Browsing results for Language families
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
Tags: (E) con franqueza, (E) con sinceridad, (E) francamente, (E) honestamente, (E) sinceramente
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2005). There are no “color universals” but there are universals of visual semantics. Anthropological Linguistics, 47(2), 217-244. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25132327
The search for the “universals of colour” that was initiated by Berlin and Kay’s classic book is based on the assumption that there can be, and indeed that there are, some conceptual universals of colour. This article brings new evidence, new analyses, and new arguments against the Berlin and Kay paradigm, and offers a radically different alternative to it. The new data on which the argument is based come, in particular, from Australian languages, as well as from Polish and Russian. The article deconstructs the concept of “colour,” and shows how indigenous visual descriptors can be analysed without reference to colour, on the basis of identifiable visual prototypes and the universal concept of seeing. It also offers a model for analysing semantic change and variation from “the native’s point of view”.
Tags: (E) blue, (E) colour, (E) goluboj, (E) gungaltja, (E) gungarlcha, (E) gungundja, (E) gungunyja, (E) maru-maru, (E) niebieski, (E) shiny, (E) sinij, (E) yukuri-yukuri
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 17, 2018.
Wong, Jock Onn (2006). Social hierarchy in the “speech culture” of Singapore. In: Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics: Understanding discourse in cultural context (pp. 99-125). Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110911114.99
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 3 (pp. 57-93) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The Culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
The linguistic evidence of forms of address in Anglo English suggests that one of the prominent values of Anglo culture is that of egalitarianism. People from Anglo culture are inclined to view fellow interlocutors as social equals, rather than placing them at various levels on a social hierarchy. Many parents who consider themselves progressive encourage and accept being addressed by their children by means of their first names. This may be part of the general trend towards the suppression of asymmetric (non-reciprocal) relations which can be observed throughout the Western world.
The linguistic evidence in Singapore English, on the other hand, points to something quite different. The use of certain cultural key words suggests that in Singapore culture a person’s generational status in relation to oneself is culturally significant and determines the kind of interaction that would take place between two speakers. This means that when two Singapore English speakers of different generations interact, subject to other sociolinguistic factors such as social status, the younger interlocutor would be expected to exhibit deference for age through the use of appropriate forms of address and other linguistic devices. These two interlocutors would normally not interact on an equal footing.
This study examines three Singapore English cultural key words that reflect this emphasis on generational status with respect to self. They are the social honorific Aunty, the Singapore English-specific speech act verb call, and the child-oriented adjective guāi, roughly ‘well behaved’. The meaning of each of these words is stated in the form of a reductive paraphrase using Natural Semantic Metalanguage. On the basis of meaning, the cultural values reflected by the use of these words are discussed.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) Aunty (vocative), (E) Aunty + personal name, (E) call, (E) guāi 乖, (S) interaction, (S) relationships
Published on August 3, 2018. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Harris, Petrina A. (2006). Someone feels something good: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach to defining Burmese positive emotions. Master’s thesis, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, Dallas.
Held at the GIAL library, call number “495.80143 H315s 2006”.
Published on May 7, 2018. Last updated on August 16, 2021.
黄囗盈 [Wong, Suet Ying] (2006). 新加坡华语会话中的语气词’leh’之硏究 [The ‘leh’ Particle in Singapore Mandarin]. BA(Hons) thesis. Singapore: National University of Singapore.
The abundant usage of particles in conversation is one of the most distinctive features of Singapore linguistic culture. It is typical for the conversations of Singaporeans to be littered with particles, whether they are speaking in English or Mandarin. These particles are loaded with pragmatic meanings. Many studies have been carried out throughout the years to explicate the meanings and functions they carry. However, the usage of such particles in conversation often makes no sense to foreigners.
Moreover, most studies have investigated the usage of particles in the context of Singapore English (Singlish) conversation, but are oblivious to the fact that the phenomenon is equally significant in Singapore Mandarin conversation.
This study looks at the particle leh in Singapore Mandarin conversation. Its aim is to investigate the inherent meaning of leh within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework, as well as the functions that come with the different lexical tones of leh, using data from natural conversation. Lastly, the phonetic changes of leh in Singapore Mandarin are also examined.
