Browsing results for Language families
Published on September 30, 2018. Last updated on August 15, 2021.
Bromhead, Helen (2018). Landscape and culture – Cross-linguistic perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/clscc.9
This book is based, in part, on the author’s PhD thesis:
Bromhead, Helen (2013). Mountains, rivers, billabongs: Ethnogeographical categorization in cross-linguistic perspective. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
The relationship between landscape and culture seen through language is an exciting and increasingly explored area. This ground-breaking book contributes to the linguistic examination of both cross-cultural variation and unifying elements in geographical categorization.
The study focuses on the contrastive lexical semantics of certain landscape words in a number of languages. It presents landscape concepts as anchored in a human-centred perspective, based on our cognition, vision, and experience in places. The aim is to show how geographical vocabulary sheds light on the culturally and historically shaped ways people see and think about the land around them. Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) is used throughout, because it allows an analysis of meaning which is both fine-grained and transparent, and culturally sensitive.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) bay, (E) beach, (E) billabong, (E) bush, (E) cliff, (E) coast, (E) cordillera, (E) cove, (E) creek, (E) dam, (E) desert, (E) field, (E) fleuve, (E) harbour, (E) hill, (E) hills, (E) inlet, (E) island, (E) karu, (E) meadow, (E) mountain, (E) mountain range, (E) mountains, (E) nyaru, (E) ocean, (E) paddock, (E) peninsula, (E) pila, (E) precipice, (E) puli, (E) puti, (E) river, (E) rivière, (E) sea, (E) seaside, (E) shore, (E) sierra, (E) stream, (E) tali, (E) the bush, (E) tjukitji
Published on September 5, 2018. Last updated on September 7, 2018.
Hoffrén, Tuomas (2018). Minä haluan tehdä näin. Minä ajattelen: tämä on hyvä – Natural Semantic Metalanguage suomenkielisessä S2 – kirjallisuudessa [I want to do this. I think: this is good – Natural Semantic Metalanguage in Finnish L2 literature]. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Tampere, Finland. PDF (open access)
Written in Finnish.
How present are NSM primes in Finnish L2-literature? The relevance of NSM for foreign language teaching – be it of Finnish as a second or a foreign language (S2) or of another language (L2) – is based on the assumption that the semantic primes are: 1) easy to learn, 2) common in language per se, and 3) efficient in situations in which the learner has no knowledge of a word or a concept they want to use in the target language. The research question addressed in the thesis is therefore whether these words are taught to learners already in the early stages of their learning.
The research material consists of one widely used S2-textbook: Hyvin menee! (‘It is going well!’) 1. The material is deemed sufficient in determining certain general rules or principles in the area, but the need for further research involving textbooks as well as other materials used in teaching is acknowledged.
The theoretical framework is provided by the NSM approach, on the one hand, and by Second Language Acquisition research (SLA), on the other. Two major areas of research, linguistics and pedagogy, are thus combined. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used. Aspects that need to be acknowledged when using and studying NSM are presented qualitatively. A precise statistical (and therefore quantitative) analysis is based on these aspects.
The analysis shows that the observed 76 primes (an increased number due to differences between Finnish and English) are somewhat unevenly divided in the book. Some primes are very common, others are not present at all. The earlier chapters have fewer primes in them, but the number of primes, along with their distribution, increases notably as the book proceeds. Texts is where the highest number of primes is displayed, but primes are also largely present in the exercises.
The research sets the scene for the elaboration of a possible method of teaching that relies on semantic primes. It outlines a picture of the present situation, on which new research can be built.
No rating is provided.
Published on August 1, 2018. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Jaworska, Anna (2018). NSM exponents of mental predicates in French: Translation, commentary, and lexical elaboration of THINK. Folio: A Students’ Journal, 4, 29-62. PDF (open access)
This paper is devoted to the NSM exponents of “mental predicates” in French. The aim of the study is to examine how NSM applies to French. The paper focuses on a French translation of 99 canonical sentences (formulated in English) and discusses major difficulties in translating those sentences (in the section “Mental Predicates”) into French.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on April 2, 2018. Last updated on September 27, 2018.
