Browsing results for Spanish

(1987) Various languages – Value-judgment terms

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 15, 2021.

Hill, Deborah (1987). A cross-linguistic study of value-judgement terms. MA thesis, Australian National University.

The purpose of this thesis is to try to establish the extent to which the words good, bad, true and right can be considered lexical universals. These words have been chosen because they are value-judgment terms that, individually, have been discussed at length by philosophers. It seems to be assumed by philosophers and semanticists that these words reflect concepts shared by speakers of all languages. By testing whether these words are candidates for lexical universals we can then see the extent to which this assumption is true.

On the basis of information from native speakers from 15 diverse languages, we can say that good and bad reflect language independent concepts (GOOD and BAD). However, in many languages, including English, the range of meaning of bad is narrower than the range of meaning of good. By looking at five of these fifteen languages we can see that the words right and true reflect concepts that are not language
independent. Thus, by taking a cross-linguistic approach, we can shed some light on the work done by language philosophers in the area of value-judgment terms.

The following languages are examined in this thesis: Arabic, Arrernte, Chinese (Mandarin), English, Ewe, Fijian, Finnish, Indonesian, Kannada, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish.


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(1993) Spanish – HACER causatives

Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.

Curnow, Timothy Jowan (1993). Semantics of Spanish causatives involving hacer. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 13(2), 165-184. DOI: 10.1080/07268609308599494. PDF.

Abstract:

This paper examines the semantics of two Spanish causative constructions – the hacer-plus-infinitive construction and the hacer-plus-subjunctive construction using Natural Semantic Metalanguage to describe the semantic invariants of these two constructions. The analysis is limited to sentences which have animate causers. From the analysis of such sentences, it can be demonstrated that the two constructions have similar but distinct meanings. The hacer-plus-subjunctive construction encodes some idea of intentionality which is absent from the hacer-plus-infinitive construction. Where the construction with the subjunctive is used, the action involved is often (though
not always) indirect, or mediated, rather than direct, in which case the infinitive is usually (but not always) used.

(1998) Spanish – BUENO

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.

Travis, Catherine (1998). Bueno: A Spanish interactive discourse marker. In Benjamin K. Bergen, Madelaine C. Plauché, & Ashlee C. Bailey (Eds.), Proceedings of the twenty-fourth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: General session and parasession on phonetics and phonological universals (pp. 268-279). Berkeley: Berkeley Linguistics Society. DOI: 10.3765/bls.v24i1.1222. PDF (open access)

This paper presents a semantic analysis of the Spanish discourse marker bueno (something similar to ‘well’, ‘OK’, ‘alright’ in English). Four discourse functions of bueno are identified and discussed. On the basis of these functions, it is suggested that bueno is polysemous, and following the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach, two definitions to account for its range of use are proposed. It is argued that these definitions reflect the way in which the meaning of the discourse marker bueno is related to the adjective bueno, meaning ‘good’. Finally, we consider the role bueno may play in the communicative realization of the norms and values of the cultures in which it is used.

 

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(2002) Spanish – Address forms

Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on August 18, 2018.

Bułat Silva, Zuzanna (2002). Un intento de aplicación del metalenguaje semántico natural a las fórmulas de tratamiento españolas [An attempt at applying Natural Semantic Metalanguage to Spanish address forms]. Estudios hispánicos, 10, 61-68.

Written in Spanish.

A lot has been written on address forms from a pragmatic, psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic perspective. This short study is an attempt at providing a semantic analysis of some of the factors that impact on the use of nominal address forms in Spanish. Semantic components, expressed in a Spanish-based NSM, are provided, but focus on what is conveyed by the address forms – cordiality, spontaneity, emotionality, irony, machismo, etc. – as opposed to what specific address forms stand for.


Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner

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(2002) Spanish – NSM primes, NSM syntax

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.

Travis, Catherine (2002). La Metalengua Semántica Natural: The Natural Semantic Metalanguage of Spanish. In Cliff Goddard, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Meaning and universal grammar: Theory and empirical findings, vol.1 (pp. 173-242). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.60.11tra

(2003) Spanish – Subjunctive

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.