Tags: (E) leh
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 18, 2018.
Ye, Zhengdao (2006). Why are there two ‘joy-like’ ‘basic’ emotions in Chinese? Semantic theory and empirical findings. In Paolo Santangelo & Donatella Guida (Eds.), Love, hatred and other passions: Questions and themes on emotions in Chinese civilisation (pp. 59-80). Leiden: Brill.
Among different versions of ‘basic emotions’ based on English, it is uncommon for two emotions from the same cognitive domain of ‘something good happened’ to appear side by side on the same list. The two Chinese emotion terms xi and le, on the other hand, often appear together on lists of basic Chinese emotions. Thus, these ‘twin’ qingganzi have been chosen in the hope of answering a question that few have raised, that is, why are there two basic emotions belonging to this ‘joy-like’ category in Chinese? An in-depth analysis of the meaning of these so-called ‘basic’ emotions (within the Chinese language, and between Chinese and English) not only sheds light on the ‘basic’ Chinese emotional experience, but also has implications for the discussion of whether there are emotions ‘basic’ to people from all cultures, an issue that has been widely debated in studies of emotions.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) le 樂, (E) xi 喜
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 22, 2019.
Ye, Zhengdao (2006). Why the “inscrutable” Chinese face? Emotionality and facial expression in Chinese. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics: Understanding discourse in cultural context (pp. 127-169). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110911114.127
Abstract:
This study challenges the long-held, unquestioned stereotype of the ‘inscrutable’ Chinese face (and the Oriental face in general), and probes the various factors – perceptual and cultural – that give rise to such stereotypes, which have almost become a kind of truism in the eyes and minds of others. Simultaneously, a Chinese cultural model of facial expressions is revealed through a detailed description and analysis of idiomatic Chinese phrases that refer to the face, along with an in-depth discussion of the cultural norms and values that influence the facial behaviour of the Chinese people.
Explications are provided for the following phrases: 吐/伸舌头 tŭ/shēn shétou (‘put out/stretch one’s tongue’), 撇嘴 piě zuĭ (‘corner of the mouth falls to one side’), 死眉瞪眼 sĭ méi dèng yăn (‘dead eyebrows and staring eyes’), 目瞪口呆 mù dèng kǒu dāi (‘eyes wide open with strength, mouth dumbstruck’), 咬牙切齿 yăo yá qiè chĭ (‘bite the molars, gnash the teeth’), 瞪着眼 dèng zhe yăn (‘having glaring eyes’), 揚眉吐氣 yáng méi tŭ qì (‘raising eyebrows, utter breath’), 眉飞色舞 méi fēi sè wŭ (‘eyebrows fly, facial expression dances’).
The overarching concerns of the study are theoretical and methodological. The chapter exemplifies the methodological issues confronting the study of the Other and demonstrates the usefulness of the NSM approach in demystifying certain persistent and mistaken beliefs about the Other, ultimately striving towards a better understanding between members from different cultural groups, with implications for studies in intercultural communication.
More information:
A more recent chapter that builds on this one is:
Chapter 3 (pp. 67-116) of Ye, Zhengdao (2006), Ways of meaning, ways of life: A semantic approach to Chinese ethnopsychology. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
Rating:
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) dèng zhe yăn 瞪着眼, (E) hé 和, (E) méi fēi sè wŭ 眉飞色舞, (E) mù dèng kǒu dāi 目瞪口呆, (E) piě zuǐ 撇嘴, (E) rĕn 忍, (E) shēn shétou 伸舌头, (E) sĭ méi dèng yăn 死眉瞪眼, (E) tŭ shétou 吐舌头, (E) yáng méi tŭ qì 揚眉吐氣, (E) yăo yá qiè chĭ 咬牙切齿, (S) inscrutable face, (S) laughter, (S) smiling, (S) wailing
Published on May 20, 2018. Last updated on June 22, 2019.