Martín Arista, Javier (2018). The semantic poles of Old English: Toward the 3D representation of complex polysemy. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 33(1), 96-111. DOI: 10.1093/llc/fqx004
This article, which attempts to explain some aspects of verbal polysemy in Old English, develops its main claims with reference to NSM primes belonging to different categories (mental predicates, speech, actions/events/movement/contact, location/existence/possession/specification, life and death). It does not proceed to the identification of potential exponents, except in the case of the prime TRUE.
No rating is applied, since there is no engagement with NSM as a tool for semantic explication.
Published on August 17, 2017. Last updated on June 29, 2019.
Effendi, Diyan Ermawan & Muchammadun (2018). “Happiness” in Bahasa Indonesia and its implication to health and community well-being. The Asian EFL Journal, 20(8), 279-291.
Open access
Abstract:
“Happiness” has become an important aspect in Indonesia’s well-being as well as in the health and longevity of its population. This paper examines the meaning of three closely related Indonesian emotion words encountered in happiness-related discourse: bahagia, senang, and gembira. Using NSM to describe the native Indonesian experience on the three emotions, the authors depict bahagia, senang, and gembira as personal feelings that last for different lengths of time. Another difference they capture relates to the “otherness” characteristics of each emotion. Finally, the paper suggests studies on emotions and happiness to promote community well-being and health as an emerging research domain for applied linguists.
More information:
Also published (open access) as:
Effendi, Diyan Ermawan & Muchammadun (2017). “Happiness” in Bahasa Indonesia and its implication to health and community well-being. The Asian EFL Journal, TESOL Indonesia Special Conference Edition, 7, 109-121.
Rating:
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) bahagia, (E) gembira, (E) senang
Published on September 26, 2017. Last updated on November 9, 2019.
Farese, Gian Marco (2018). Is KNOW a semantic universal? Shiru, wakaru and Japanese ethno-epistemology. Language Sciences, 66, 135-150.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2017.09.001
Abstract:
This paper focuses on the debated question of the universality of ‘know’ as a concept available to speakers of all languages. The NSM view is that all languages have a lexical exponent for the concept expressed in English by the word know. Epistemologist Masaharu Mizumoto has suggested that Japanese is a counter-example, because in this language two verbs, 知る shiru and わかる wakaru, are used in propositional knowledge attributions and neither is, he claims, exactly equivalent to know. Drawing on linguistic evidence from a corpus of Japanese and from Japanese contemporary literature, this paper shows that 知る shiru corresponds exactly in meaning to the English know and is the only Japanese exponent of the universal semantic prime KNOW. An NSM semantic explication of わかる wakaru phrased in both English and Japanese is presented to show that わかる wakaru is a complex concept that can be explicated via 知る shiru, but not vice-versa.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) I don't understand, (E) know how, (E) wakaru わかる, (T) Japanese
Published on August 18, 2018. Last updated on April 10, 2019.
Rosa, Rusdi Noor (2018). Makna verba ‘mancaliak‘ dalam Bahasa Minangkabau: Kajian Metabahasa Semantik Alami [Verbs of seeing in Minangkabau: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach]. Lingua Didaktika 12(1), 1-11. PDF (open access)
DOI: 10.24036/ld.v12i1.9787
Abstract:
This article is aimed at finding out the meaning of the Minangkabau (West Sumatra) verbs that are semantically similar to the local exponent of the prime SEE. Five native Minangkabau speakers living in the area of Padang were taken as subjects for data collection. The Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach was used for the description of the different meanings of verbs of seeing in the language. Based on the data analysis, it was found that, in Minangkabau, apart from the local exponent of the prime (MANCALIAK), there are a number of other verbs of seeing, including maliek, mancigok, manjanguak, maintik, manonton, mancenek, mamareso and mamparatian. Explications for these verbs are formulated in Indonesian NSM.
