Browsing results for Farese Gian Marco

(2022) English, molecules — Money

Published on January 31, 2022. Last updated on April 8, 2022.

Goddard, Cliff, Wierzbicka, Anna & Farese, Gian Marco. (2022). The conceptual semantics of “money” and “money verbs”. Russian Journal of Linguistics 26(1) 7–20. https://doi.org/10.22363/2687-0088-27193

Open Access

 

Abstract

The central purpose of this study is to apply the NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) method of semantic-conceptual analysis to the word ‘money’ and to related “economic transaction” verbs, such as ‘buy’, ‘sell’ and ‘pay’, as used in everyday English. It proposes semantic explications for these words on the basis of conceptual analysis and a range of linguistic evidence and taking account of lexical polysemy. Even in its basic meaning (in a sentence like ‘there was some money on the table’), ‘money-1’ is shown to be surprisingly complex, comprising about 35 lines of semantic text and drawing on a number of semantic molecules (such as ‘country’, ‘number’, and ‘hands’), as well as a rich assortment of semantic primes. This ‘money-1’ meaning turns out to be a crucial semantic molecule in the composition of the verbs ‘buy’, ‘sell’, ‘pay’, and ‘(it) costs’. Each of these is treated in some detail, thereby bringing to light the complex semantic relationships between them and clarifying how this bears on their grammatical properties, such as argument structure. The concluding section considers how NSM semantic-conceptual analysis can help illuminate everyday economic thinking and also how it connects with Humanonics, an interdisciplinary project which aims to “re-humanise” economics.

 


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(Forthcoming) Minimal English — Economics, extent of the market

Published on January 10, 2022. Last updated on January 10, 2022.

Wilson, Bart J. and Farese, Gian Marco (forthcoming) A Universally Translatable Explication of Adam Smith’s Famous Proposition on ‘The Extent of the Market’ (June 16, 2021). Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3682250 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3682250

 

Abstract:

Following Adam Smith’s line of argument, we examine the semantics of four economic principles in Chapter III of the Wealth of Nations that compose his famous proposition “that the division of labour is limited by the extent of the market.” We apply the Natural Semantic Metalanguage framework in linguistics to produce a series of explications that are clear and plain, cross‐translatable into any language, intelligible to twenty‐first century readers, and faithfully close to the original text. Our paper explicates Smith’s logical argument in Chapter III and demonstrates how his ideas can be shared among speakers with different linguacultural backgrounds in line with the truly global view of economics that, we argue, Adam Smith had in mind: economics intended as the science of all people living and doing things together with other people to live well and to feel good.

(2021) Minimal English — Economics

Published on January 10, 2022. Last updated on January 10, 2022.

Wilson, Bart J. and Farese, Gian Marco (2020). What Did Adam Smith Mean? The Semantics of the Opening Key Principles in the ‘Wealth of Nations’. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3616328 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3616328

 

Abstract:

We present a semantic and textual analysis of the first two chapters of the Wealth of Nations to elucidate the meaning of several of Adam Smith’s key ideas, including “the necessaries and conveniences of life,” “power of exchanging,” and “the division of labour.” Using the methodology of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, we produce semantic explications of some of Adam Smith’s fundamental principles of economics phrased in simple and cross‐translatable words. The extracts from the original text function as textual evidence and conceptual reference for the explications we present. We demonstrate that: (i) by reducing the principles as conceived by Smith to their core meanings, it is possible to resolve some interpretive problems for general readers of economics, and (ii) by producing explications that are clear, cross‐translatable, and free from terminological ethnocentrism, these principles become accessible and maximally intelligible to twenty‐first century readers who are non‐experts in economics and non‐native speakers of English, too. Ultimately, our project re‐humanizes the study of economics by drilling down to the core of what Adam Smith the moral philosopher meant in his most famous book which founded a discipline.

(2020) English, Italian, Japanese – NSM

Published on November 9, 2020. Last updated on November 22, 2020.