Ye, Zhengdao (2006). Ways of meaning, ways of life: A semantic approach to Chinese ethnopsychology. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
Open access
Abstract:
This thesis attempts to identify some key aspects of Chinese indigenous psychologies reflected in the Chinese language, and to investigate and articulate their meanings from a culture-internal perspective. An in-depth examination and analysis of key Chinese words and expressions reveal the conceptual basis of Chinese social organization and social interaction,
distinctive ways of emotion expression (both verbal and non-verbal) in relation to underlying cultural values and attitudes towards emotion, the relationship between sensory experience and the conceptual structure (especially with regard to the role of ‘taste’ in Chinese conceptual formation), as well as the folk model of learning in relation to ‘memorization’ and knowledge formation.
NSM is employed as a culture-independent conceptual tool for meaning analysis so that the ways of thinking, knowing, feeling and behaving that are fundamental to the Chinese way of life can be made easily accessible and intelligible to cultural outsiders. The cultural scripts theory, a spin-off of the NSM approach, is employed as a conceptual framework for cultural notations, aiming at a closer integration between language, culture and psychology. The study makes an empirical
and conceptual contribution not only to the growing field of the study of Chinese indigenous psychologies, but also to the study of the commonality and diversity of human experience and cognition in general. It has practical implications and applications for intercultural communication.
More information:
Chapter 2 builds on: Chinese categorization of interpersonal relationships and the cultural logic of Chinese social interaction: An indigenous perspective (2004)
Chapter 3 builds on: Why the “inscrutable” Chinese face? Emotionality and facial expression in Chinese (2006)
Rating:
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 June 17, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2006). The semantics of colour: A new paradigm. In Carole P. Biggam, & Christian J. Kay (Eds.), Progress in colour studies: Vol. 1. Language and culture (pp. 1-24). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/z.pics1.05wie
Abstract:
To be able to establish the true universals of visual semantics we must first of all reject the ones that are false. Above all, we must reject the widespread view that there are some ‘colour universals’, whether absolute or implicational. There are no ‘colour universals’ because ‘colour’ itself is not a universal concept. What is universal is the concept of SEEing. SEEing, not colour, must be the starting point, and the cornerstone, of our investigations.
It appears that in all languages there are visual descriptors referring to some features of the natural environment. Apart from such universal or widespread environmental features, all languages appear to have visual descriptors referring to some features of the local environment, in particular to visually salient local minerals and other pigments, especially those that can be used for painting, decoration, or dyeing. It also appears that in all languages there are some visual descriptors linked to the human (and sometimes animal) body. In addition to such commonalities in the visual descriptors, there is also a wide variety of more restricted and even idiosyncratic types.
To understand the human conceptualization of the visual world in both its diversity and its commonalities, we need to recognize the role of environmental and bodily prototypes recurring in human experience (such as fire, sun, blood, sky and grass), and to base our analysis on the bedrock of universal human concepts; and it is only on this basis that we can hope to arrive at a tenable and enduring synthesis.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) gungaltja, (E) gungundja, (E) piros, (E) red, (E) vörös
Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on August 30, 2018.
Bartens, Angela, & Sandström, Niclas (2006). Semantic primes in Atlantic Iberoromance-based creoles: Superstrate continuity or innovation? Estudios de sociolingüística, 7, 31-54. DOI: 10.1558/sols.v7i1.31
Much of the literature on Creole languages has focused on their genesis. In this study, we take the Natural Semantic Metalanguage framework as a starting point for yet another genesis-oriented comparative study of five Iberoromance-based Creoles, Kabuverdianu, São-Tomense, Angolar, Papiamentu and Palenquero. The proposal of the NSM framework is to establish a Natural Semantic Metalanguage consisting of a set of semantic primes common to and translatable into all languages. Whether these semantic primes consist of items retained from the lexifier language, or whether they have been taken from the sub- and/or adstrate can be argued to be of certain interest to the debate on the origin and nature of Creole languages. Our results confirm our initial hypothesis that the semantic primes of Creole languages are in their majority derived from the corresponding lexifier language. Differences in the exact amount of non-lexifier-derived primes roughly correspond to the amount of non-lexifier items in the Creole’s lexicon at large.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (T) Iberoromance Creoles
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on November 11, 2018.