More information:
The article (written in Indonesian) also includes the Indonesian version of an earlier English explication of the word sad, translated into Indonesian as sedih.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
Tags: (E) maintik, (E) maliek, (E) mamareso, (E) mamparatian, (E) mancenek, (E) mancigok, (E) manjanguak, (E) manonton, (E) sedih, (T) Indonesian
Published on November 19, 2017. Last updated on August 22, 2018.
Farrelly, Nicholas, & Wesley, Michael (2018). Internationalizing Minimal English: Perils and parallels. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 95-112). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_5
This chapter links the development of Minimal English to the concerns of practitioners and analysts of international affairs. Using examples from the Asian region, the authors suggest that, in this new era of multipolar intercultural relations, the need for neutral languages for coordination is greater than ever. A case study of US–China relations shows that using English in ways that do not acknowledge its heavy cultural and power baggage can invite misunderstanding and resistance. The authors argue that Minimal English offers a chance to move from a mode of domination and socialization to a mode of coordination and renegotiation.
The rating below relates to the explications, which were developed by Anna Wierzbicka, Cliff Goddard, and Zhengdao Ye.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) big countries, (E) big countries need to "go further", (E) China, (E) international system, (E) promoting the national interest
Published on January 15, 2022. Last updated on January 15, 2022.
Wierzbicka, Anna. (2018). Polskie słowo Boże w perspektywie porównawczej [The Polish word God in comparative perspective]. In Jolanta Chojak and Zofia Zaron (eds.) Ku rzeczom niebłahym, 221–234. Wydanie I, Warszawa: BEL Studio.
Written in Polish
Abstract
All European languages have a word for God, and this word means exactly the same in all of them. But when it comes to addressing God, the situation is very different. Speakers of different European languages tend to relate to God in different ways. Each group has its own characteristic ways of addressing God, encoded in certain words, phrases and grammatical forms. These words, phrases, and grammatical forms both reflect and shape the speakers’ habitual way of thinking about God and relating to God. Often, they also reflect some other aspects of their cultural memory and historical experience. This paper is about the Polish vocative Boże, commonly used in Polish to address God in prayer. The paper discusses the meaning of this vocative comparing it with addressative expressions such as O God in English, Mon Dieu in French and Gospodi in Russian, within the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM).
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) Boże!, (E) Dieu, (E) God, (E) O God, (E) Panie, (E) Господи (Gospodi)
Published on April 9, 2019. Last updated on June 29, 2019.
Bułat Silva, Zuzanna (2018). The concept of HOME in Polish and Portuguese — distant cultures, similar concepts. Studia Linguistica [Wrocław], 37, 7-23.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.19195/0137-1169.37.1 / Open access
Abstract:
The aim of the present paper is to investigate the concept of HOME in Polish and Portuguese language and culture. The methodology that suits this purpose best and allows to compare words from different languages without an ethnocentric bias is the NSM approach. On the basis of lexical and textual data, the meaning of Polish dom is explicated and compared with its Portuguese equivalent, casa. Despite differences in the way public and private space are treated in Polish and Portuguese cultures, the notions of HOME in these two languages have many things in common: both dom and casa are multidimensional concepts referring not only to ‘people living together in a place’ but they are also related to emotions such as love, tenderness and homesickness, and to feelings of security and warmth.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) casa, (E) dom
Published on March 30, 2018. Last updated on September 5, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2018). Ten lectures on Natural Semantic Metalanguage: Exploring language, thought and culture using simple, translatable words. Leiden: Brill. DOI: 10.1163/9789004357723
These lively lectures introduce the theory, practice, and application of a versatile, rigorous, and non-Anglocentic approach to cross-linguistic semantics.