Travis, Catherine (2003). The semantics of the Spanish subjunctive: Its use in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage. Cognitive Linguistics 14(1). 47-69. DOI: 10.1515/cogl.2003.002

This article presents an analysis of the Spanish subjunctive as it is used in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) of Spanish. One of the tenets of the NSM approach, as developed by Wierzbicka and colleagues, is its universality: that the lexicon and the syntactic patterns that comprise the metalanguage are found in all languages of the world. The use of the subjunctive in the NSM of Spanish potentially threatens the proposed “universal grammar” of NSM, as this form is not found in all languages and has a language-specific meaning. Following a discussion of the semantics of this form, I will consider the environments in which the subjunctive is used in the NSM of Spanish, namely with WANT (querer) with non-coreferential subjects, MAYBE (tal vez), NOT THINK (no pensar), and NOT KNOW (no saber). I will show that with WANT (querer) and NOT THINK (no pensar), the subjunctive does not encode a language-specific meaning, but is used to “index” a notion inherent in the proposition with which it occurs. With MAYBE (tal vez) and NOT KNOW (no saber), on the other hand, I will argue that the subjunctive does encode a language-specific meaning, and is therefore a more marked choice in these environments. The analysis shows that different syntactic structures across languages can be semantically equivalent, and the NSM notion of a “universal grammar” is supported.

(2004) French, Spanish – Address pronouns

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.

Hughson, Jo-Anne (2004). The study of address pronouns in French and Spanish: A methodological review. Melbourne Papers in Linguistics & Applied Linguistics, 4(1), 23-33.

This article surveys various methodological approaches, both traditional and innovative, that have been employed in the field of address pronoun research, and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each method. A new methodological approach is then presented, combining quantitative, qualitative and theoretical modes with the intention of eliminating limitations previously encountered in address pronoun research. A description of the theoretical approach, Wierzbicka’s cultural script theory, is then presented and the method applied to data collected in previous studies of address pronoun use in French
and Spanish.

(2004) Spanish (Colombia) – Diminutives

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 3, 2018.

Travis, Catherine. E. (2004). The ethnopragmatics of the diminutive in conversational Colombian Spanish. Intercultural Pragmatics 1(2). 249-274. DOI: 10.1515/iprg.2004.1.2.249

This paper considers the cultural values manifested in the use of the diminutive suffix -ito/-ita in a corpus of conversational Colombian Spanish. It will be demonstrated that this suffix is highly frequent (occurring approximately 600 times in the 70,000-word corpus), and that from its core uses in relation to children and expressing small size it has taken on the pragmatic functions of expressing affection, hedging speech acts and expressing contempt.

Wierzbicka has shown that the frequent use of the diminutive in languages such as Russian and Polish plays a valuable role in realizing the cultural goal of the expression of good feelings towards others. The same can be said of its use in Colombian Spanish, but analysis of the diminutive in conversation reveals that it goes beyond this to realize a range of essential cultural ideals in interaction. Based on a semantic analysis of some of the central uses of the diminutive, I propose a set of cultural scripts to capture the role played by the diminutive in a variety of speech events, scripts which form an important part of the basis for interaction in Colombian society.

(2005) Spanish (Colombia) – Discourse particles: BUENO, PUES, O SEA, ENTONCES

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on October 18, 2018.

Travis, Catherine E. (2005). Discourse markers in Colombian Spanish: A study in polysemy. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

This book, a revised version of the author’s PhD thesis (Latrobe University, Melbourne, 2001) presents a semantic analysis of a set of four functionally related discourse particles that are particularly frequent in conversational Colombian Spanish. A corpus of four hours of spontaneous conversation is used to study the markers bueno ‘well, OK’, pues ‘well, then’, o sea ‘I mean, that is to say’ and entonces ‘so, then’.