Farese, Gian Marco (2020). ‘Changing’ and ‘becoming’: new perspectives from cross-linguistic cognitive semantics. Cognitive Semantics, 6, 214-242.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/23526416-bja10009

Abstract:

This paper examines the conceptual and semantic relation between ‘changing’ and ‘becoming’ in cross-linguistic perspective to demonstrate that: (i) the assumption that ‘becoming’ is conceptually and semantically related to ‘changing’ is invalidated in at least two cases in which the meaning of ‘becoming’ does not encompass ‘changing’; (ii) the main verbs of ‘becoming’ in different languages are highly polysemous and therefore not cross-translatable in all contexts of use; (iii) differences in meaning reflect different conceptualizations of ‘becoming’ across languages. These results emerge from a contrastive semantic analysis between the main verbs of ‘changing’ and ‘becoming’ in English (change, become), Italian (cambiare, diventare) and Japanese (なるnaru) adopting NSM methodology. This paper also makes a strong case for the epistemic nature of the predicative complements licensed by verbs of ‘becoming’ by showing that a semantic component ‘it is like this, I know it’ emerges consistently from cross-linguistic comparison.

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Adam Smith, “The Wealth of Nations”

Published on May 26, 2020. Last updated on August 15, 2021.

The Wealth of Nations in NSM (Gian Marco Farese & Bart J. Wilson, 2020)

This is a series of semantic illustrations capturing the Fundamental Principles of Economic Theory discussed by Adam Smith (1723-1790) in his opus magnum The Wealth of Nations (first published in 1776). It is the longest text ever produced in Natural Semantic Metalanguage and written strictly in pure NSM (not Minimal English) using only semantic primes and a small number of semantic molecules. The order of the illustrations follows the order in which Smith introduced his arguments in the original text. The paraphrased text is intended to function as a sort of explicative guide to the original phrased in simple and cross-translatable words. It is not meant to replace the original, but to be read together with it. We demonstrate that: (i) by reducing the principles of economics as conceived by Smith to their core meanings, it is possible to resolve a number of interpretive ambiguities that permeate discussions on economics, and (ii) by producing explications that are clear, cross-translatable, and free from terminological ethnocentrism, these principles become accessible and maximally intelligible to twenty-first century readers who are non-experts in economics and non-native speakers of English, too.

Bibliography:
Goddard, Cliff, Anna Wierzbicka, and Gian Marco Farese. 2019. The conceptual semantics of ‘money words’: money, buy, pay, (it) costs. Paper presented at the Australian Linguistics Society Conference, December 2019, Sydney, Australia.
Smith, Vernon L. and Bart J. Wilson. 2019. Humanomics. Moral Sentiments and the Wealth of Nations for the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wilson, Bart J. and Gian Marco Farese. (forthcoming). ‘What Did Adam Smith Mean? The Semantics of The Wealth of Nations’. In P. Sagar (ed.), Smith After 300 Years, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

(2020) Japanese – Cultural key words

Published on February 9, 2020. Last updated on February 9, 2020.

Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko; Farese, Gian Marco (2020). In staunch pursuit: The semantics of the Japanese terms shūkatsu ‘job hunting’ and konkatsu ‘marriage partner hunting’. In Bert Peeters, Kerry Mullan, & Lauren Sadow (Eds.), Studies in ethnopragmatics, cultural semantics, and intercultural communication: Vol. 2. Meaning and culture (pp. 17-33). Singapore: Springer.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9975-7_2

Abstract:

This chapter presents an analysis of two Japanese compound words that share a common suffix. The words are 就活 shūkatsu ‘job hunting’ and 婚活 konkatsu ‘marriage partner hunting’. It is perhaps not entirely unexpected that the English glosses fall short of conveying the significant cultural context behind them. The shared suffix, 活 katsu, comes from the Japanese word 活動 katsudō, which means ‘activity’. 活 katsu implies a high level of engagement and dedication as well as a degree of obligation or a sense of duty associated with the task. For instance, 就活 shūkatsu implies single-mindedness regarding the activity of job-seeking, requiring deliberate effort from the participant. Similarly, 婚活 konkatsu implies that total devotion to the act of finding a marriage partner.

婚活 konkatsu, unlike 就活 shūkatsu, has drawn some attention from scholars, but no accurate semantic analysis of either has been carried out thus far. This study uses the framework of the NSM approach to clarify the meaning of these two Japanese compound words. The analysis reveals that the people engaged in the activities they refer to are fearful of not attaining their goal and that the use of the suffix 活katsu in the Japanese word formation process is therefore semantically rooted. The analysis also assists in identifying and elaborating on some of the contradictions and complexities of modern Japanese society.

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(2020) English, Italian – Ethnopragmatics

Published on February 9, 2020. Last updated on February 9, 2020.