Junker, Marie-Odile, & Blacksmith, Louise (2006). Are there emotional universals? Evidence from the Native American language East Cree. Culture & Psychology, 12(3), 275-303. DOI: 10.1177/1354067X06061590
In her study on emotions across languages and cultures, Wierzbicka proposed a set of eleven working hypotheses on emotional universals. We test each of these hypotheses against data newly collected from the Native American language East Cree. Eight of these eleven hypotheses are confirmed, thus giving support to their universality. We offer cross-cultural comparison of anger-like, fear-like and shame-like concepts, and discuss the Cree expression of good and bad feelings, cry and smile, and Cree emotive interjections. Our findings indicate that not all languages commonly use figurative bodily images (‘my heart sank’) or bodily sensations (‘when I heard this, my throat went dry’) to describe cognitively based feelings. The Cree data also cast some doubt on a straightforward universal syntax for combining the primes, as proposed in the current Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework. However, we conclude that, for researchers interested in avoiding ethnocentric bias, the NSM approach is on the right track as a tool for cross-cultural, cross-linguistic research on emotions.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) âhwesâ, (E) chekw mei, (E) eheh, (E) ekwesâ, (E) entâpwe, (E) heh, (E) m, (E) mâ, (E) machimanitû, (E) mâtû, (E) michisch, (E) pâhpû, (E) sâ, (E) seh, (T) East Cree
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 27, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2006). “Experience” in John Searle’s account of the mind: Brain, mind and Anglo culture. Intercultural Pragmatics, 3(3), 241-255. DOI: 10.1515/IP.2006.016
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 2 (pp. 25-93) of:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2010). Experience, evidence, and sense: The hidden cultural legacy of English. New York: Oxford University Press.
This paper is part of a larger study that focuses on the word experience and its semantic history. Its main point is that this word plays now, and has played for a long time, an extremely important role in the thought world associated with the English language, and that the changes in its use and meanings reflect, and provide evidence for, important cultural developments. The study argues that, to understand Anglo culture and see it in a historical and comparative perspective, we need to understand the meanings and the history of the word experience. It also argues that, given the role of English in present-day science and the importance of experience in present-day English, we need to understand the cultural underpinnings of this English key word.
The word experience plays a vital role in the ways of thinking of speakers of English; it provides a prism through which they tend to interpret the world. Its range of use is very wide and includes a number of distinct senses. However, through several of these senses (the more recent ones) runs a common theme, which reflects a characteristically ‘‘Anglo’’ perspective on the world and on human life. This is why the word experience is often untranslatable into other languages, even European, without being semantically distorted.
What, then, does the English key word experience mean and how exactly does it differ from its closest counterparts in other languages or in earlier varieties of English?
To answer such questions, one needs to engage in some rigorous semantic analysis, both synchronic and diachronic. This requires a suitable methodology such as that provided by the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 1, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2006). The concept of ‘dialogue’ in cross-linguistic and cross-cultural perspective. Discourse Studies, 8(5), 675-703.
DOI: 10.1177/1461445606067334
Abstract:
‘Dialogue’ is an important concept in the contemporary world. It plays a very significant role in English public discourse, and through English, or mainly through English, it has spread throughout the world. For example, the dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi calls for ‘reconciliation and dialogue’ in Burma (or so she is reported to have done in English language news reports), the Russian pro-democracy groups ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to ‘begin a dialogue’ with them, Popes Paul VI and John Paul II are praised for opening the Catholic Church to a ‘dialogue’ with other Christian churches and other faiths (or criticized for not going far enough in this direction), and so on.
But what exactly does the word dialogue mean? NSM is used in this paper in an attempt to answer that question.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) dialogue, (E) threaten, (E) warn
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 27, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2006). English: Meaning and culture. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195174748.001.0001
It is widely accepted that English is the first truly global language and lingua franca. Its dominance has even led to its use and adaptation by local communities for their own purposes and needs. One might see English in this context as being simply a neutral, universal vehicle for the expression of local thoughts and ideas. In fact, English words and phrases have embedded in them a wealth of cultural baggage that is invisible to most native speakers.
