aspects: 1) The senses of the component elements that are inherited by the complex adposition and the senses that are blocked; 2) The new senses which were not present in the component elements but arise in the process; 3) The potential semantic incompatibilities that prevent the combination of some adpositions and 4) The internal syntactic organization found in these complex adpositions.
This paper is also concerned with the more general issue of the diachronic evolution of the complex adpositions under analysis. I attempt to unveil the semantic factors that have led to the disappearance of some of these adpositions while others have survived to present-day English.
On the whole, the main goal of this paper is to demonstrate that the explanation of the combinatorial properties of spatial primes can serve to
shed light upon aspects of the grammar of space that have not been clarified yet by the Cognitive Linguistics framework.
No actual explications are put forward in this paper.
Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on August 15, 2021.
Bromhead, Helen (2009). The reign of truth and faith: Epistemic expressions in 16th and 17th century English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
This ground-breaking study in the historical semantics and pragmatics of 16th and 17th century English examines the meaning, use and cultural underpinnings of confident- and certain-sounding epistemic expressions, such as forsooth, by my troth and in faith, and first person epistemic phrases, such as I suppose, I ween and I think. It supports the hypothesis that the British Enlightenment and its attendant empiricism brought about a profound epistemic shift in ways of thinking and speaking. In contrast to the modern ethos of empiricism and doubt, the 16th and 17th centuries were dominated by an ethos of truth and faith, which manifests itself (among other ways) in the meanings and usages of epistemic expressions for certainty and confidence.
The study is firmly based on evidence from texts and collocations in the writings of the day and is conducted using the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM).
Reviewed by:
Gladkova, Anna (2012). Intercultural Pragmatics, 9(2), 281-285. DOI: 10.1515/ip-2012-0016
Levisen, Carsten (2012). Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 22(1), 128-129. DOI: 10.1111/j.1548-1395.2012.01120.x
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) by my faith, (E) by my troth, (E) forsooth, (E) I suppose, (E) I think, (E) I trow, (E) I ween, (E) I wot, (E) in faith, (E) in truth, (E) methinks, (E) pleased, (E) probably, (E) really, (E) suppose, (E) surely, (E) truth, (E) verily
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 27, 2018.
Guarddon Anelo, María del Carmen (2009). Un análisis de las propiedades combinatorias de los primitivos semánticos a través de las adposiciones complejas en inglés antigua [An analysis of the combinatorial properties of semantic primes through a study of complex adpositions in Old English]. Revista española de lingüística, 39(2), 93-122. PDF (open access)
This paper presents a study of the lexical content of a number of complex adpositions in Old English and the morpho-semantic processes that have motivated them. Specifically, I have analysed the adpositions which have in, on and at as controlling elements. The theoretical framework supporting this analysis is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (henceforth, NSM). The main goal of this paper is to demonstrate
that the explication of the combinatorial properties of the spatial primes put forward in the NSM can serve to shed light upon certain aspects of the grammar of spatial relations that have not received attention by schools highly focused in this type of metalanguage, i.e. Cognitive Linguistics.
The spatial primes are used to address four fundamental issues: 1) Semantic content of the resulting adposition; senses of the constituent elements that are transferred to the complex adposition, senses that are blocked and senses not present in the constituents that arise in the process of compounding; 2) Semantic incompatibilities preventing the combination of certain simple adpositions; 3) Internal syntactic organization found in these complex adpositions. 4) The diachronic evolution of the complex adpositions analyzed in the article. Particularly, I unveil the semantic factors that have led to the disappearance of some of these adpositions while others have survived up to the present day.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2009). The conceptual semantics of numbers and counting: An NSM analysis. Functions of Language, 16(2), 193-224. DOI: 10.1075/fol.16.2.02god
This study explores the conceptual semantics of numbers and counting, using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) technique of semantic analysis (Wierzbicka 1996; Goddard & Wierzbicka (eds.) 2002). It first argues that the concept of a number in one of its senses (number-1, roughly, “number word”) and the meanings of low number words, such as one, two, and three, can be explicated directly in terms of semantic primes, without reference to any counting procedures or practices. It then argues, however, that the larger numbers, and the productivity of the number sequence, depend on the concept and practice of counting, in the intransitive sense of the verb. Both the intransitive and transitive senses of counting are explicated, and the semantic relationship between them is clarified. Finally, the study moves to the semantics of abstract numbers (number-2), roughly, numbers as represented by numerals, e.g. 5, 15, 27, 36, as opposed to number words. Though some reference is made to cross-linguistic data and cultural variation, the treatment is focused primarily on English.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 16, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2009). Case in NSM: A reanalysis of the Polish dative. In Andrej Malchukov, & Andrew Spencer (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of case (pp. 151-169). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199206476.013.0011
Abstract:
In this chapter, I show how NSM can be applied to the study of cases by revisiting my earlier (1986) study of the Polish dative. Since that earlier study, the metalanguage has been significantly expanded and revised in the light of empirical cross-linguistic investigations. As this chapter hopes to show, its current form offers a more precise and more effective tool for exploring the meaning of cases. At the same time, this chapter continues the semantic approach to cases launched, in opposition to the then prevailing ‘autonomous syntax’ approaches, in the author’s 1980 book The case for surface case.