Through a detailed analysis of numerous examples drawn from the corpus, and employing both quantitative and qualitative techniques, it is demonstrated that, contrary to popular belief, discourse particles are not just functional particles with indeterminate or context-based semantics. Rather, they have inherent meanings that can be identified and exhaustively defined with an appropriate semantic methodology, such as is provided by the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach. This study illustrates that this approach, which has been widely applied to the semantics of the lexicon and the grammar, can be extended to the semantics of discourse-based features, supporting the notion that meaning of all aspects of language forms one semantic system. The author proposes four different meanings for bueno, three related meanings for o sea, three core meanings for entonces, and two-way polysemy for pues.

The research reported here also has implications for the study of polysemy, in that it operationalizes the little understood, but classical definition of polysemy of items with “a shared element of meaning”, and it demonstrates that the polysemous relations of discourse markers are centered around an invariant core that can be identified on the basis of their use in discourse. As one of the first corpus-based studies to present a semantic account of the multifunctional nature of discourse markers this book makes an important contribution to research on the relationship between semantics and discourse-pragmatics, and polysemy in discourse.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2005) Spanish (Spain) – Sincerity

Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.

González Ruiz, Ramón, & Aznárez Mauleón, Mónica (2005). Approximación desde el Metalenguaje Semántico Natural a la semántica y la pragmática de algunas expresiones de sinceridad del español actual [A Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach to the semantics and pragmatics of some expressions of sincerity in Modern Spanish]. In Manuel Casado Velarde, Ramón González Ruiz, & Óscar Loureda Lamas (Eds.), Estudios sobre lo metalingüistico (en español) (pp. 233-256). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.

Written in Spanish.

This study, which deals with “sincerity” in Spanish, focuses on the use of clausal adverbs such as sinceramente ‘sincerely’, honestamente ‘honestly’, francamente ‘frankly’, and of phrases with the verbs hablar ‘speak’ and decir ‘say’ (e.g. hablar/decir con sinceridad, francamente, con el corazón en la mano ‘speak/say [something] with sincerity, frankly, with your heart in your hand’). In addition, the authors look at conditional structures in peripheral positions (e.g. si quieres que te diga la verdad ‘if you want me to tell you the truth’). The study involves an analysis, using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, of semantic differences between the concepts of sinceridad ‘sincerity’, franqueza ‘frankness’ and honestidad ‘honesty’, and of the pragmatic and discursive functions of these expressions.

For a slightly shorter version of this chapter, see Aznárez Mauleón, Mónica, & González Ruiz, Ramón (2006). Semántica y pragmática de algunas expresiones de sinceridad en español actual.

For a slightly different English version of this chapter, see Aznárez Mauleón, Mónica, & González Ruiz, Ramón (2006), Francamente, el rojo te sienta fatal: Semantics and pragmatics of some expressions of sincerity in present-day Spanish.


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2006) French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian – NSM primes, NSM syntax

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 31, 2018.

Peeters, Bert; Junker, Marie-Odile; Travis, Catherine; Farrell, Patrick; Perini-Santos, Pablo; & Maher, Brigitte (2006). Natural Semantic Metalanguage exponents and universal grammar in Romance: Substantives; determiners; quantifiers. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 41-77). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.09pee

Peeters, Bert; Junker, Marie-Odile; Travis, Catherine; Farrell, Patrick; Perini-Santos, Pablo; & Maher, Brigitte (2006). NSM exponents and universal grammar in Romance: Evaluators and descriptors; mental predicates. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 79-109). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.10pee

Peeters, Bert; Junker, Marie-Odile; Farrell, Patrick; Perini-Santos, Pablo; & Maher, Brigitte (2006). NSM exponents and universal grammar in Romance: Speech; actions, events and movement; existence and possession; life and death. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 111-136). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.11pee

Peeters, Bert; Junker, Marie-Odile; Farrell, Patrick; Perini-Santos, Pablo; & Maher, Brigitte (2006). NSM exponents and universal grammar in Romance: Time and space. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 137-175). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.12pee

Peeters, Bert; Junker, Marie-Odile; Farrell, Patrick; Perini-Santos, Pablo; & Maher, Brigitte (2006). NSM exponents and universal grammar in Romance: Logical concepts; intensifier and augmentor; taxonomy and partonomy; similarity. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 177-204). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.13pee


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2006) Spanish (Colombia) – Discourse particles: BUENO

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 15, 2018.