Farese, Gian Marco (2020). The ethnopragmatics of English understatement and Italian exaggeration: Clashing cultural scripts for the expression of personal opinions. In Kerry Mullan, Bert Peeters, & Lauren Sadow (Eds.), Studies in ethnopragmatics, cultural semantics, and intercultural communication: Vol. 1. Ethnopragmatics and semantic analysis (pp. 59-73). Singapore: Springer.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9983-2_4

Abstract:

This chapter presents a cultural semantic analysis of the differences in the expression of personal opinions between English and Italian. In English, personal opinions are generally understated, whereas speakers of Italian tend to purposely exaggerate when making a statement. As one might expect, opposite communicative styles can lead to cases of miscommunication in cross-cultural interactions. Such cases can be avoided if language learners are provided with efficient tools, which can help them improve their cross-cultural awareness and competence. Adopting the approach of ethnopragmatics, this chapter proposes the theory of cultural scripts as the optimal pedagogical tool to pinpoint the differences in the expression of personal opinions between English and Italian and show how scripts can be used effectively for cross-cultural training.

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(2019) English, Italian, Japanese – Emotions

Published on November 13, 2019. Last updated on February 9, 2020.

Farese, Gian Marco; Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko (2018/19). Analysing nostalgia in cross-linguistic perspective. Philology, 4, 213-241.

DOI: https://doi.org/103726/PHIL042019.6

Abstract:

This paper presents a contrastive semantic analysis of the English nostalgia, the Italian nostalgia and the Japanese 懐かしい natsukashii adopting the methodology of the NSM approach. It is argued that: (i) emotion terms of different languages reflect different and culture-specific conceptualizations of human feelings; (ii) the Anglo conceptualization of feelings is not valid for all cultures; and (iii) linguistic analysis is central to the analysis of human feelings. The paper challenges the claim made by some psychologists that the English word nostalgia expresses a feeling that is pancultural and criticizes the use of English emotion terms as the basis for discussions on human feelings.

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(2019) Italian discourse: a cultural semantic analysis [BOOK]

Published on November 9, 2019. Last updated on November 9, 2019.

Farese, Gian Marco (2019). Italian discourse: A cultural semantic analysis. Lanham: Lexington.

Abstract:

Using NSM methodology, this book presents a comprehensive analysis of the most important Italian cultural key words and cultural scripts that foreign learners and cultural outsiders need to know to become linguistically and culturally proficient in Italian. It focuses on the words and speech practices that are used most frequently in Italian discourse and that are uniquely Italian, both because they are untranslatable into other languages and because they are reflective of salient aspects of Italian culture and society. The book sheds light on ways in which the Italian language is related to Italians’ character, values, and way of thinking, and it does so in contrastive perspective with English. Each chapter focuses on a cultural keyword, putting it into cultural context and tracing it through a series of written texts including novels, plays, poems, and songs.

Table of contents:

  1. Parlami e ti dirò chi sei
  2. Che bello!
  3. Una brutta storia
  4. Italiani, brava gente
  5. Italiani sapientoni
  6. Italiani attori
  7. Italiani comandanti
  8. Conclusione

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(2017-18) Italian – Cultural key words

Published on March 26, 2018. Last updated on November 9, 2019.

Farese, Gian Marco (2017-18). The Fundamental Principles of the Italian constitution: A semantic analysis. Quaderni di Semantica, n.s. 3-4, 667-746.

Abstract:

This paper presents a semantic analysis of the so-called “Fundamental Principles”, the first twelve articles of the Italian constitution. The purpose of the paper is to analyse the Italian constitution as a literary text, not a legal text. Thus, the focus of the present analysis is strictly on the linguistic aspects of the Fundamental Principles, not on the juridical ones. The meaning of the key words of these twelve articles is analysed adopting the methodology of the NSM approach, whereas the language and the structure of the text are analysed following the principles of text linguistics. The reader is able to appreciate the Fundamental Principles both in the original version and in a revised English translation.

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(2018) Japanese – NSM primes

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.

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(2018) English, Italian – The cultural semantics of address practices [BOOK]

Published on August 7, 2017. Last updated on November 9, 2019.

Farese, Gian Marco (2018). The cultural semantics of address practices: A contrastive study between English and Italian. Lanham: Lexington.