Anna Wierzbicka, a distinguished linguist known for her theories of semantics, has written the first book that connects the English language with what she terms “Anglo” culture. Wierzbicka points out that language and culture are not just interconnected, but inseparable. This is evident to non-speakers trying to learn puzzling English expressions. She uses original research to investigate the “universe of meaning” within the English language (both grammar and vocabulary) and places it in historical and geographical perspective. For example, she looks at the history of the terms “right” and “wrong” and how with the influence of the Reformation “right” came to mean “correct.” She examines the ideas of “fairness” and “reasonableness” and shows that, far from being cultural universals, they are in fact unique creations of modern English.
Table of contents
PART I MEANING, HISTORY, AND CULTURE
1. English as a cultural universe
2. Anglo cultural scripts seen through Middle Eastern eyes
PART II ENGLISH WORDS
3. The story of RIGHT and WRONG and its cultural implications
4. Being REASONABLE: A key Anglo value and its cultural roots
5. Being FAIR: Another key Anglo value and its cultural underpinnings
PART III ANGLO CULTURE REFLECTED IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR
6. The English causatives: Causation and interpersonal relations
7. I THINK: The rise of epistemic phrases in Modern English
8. PROBABLY: English epistemic adverbs and their cultural significance
PART IV CONCLUSION
9. The “cultural baggage” of English and its significance in the world at large
Chapter 3 builds on: Right and wrong: From philosophy to everyday discourse” (2002)
Chapter 6 builds on: English causative constructions in an ethnosyntactic perspective: Focusing on LET (2002)
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags listed below are in addition to those listed at the end of the entries for the earlier work on which this book builds.
Tags: (E) (bare imperative), (E) (tag question), (E) (whimperative), (E) allegedly, (E) apparently, (E) assume, (E) believe, (E) believe (+ clause), (E) believe that, (E) bet, (E) certainly, (E) clearly, (E) conceivably, (E) doubt, (E) evidently, (E) expect, (E) facts, (E) fair, (E) find, (E) force (someone to do somthing), (E) gather (+ clause), (E) get (someone to do something), (E) guess (+ clause), (E) have (someone do something), (E) imagine, (E) indeed, (E) justice, (E) lie, (E) likely, (E) make (someone do something), (E) not fair, (E) obviously, (E) of course, (E) possibly, (E) presumably, (E) presume, (E) presume (+ clause), (E) probable, (E) probably, (E) reasonable, (E) reportedly, (E) sense, (E) suppose (+ clause), (E) supposedly, (E) surely, (E) suspect, (E) take it, (E) think (+ clause), (E) understand, (E) undoubtedly, (E) unreasonable, (S) accuracy, (S) agreement, (S) bare imperatives, (S) critical thinking, (S) demands, (S) directives, (S) emotions, (S) exaggeration, (S) expectations, (S) factuality, (S) good vs. bad, (S) I think vs I know, (S) justification, (S) literal meaning, (S) non-exaggeration, (S) opinions, (S) personal autonomy, (S) pressure, (S) silence, (S) think first, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on February 17, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2006). “Lift your game Martina!”: Deadpan jocular irony and the ethnopragmatics of Australian English. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics: Understanding discourse in cultural context (pp. 65-97). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110911114.65
Translated into Russian as:
Годдард, Клифф (2007). «Играй лучше, Мартина!» (ирония «с каменным лицом» и этнопрагматика австралийского варианта английского языка). Жанры речи [Speech genres], 5, 159-183.
The aim of this study is to describe, contextualize and interpret the Australian speech practice the author refers to as ‘deadpan jocular irony’, using cultural scripts and other techniques of ethnopragmatic analysis. One theoretical concern will be to distinguish different formats for cultural scripts of different types. In particular, a distinction will be made between two kinds: those which capture certain social attitudes and values and thus have implications for language use, and those of a more specialized nature which directly concern ways of speaking and word usage. In this latter category fall scripts for different species of sarcasm and irony, as well as for a range of other rhetorical phenomena such as hyperbole, euphemism, and many others.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wong, Jock (2006). Contextualizing aunty in Singaporean English. World Englishes, 25(3/4), 451-466. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-971X.2006.00481.x
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 4 (pp. 94-138) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
Presumably, in any culture, people who are perceived to be different from some ‘mainstream’ majority are categorized in some way and assigned a label. Such ‘cultural’ categories can be complimentary or, usually, pejorative and are therefore good indicators of cultural attitudes and values. We can learn a lot about a culture through the semantic study of its cultural categories. In Singapore English, the social honorifics aunty and uncle are used by extension as cultural categories to refer, somewhat unflatteringly, to a distinct kind of people. Yet, ironically, the use of these terms also reflects deference for age and thus indicates the speakers’ mixed feelings towards the objects of their reference. In this paper, the meaning of the word aunty is described in the form of a reductive paraphrase using Natural Semantic Metalanguage. On the basis of meaning, the contrastive cultural attitudes reflected by the use of the word are explored.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) aunty
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 19, 2021.