Table of contents:
- Preliminary material
- From Leibniz to Wierzbicka: The history and philosophy of NSM
- Semantic primes and their grammar
- Explicating emotion concepts across languages and cultures
- Wonderful, terrific, fabulous: English evaluational adjectives
- Semantic molecules and semantic complexity
- Words as carriers of cultural meaning
- English verb semantics: Verbs of doing and saying
- English verb alternations and constructions
- Applications of NSM: Minimal English, cultural scripts and language teaching
- Retrospect: NSM compared with other approaches to semantic analysis
Chapter 3 discusses selected exponents of primes in Farsi (Persian). Chapter 4 provides an explication of a North-Spanish homesickness word (morriña). Chapter 7 provides an explication of Chinese 孝 xiào ‘filial piety’.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) Alles in Ordnung, (E) ask, (E) at night, (E) believe that, (E) blink, (E) brilliant, (E) build, (E) children, (E) complex, (E) contented, (E) crawl, (E) cut, (E) delighted, (E) delightful, (E) dig, (E) during the day, (E) eat, (E) entertaining, (E) excellent, (E) exciting, (E) great, (E) happy, (E) homesick, (E) impressive, (E) know someone, (E) know that, (E) lykke, (E) memorable, (E) men, (E) morriña, (E) mouth, (E) not fair, (E) order, (E) pleased, (E) pour, (E) powerful, (E) sčitat’ čto считать что, (E) sky, (E) stars, (E) stunning, (E) suggest, (E) sun, (E) swim, (E) tell, (E) terrific, (E) tęsknić, (E) water, (E) women, (E) wonderful, (E) xiào 孝, (E) xìngfú 幸福, (S) expressiveness, (S) feelings, (S) personal autonomy, (S) personal comments, (S) personal remarks, (S) requests, (S) sincerity, (T) Chinese, (T) English, (T) Finnish, (T) semantic molecules
Published on December 20, 2017. Last updated on August 21, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna, & Goddard, Cliff (2018). Talking about our bodies and their parts in Warlpiri. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 38(1), 31-62. DOI: 10.1080/07268602.2018.1393862
Linguists generally assume that all languages have some words for parts of the human body such as ‘head’, ‘hands’, ‘mouth’, and ‘legs’, but it is not so widely agreed that speakers of all languages can speak – or even consciously think – of the designata of such words as ‘parts of the body’. NSM researchers have long maintained that PART(S) is a universal semantic prime, i.e., an indefinable meaning expressible by words or phrases in all human languages. However, it has been claimed that the Australian language Warlpiri, for instance, lacks any suitable lexical equivalent of ‘part(s)’. Using data from the Warlpiri English Encyclopedic Dictionary, this study contests this claim, arguing that the relevant sense of ‘part’ exists in Warlpiri as one sense of the polysemous closed-class item yangka (whose main meaning can be stated, roughly, as ‘that one, you know the one’). The study also considers broader issues to do with semantic theory, polysemy and translation.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on April 27, 2019. Last updated on July 28, 2020.
Thompson, Rachel (2019). Tweaa! – A Ghanaian interjection of “contempt” in online political comments. Ampersand, 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amper.2019.100047 / Open access
Abstract:
This study examines the use of tweaa [tɕʏɪaa], an Akan emotive interjection that expresses contempt for a person, in the Corpus of GhanaWeb Comments in Ghana’s 2016 Election (CGCGE16). CGCGE16 comprises reader comments posted in the build-up to Ghana’s presidential elections in December 2016 on www.ghanaweb.com, a news website that guarantees freedom of speech and ensures citizen participation in online sociopolitical discussions. The study employs NSM to unpack the meaning of tweaa and give a fuller understanding of its rhetorical power in online political discourse. It points out that tweaa is derogatory and expresses lack of respect for the user’s target, thus, according to traditional Ghanaian values, its use is unacceptable, especially during asymmetrical interactions. Citizens, however, hide behind the shield of anonymity guaranteed by online platforms, and their ability to circumvent traditional gatekeepers of acceptable speech forms during online discourse, and freely use tweaa to vent their feelings against authority figures.
Rating:
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) tweaa!, (E) Wow!