Travis, Catherine E. (2006). The Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach to discourse markers. In Kerstin Fischer (Ed.), Approaches to discourse particles (pp. 219-241). Oxford: Elsevier.

This paper presents an analysis of discourse markers based within the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (Wierzbicka, 1996; and references therein). It argues that discourse markers can only be fully understood if the meaning(s) they carry when used in different contexts are exhaustively defined. Within this framework, discourse markers are treated as polysemous, having a range of different meanings all of which share some element in common. The shared element of meaning can be considered a partial semantic invariant, and it is this that ties the uses of the marker together, while other components of meaning that differ account for the variation across the range of use. Such an analysis makes a clear distinction between what is encoded in the semantics of the marker and what is encoded in its pragmatics of use. I will illustrate how this can be done through an analysis of the Spanish discourse marker bueno (‘well’, ‘good’, ‘right’), based on a corpus of conversational Colombian Spanish.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2006) Spanish (Colombia) – Terms of endearment, CONFIANZA, CALOR HUMANO

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 3, 2018.

Travis, Catherine E. (2006). The communicative realisation of confianza and calor humano in Colombian Spanish. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics: Understanding discourse in cultural context (pp. 199-229). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110911114.199

Interactional norms and practices are indicative of ways of thinking and of underlying cultural ideals. In this study, I focus on the widespread use of terms of endearment in Colombian Spanish and consider this linguistic practice in terms of the cultural model for relationships in Colombia. The use of terms of endearment such as mi amor ‘my love’, gordo ‘fatty’, fictive mamita ‘mummy’ and papito ‘daddy’ and so on reflects the high value Colombian culture places on displaying affection for others, and on verbally affirming the ties that exist in relationships. Similar ideals are evident in the extensive use of the diminutive, manipulation of the second-person singular pronoun system, complex greeting and leave-taking routines, and so on, some of which are briefly dealt with.

The cultural model is also represented in certain cultural key words, in particular in the terms confianza ‘trust’, calor humano ‘human warmth’ and vínculos ‘bonds’. Through a semantic analysis of these key words, and through a discourse-based analysis of the use of terms of endearment, I propose a set of cultural scripts that outline some of the ideals for interaction in Colombian society, in accordance with a cultural model for how to maintain good relations with others.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2006) Spanish (Latin-America) – Cultural key words

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 24, 2019.

DuBartell, Deborah (2006). The development of a key word: The deictic field of Spanish crisis. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 259-287). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.17dub

Abstract:

This study represents a preliminary investigation into the application of the principles of the NSM approach in historical linguistics. It offers synchronic evidence of cultural keyword status for Spanish crisis, both in Peninsular and in Latin American varieties, and, using semantic primes and universal syntax, demonstrates how the word itself developed over time. It uses the process of formulating semantic explications as the foundation of a methodology by which to assess change of meaning. The detailed comparison of the explications employs a “configuration method” aimed at offering insight into the semantic components of key word development. The method combines Bühler’s field theory with functional sentence perspective and emphasizes the dynamism of metalinguistic elements in order to track diachronic change.

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Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2006) Spanish (Spain) – Sincerity

Published on June 23, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.

Aznárez Mauleón, Mónica, & González Ruiz, Ramón (2006). Semántica y pragmática de algunas expresiones de sinceridad en español actual [Semantics and pragmatics of some expressions of sincerity in modern Spanish]. In Manuel Casado, Ramón González Ruiz, & M. Victoria Romero (Eds.), Análisis del discurso: lengua, cultura, valores [Discourse analysis: language, culture, values]: Vol. 1 (pp. 1211-1228). Madrid: Arco Libros.

Written in Spanish.