Abstract:

This book presents a contrastive analysis of various forms of address used in English and Italian from the perspective of cultural semantics, the branch of linguistics that investigates the relationship between meaning and culture in discourse. The objects of the analysis are the interactional meanings expressed by different forms of address in these two languages, which are compared adopting the methodology of the NSM approach. The forms analysed include greetings, titles and opening and closing salutations used in letters and e-mails in the two languages. Noticeably, the book presents the first complete categorization of Italian titles used as forms of address ever made on the basis of precise semantic criteria.

The analysis also investigates the different cultural values and assumptions underlying address practices in English and Italian, and emphasizes the risks of miscommunication caused by different address practices in intercultural interactions. Every chapter presents numerous examples taken from language corpora, contemporary English and Italian literature and personal e-mails and letters.

The book encourages a new, innovative approach to the analysis of forms of address: it proposes a new analytical method for the analysis of forms of address which can be applied to the study of other languages systematically. In addition, the book emphasizes the role of culture in address practices and takes meaning as the basis for understanding the differences in use across languages and the difficulties in translating forms of address of different languages. Combining semantics, ethnopragmatics, intercultural communication and translation theory, this book takes an interdisciplinary approach and brings together various fields in the social sciences: linguistics, anthropology, cross-cultural studies and sociology.

Table of contents:

  1. Analyzing address practices from a cultural semantic point of view
  2. “Sorry boss”: an unrecognized category of English address nouns
  3. “Prego, signore”: the semantics of Italian “titles” used to address people
  4. “Hi, how are you?”
  5. “Ciao!” or “ciao ciao”?
  6. “Dear customers, …”
  7. “Caro Mario,” “Gentile cliente,” “Egregio dottore”
  8. “Best wishes,” “kind regards,” “yours sincerely”
  9. “Distinti,” “cordiali,” “affettuosi saluti”
  10. Italian cultural scripts for address practices
  11. Australian cultural scripts for address practices
  12. Address practices in intercultural communication
  13. Concluding remarks

More information:

Revised version of the author’s PhD thesis, Australian National University (2017).

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(2016) Italian – Music

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on November 9, 2019.

Farese, Gian Marco, & Farese, Piergiorgio (2016). L’italiano in musica: an NSM-based semantic analysis of the musical terms vivace and rubato. Quaderni di semantica, N.S. 2, 131-165.

Abstract:

This paper presents a semantic analysis of two musical terms with which most teachers and students struggle: vivace and rubato. The scope of the paper is twofold: firstly, to elucidate the meaning of these two terms in a clear way; secondly, to analyse the meaning of these terms from the point of view of cultural semantics, which adopts the methodology of the NSM approach to analyse the meaning of words, thus highlight the connection with the meaning of the Italian adjectives from which they derive. Ultimately, the analysis is aimed at illustrating the advantages that NSM-based semantic explications of vivace and rubato can have for pedagogical purposes.

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(2016) Japanese – Emotions

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on November 9, 2019.

Farese, Gian Marco (2016). The cultural semantics of the Japanese emotion terms ‘haji’ and ‘hazukashii’. New Voices in Japanese Studies, 8, 32-54.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21159/nvjs.08.02 / Open access

Abstract:

This paper presents a cultural semantic analysis of the Japanese emotion terms 恥 haji and 恥ずかしい hazukashii. The paper has three aims: (i) to pinpoint the conceptions of 恥 haji and 恥ずかしい hazukashii as emotion terms in Japanese language and culture; (ii) to highlight the differences in meaning with their typical English translations shame and embarrassing, and show that 恥 haji and 恥ずかしい hazukashii reflect two different, culture-specific emotion conceptions; (iii) to emphasize the suitability of NSM for cross-cultural comparisons of emotion terms in different languages and, in turn, for cross-cultural training.

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(2015) English, Italian – Greetings

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on November 9, 2019.

Farese, Gian Marco (2015). Hi vs. ciao: NSM as a tool for cross-linguistic pragmatics. Journal of Pragmatics, 85, 1-17.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.05.020

This paper presents the results of the semantic analysis of two salutations, hi (English) and ciao (Italian), using NSM. The analysis is aimed at making two points: first, that ‘‘greetings’’ have a proper semantic content consisting of expressed attitudes and feelings that can be described in simple, cross-translatable words; second, that salutations are not only performed differently, but also conceived differently across languages. This can create potential cases of miscommunication in cross-cultural interactions. To show this, the interactional meaning of hi is compared with that of ciao; two different semantic explications are proposed to capture various aspects of their meaning emerging from linguistic evidence. The implications for cross-linguistic pragmatics are also discussed.

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