Published on February 10, 2020. Last updated on February 10, 2020.
Ye, Zhengdao (2019). The emergence of expressible agency and irony in today’s China: A semantic explanation of the new bèi-construction. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 39(1), 57-78.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07268602.2019.1542933
Abstract:
This paper focuses on the new passive bèi-construction in Chinese, dating approximately from 2009. By 2012, this new usage had entered the most authoritative Chinese dictionary. While previous studies have mostly focused on the pragmatic effect of this structure, this study aims to trace the motivational forces behind this language innovation by examining the linguistic, cultural and social factors contributing to its emergence. In particular, it examines the specific features of the bèi-construction, using NSM to spell out its meaning and identify the semantic links between its variant forms, especially with respect to degrees of transitivity. It is then demonstrated that it is not accidental that the conventional bèi-construction has been ingeniously and humorously recruited and modified to express agency and disagreement with a higher authority, or even dissent in an authoritarian society, and that a deeper understanding of the bèi phenomenon not only affords insight into the cultural ethos developing in today’s China, but also offers an excellent example of (a) non-autonomous syntax and (b) mechanisms of language change in the age of internet and social media, when language innovation often takes place consciously
among internet users, transcends geographical barriers and is easier to trace than before.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) bèi 被
Published on February 20, 2019. Last updated on June 20, 2019.
Wong, Jock, & Liu, Congyi (2019). Two ways of saying ‘thank you’ in Hong Kong Cantonese: m-goi vs. do-ze. In Alessandro Capone, Marco Carapezza, & Franco Lo Piparo (Eds.), Further advances in pragmatics and philosophy: Vol. 2. Theories and applications (pp. 435-447). Cham: Springer.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00973-1_24
Abstract:
While in English there is only one main way of thanking someone, using the phrase thank you or one of its variants (e.g. thanks, ta), in Hong Kong Cantonese there are two phrases, 唔該 m4-goi1 and 多謝 do1-ze6, both of which could be translated in English as thank you. Whereas in some instances it is clear which one of the two Hong Kong Cantonese phrases one should use, in other situations both could be used. This suggests that the two Hong Kong Cantonese phrases have different meanings and that learners of Hong Kong Cantonese could be confused. However, the meanings of and differences in meaning between the two phrases have hitherto not been articulated with any degree of clarity, making it rather difficult for learners of Hong Kong Cantonese to understand precisely how they are used in native Hong Kong Cantonese culture. The objective of this paper is thus to articulate the meaning of each of these two phrases using a maximally clear and minimally ethnocentric metalanguage (NSM).
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) do1-ze6 多謝, (E) m4-goi1 唔該, (E) please, (E) thank you
Published on May 19, 2019. Last updated on February 9, 2020.
Wakefield, John C.; Lee, Hung Yuk (2019). The grammaticalization of indirect reports: The Cantonese discourse particle wo5. In Alessandro Capone, Manuel García-Carpintero, & Alessandra Falzone (Eds.), Indirect reports and pragmatics in the world languages (pp. 333-344). Cham: Springer.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78771-8_16
Abstract:
This paper proposes a definition for the Cantonese sentence-final discourse particle wo5, which marks the proposition contained within a clause as an indirect report that does not belong to the speaker. The methodology for defining wo5 is based on NSM theory and draws on a general model for the investigation of discourse markers, the goal of which is to come up with a formula that would make sense in all the contexts in which the discourse particle can occur, and that could also explain why in some contexts it cannot be used at all. The proposed definition we propose is discussed in light of what other authors have said about wo5, and is tested against a number of examples within which wo5 can and cannot appear.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) wo5
Published on November 28, 2019. Last updated on November 28, 2019.