Translations:
Into Russian:
Chapter 9 (pp. 302-328) of Вежбицкая, Анна (2011), Семантические универсалии и базисные концепты [Semantic universals and basic concepts]. Москва [Moscow]: Языки славянских культуры [Languages of Slavic Culture].
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
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
Tags: (E) ask (someone to do something), (E) denerwować się, (E) doszed, (E) kazać, (E) martwić się, (E) mysz, (E) poszed, (E) prosić, (E) przeszed, (E) przyszed, (E) pytać, (E) współczuć, (E) wszed, (E) wyszed, (E) zazdrościć, (T) Polish
Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on August 18, 2018.
Bułat Silva, Zuzanna (2009). How to use both the NSM and CL approaches to meaning – Portuguese lexeme paixão ‘passion’. Studia Linguistica, 28, 31-41. PDF (open access)
The aim of this paper is to show that the NSM approach to meaning can be used together with some methodological tools elaborated within Cognitive Linguistics. By combining NSM explications, based on reductive paraphrase, with prototype semantics, stating that meaning of a lexeme has a centric structure (with some senses more salient than others) we are able to refer more accurately to the peripheral senses of a given word. The radial network diagram makes it possible to isolate precisely the lexical unit we are interested in and describe it in terms of semantic primes.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) paixão, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2009). Pragmatics and cultural values: The hot centre of Russian discourse. In B. Fraser & K. Turner (Eds.), Language in life, and a life in language: Jacob Mey – A festschrift (pp. 423-434). Bingley: Emerald.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 17, 2018.
Гладкова, А. Н. [Gladkova, Anna] (2009). К вопросу о семантическом статусе глагола считать [About the semantic status of the Russian verb scitat’]. Русский язык в научном освещении [Russian language in scientific coverage], 17(1), 201-227.
Written in Russian. No English abstract available.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
The (E) tag listed below is added on the basis of information in the title of this paper, which also proposes other explications.
Tags: (E) sčitat’ считать, (T) Russian
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 18, 2018.
Tien, Adrian (2009). Singaporean culture as reflected by the shared Chinese-based lexicon of Singapore English and Singapore Chinese. In T. Shabanova (Ed.), Humanistic inheritance of great educators in culture and education (pp. 71-74). Ufa: BSPU.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 18, 2018.
Tien, Adrian (2010). The semantics of human interaction in Chinese E-communication. In Rotimi Taiwo (Ed.), Handbook of research on discourse behavior and digital communication: Language structures and social interaction (pp. 437-467). Hershey: IGI Global. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61520-773-2.ch028
The current study investigates typical, everyday Chinese interaction online and examined what linguistic meanings arise from this form of communication – not only semantic but also, importantly, pragmatic, discursive, contextual and lexical meanings etc. In particular, it sets out to ascertain whether at least some of the cultural values and norms etc. known to exist in Chinese culture, as selected in the Chinese language, are maintained or preserved in modern Chinese e-communication. To achieve his aims, the author collected a sample set of data from Chinese online resources found in Singapore, including a range of blog sites and MSN chat rooms where interactants have kept their identities anonymous. A radically semantic approach was adopted – namely, the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) model – to analyse meanings that arose from the data. The analyses were presented and compiled in the way of “cultural cyberscripts” – based on an NSM analytical method called “cultural scripts”. Through these cyberscripts, findings indicate that, while this form of e-communication does exhibit some departure from conventional socio-cultural values and norms, something remains linguistically and culturally Chinese that is unique to Chinese interaction online.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) leh, (S) Chinese CMC usage, (S) crude language, (S) downplay of mian zi ‘face’, (S) greater self versus smaller self, (S) non-preservation of guanxi, (S) pronominal highlighting, (S) small talk, (S) topic prominence, (S) what Chinese CMC users say, (T) English
Published on August 16, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Kornacki, Paweł (2010). Studies in emotions: Ethnolinguistic perspectives. Warszawa: Wydział Neofilologii UW.
Based on the methodology of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, the work analyses selected aspects of conceptualization and verbal expressions of emotions in contemporary Chinese (pŭtōnghuà) and Polish. Referring to intercultural anthropological and psychological research on emotions, its chapters discuss the importance of the Chinese cultural key word “heart/mind”, the semantics of words for bad feelings in Chinese, colloquial Polish speech practice, and the main conceptual elements of Early-Chinese and Indian cultural emotion models.