Otomo, Asako, & Torii, Akiko (2006). An NSM approach to the meaning of tear and its Japanese equivalents. In Keith Allan (Ed.), Selected Papers from the 2005 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2005.html. PDF (open access)
This paper undertakes a contrastive analysis of verbs relating to the action of ‘tearing’ in English and Japanese; it employs the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (hereafter, NSM) developed by Anna Wierzbicka and her colleagues.
Generally speaking, there is no exact semantic correspondence between the verbs of different languages. This holds true for verbs relating to the action of ‘tearing’ in English and Japanese. Tear has more than one rough equivalent in Japanese: saku, chigiru and yaburu all mean ‘tear’, but they differ in some respects. The Japanese verbs exhibit a more specialised meaning than English tear, in that they vary in object, manner, and projected result. This paper will demonstrate the difference in cognitive structure between these verbs.
We will use NSM to fully explicate the meanings of these words and to reveal the shared semantic structures and distinctive aspects of each verb under investigation. The NSM methodology, based on semantic primes and a grammar of combinability, enables us to explicate language-specific concepts in a precise manner, while at the same time remaining free of ethno-cultural and/or linguistic bias.
This analysis provides evidence that as far as the concept of ‘tearing’ is concerned, Japanese and English cause their respective speakers to develop and use language-specific cognitive structures.
Published on November 22, 2017. Last updated on August 16, 2021.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2006). Współczesne dylematy moralne przez pryzmat dwóch języków – angielskiego i polskiego [Contemporary moral dilemmas through the perspective of English and Polish]. Etnolingwistyka, 18, pp. 145-164.
Written in Polish.
The linguistic communities of Poles and English-speaking Australians live in their respective linguistic worlds and coherent “moral languages”. The two languages, however, differ from each other in their key words and concepts. As a result, the moral dilemmas of these communities also differ. The author, a speaker of English and Polish belonging to two “moral worlds”, analyzes a few key English concepts with no adequate Polish equivalents. Examples are taken from a discussion in the newspaper The Australian in 2006. Questions sent to the editor were answered by eminent figures (a writer, historian, editor, judge, archbishop), who used moral concepts expressed with English words and expressions privacy, invasion of privacy, entitled, to commit oneself, to move on, unreasonable, committed, evidence, fair and unfair or experience. The questions and answers are supplemented in the article with the author’s comments and precise explications in the form of “cultural scripts”. The latter are constructed from the elements of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, developed and used by the author for many years. It is concluded that “the way we think depends to some extent on the language we speak”. In order to liberate oneself from the grips of language, one must, while explicating the meanings of words, use universal primes.
Published on May 10, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Burston, Monique (2006). The French connector certes: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage interpretation. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages (pp. 289-305). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.81.18bur
This paper looks at the meaning and use of the French discourse marker certes in sequences involving an assertive-concessive adverb certes (equivalent to English certainly, admittedly, granted, of course etc.) followed by an apodosis starting with mais (‘but’) or an equivalent adversative expression (as in une faute certes, mais qui est pardonnable ‘a mistake, admittedly, but a forgivable one’). An explication in Natural Semantic Metalanguage shows that certes is at the heart of a “diaphonic” situation: a duality of voices can be heard in the text, of which the second reinterprets, reformulates and integrates the first. The explication also accounts for the fact that certes critically contributes to text coherence, by creating a thematic-rhematic structure.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) certes
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