This study, which deals with “sincerity” in Spanish, focuses on the use of the clausal adverbs sinceramente ‘sincerely’ and francamente ‘frankly’, and of phrases with the verbs hablar ‘speak’ and decir ‘say’ (e.g. hablar/decir con sinceridad, francamente, con el corazón en la mano ‘speak/say [something] with sincerity, frankly, with your heart in your hand’). In addition, the authors look at conditional structures in peripheral positions (e.g. si quieres que te diga la verdad ‘if you want me to tell you the truth’). The study involves an analysis, using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, of semantic differences between the concepts of sinceridad ‘sincerity’ and franqueza ‘frankness’, and of the pragmatic and discursive functions of these expressions.

For a more comprehensive version of this chapter, see González Ruiz, Ramón, & Aznárez Mauleón, Mónica (2005). Approximación desde el Metalenguaje Semántico Natural a la semántica y la pragmática de algunas expresiones de sinceridad del español actual.

For a more comprehensive English version of this chapter, see Aznárez Mauleón, Mónica, & González Ruiz, Ramón (2006). Francamente, el rojo te sienta fatal: Semantics and pragmatics of some expressions of sincerity in present-day Spanish.


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2006) Spanish (Spain) – Sincerity

Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.

Aznárez Mauleón, Mónica, & González Ruiz, Ramón (2006). Francamente, el rojo te sienta fatal: Semantics and pragmatics of some expressions of sincerity in present-day Spanish. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 307-330). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.19azn

This study, which deals with “sincerity” in Spanish, focuses on the use of clausal adverbs such as sinceramente ‘sincerely’, honestamente ‘honestly’, francamente ‘frankly’, and of phrases with the verbs hablar ‘speak’ and decir ‘say’ (e.g. hablar/decir con sinceridad, francamente, con el corazón en la mano ‘speak/say [something] with sincerity, frankly, with your heart in your hand’). In addition, the authors look at conditional structures in peripheral positions (e.g. si quieres que te diga la verdad ‘if you want me to tell you the truth’). The study involves an analysis, using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, of semantic differences between the concepts of sinceridad ‘sincerity’, franqueza ‘frankness’ and honestidad ‘honesty’, and of the pragmatic and discursive functions of these expressions.

For a slightly different Spanish version of this chapter, see Aznárez Mauleón, Mónica, & González Ruiz, Ramón (2006). Semántica y pragmática de algunas expresiones de sinceridad en español actual.

For a less comprehensive Spanish version of this chapter, see González Ruiz, Ramón, & Aznárez Mauleón, Mónica (2005), Approximación desde el Metalenguaje Semántico Natural a la semántica y la pragmática de algunas expresiones de sinceridad del español actual.


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2006) Spanish, Italian – Diminutives

Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on August 30, 2018.

Bartens, Angela, & Sandström, Niclas (2006). Towards a description of Spanish and Italian diminutives within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage framework. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 331-360). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.20bar

This paper uses the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach to describe Spanish and Italian diminutives, which are able to express a number of diverse emotional nuances ranging from the “affectionate” to the pejorative. Different dialects of Spanish are checked to gain a better insight into areal variation. The authors also investigate the status of the diminutive as a grammatical and/or lexical category, they attempt to establish whether diminutive formation instantiates derivation or composition, and they examine its relationship to reduplication and to the absolute superlative.


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(2007) French, Spanish – Speech acts, “secondary” verbs

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.

Elduayen, Luis Gastón (2007). Introduire le discours d’autrui: Actes de parole et verbes “secondaires” dans la presse franco-espagnole [Introducing other people’s discourse: Speech acts and “secondary” verbs in the French-Spanish press]. Revista española de lingüística aplicada, 20, 37-58. PDF (open access)

Is it necessary to recall that it is ultimately through the speech acts generated by verba dicendi that reported speech is introduced, clarified, even explicated, and that readers are placed on the path of good reception? With public life being nothing short of an immense interlocutional labyrinth, the importance of the words spoken and reported by the written press (in this case the French-Spanish written press), on the one hand, and that of the “relating” verbs, on the other, comes into even sharper focus. The object of this analysis, which is fundamentally semantic, will be this class of “secondary” items – secondary by reason of their frequency. It is a class that, at times, may even include collateral items, i.e. items which, precisely because of their function, belong to the said class but whose semantics is often unrelated to it.