Levisen, Carsten (2019). “Brightness” in color linguistics: New light from Danish visual semantics. In Ida Raffaelli, Daniela Katunar, & Barbara Kerovec (Eds.), Lexicalization patterns in color naming: A cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 83-108). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/sfsl.78.05lev
Abstract:
This chapter scrutinizes the discourse of “brightness” in colour linguistics. Drawing on insights from visual semantics and linguistic anthropology, and challenging the universal applicability of “brightness”, the study provides new evidence from Danish. The chapter provides a new analysis of the lexicogrammar and linguaculture of lys ‘light, brightness’ in relation to color. The NSM approach is used to provide detailed semantic explications for three grammatical devices based on lys (lys, lys-, and lyse-), along with an analysis of three Danish lys + colour compounds lyserød ‘light red’, lysegrøn ‘light green’, and lyseblå ‘light blue’. Based on the evidence from Danish and other studies in visual semantics, the chapter calls for a renewed focus on the non-chromatic aspects of visual meanings, and for a metalinguistic reform in colour linguistics.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) blå, (E) bright, (E) grøn, (E) light, (E) lyseblå, (E) lysegrøn, (E) lyserød, (E) rød, (T) Danish
Published on January 15, 2022. Last updated on August 18, 2023.
Levisen, Carsten. (2019). The Cultural Semantics of Untranslatables: Linguistic Worldview and the Danish Language of Laughter. In A. Glaz (Ed.), Languages – Cultures – Worldviews: Focus on Translation (pp. 319-346). Palgrave Macmillan. Palgrave studies studies in translating and interpreting
Abstract
Through an in-depth case study of humour concepts in Danish, the chapter develops a cultural-semantic analysis of the untranslatables of laughter, and provides a new account of the worldview engendered by such words. The Danish language of laughter is particularly rich in synaesthetic humour metaphor; the chapter sets out to explicate key categories within this class: sort humor ‘black, murky humour,’ plat humor ‘flat, plain humour,’ fed humor ‘fat humour,’ and tør humor ‘dry humour.’ The analysis is undertaken within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework of analysis and takes an explicitly translational approach to language, culture, and worldview. Providing a roadmap for how to navigate in the landscape of translatables and untranslables, the chapter contributes to both translational semantics and linguistic worldview studies.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) fed humor, (E) plat humor, (E) sort humor, (E) tør humor, (T) Danish, (T) English
Published on August 18, 2023. Last updated on August 18, 2023.
Levisen, Carsten. (2019). Laughter interjections: Contributions to a lexical anthropology of humour (with special reference to Danish). Scandinavian Studies in Language, 10(1), 110-130.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7146/sss.v10i1.114674
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is threefold. Firstly, it seeks to fill a gap in the literature on interjections by suggesting that ‘laughter interjections’ (words such English haha or hehe) make up an important type of interjections that has so far not been accounted for in cross-linguistic work on interjections. Secondly, it argues that laughter interjections are thick with cultural meaning, and that they can play an important role for an “emic turn” in humour studies. Third, it develops a case study on “Danish funniness” with a point of departure in the Danish paradigm of laughter interjections. The paper explores humourous discourse from the perspective of these culturally specific expressive words, and provides high definition analysis of two Danish laughter interjections tøhø and hæhæ, using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage technique of explication. The general framework of the study is Lexical Anthropology, an approach to meaning analysis that combines insights from lexical semantics and linguistic anthropology.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) hæhæ, (E) tøhø, (T) Danish, (T) English
Published on January 8, 2019. Last updated on February 20, 2020.
Holden, Josh (2019). Semantic primes in Denesųłiné: In search of some lexical “universals”. International Journal of American Linguistics, 85(1), 75-121.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/700319
Abstract:
This study examines whether the semantic primes of NSM are attested in Denesųłiné (Athabaskan, Northern Canada; aka Dene). It argues that some of them are problematic, including (BE) SOMEWHERE, BAD, MOMENT, FEEL, KIND, and PART. Dene seems not to express partonymy and typonymy via abstract lexical items. This article suggests improvements to NSM in light of the Dene data and reflects on how semantic decomposition approaches like NSM can improve the documentation and analysis of this language.
Rating:
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
