Browsing results for Main Authors

(2007) English, Korean, Malay, Swedish – Mental states

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 18, 2019.

Goddard, Cliff (2007). A culture-neutral metalanguage for mental state concepts. In Andrea C. Schalley, & Drew Khlentzos (Eds.), Mental states: Vol. 2. Language and cognitive structure (pp. 11-35). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.93.04god

Abstract:

In contemporary cognitive science, mental state concepts from diverse cultures are typically described via English-specific words for emotions, cognitive processes, and the like. This is terminological ethnocentrism, which produces inaccurate representations of indigenous meanings. The problem can be overcome by employing a metalanguage of conceptual analysis based on simple meanings such as KNOW, THINK, WANT and FEEL. Cross-linguistic semantic research suggests that these and other semantic primes are shared across all languages and cultures. After summarizing this research, the chapter shows how complex mental state concepts from English, Malay, Swedish, and Korean can be revealingly analysed into terms that are simple, clear and transposable across languages.

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(2007) English, Polish – Mental states

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on January 26, 2020.

Wierzbicka, Anna (2007). Is “remember” a universal human concept? “Memory” and culture. In Mengistu Amberber (Ed.), The language of memory in a cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 13-39). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.21.04wie

Abstract:

This paper argues that ‘remembering’ is not a universal human concept but a cultural construct, shared by some languages but not others. It also shows that culture-specific concepts like ‘remember’ and ‘memory’ can be explained and compared through genuinely elementary and universal NSM notions such as KNOW, THINK and BEFORE. To illustrate these general themes, the paper offers a detailed analysis of the Polish field of ‘memory’, linking Polish semantics with Polish history and culture.

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(2007) English, Russian, Korean – Cultural scripts, language learning, intercultural communication

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 19, 2019.

Goddard, Cliff, & Anna Wierzbicka (2007). Semantic primes and cultural scripts in language learning and intercultural communication. In Farzad Sharifian, & Gary B. Palmer (Eds.), Applied cultural linguistics: Implications for second language learning and intercultural communication (pp. 105-124). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

DOI: 10.1075/celcr.7.08god

Abstract:

This chapter illustrates a number of potential practical applications of the NSM approach: as a guide to core vocabulary in the early L2 syllabus, as a means of writing cultural scripts and interpreting cultural key words for language learners, and as the basis for a culture-neutral international auxiliary language. Illustrative material is drawn from English, Russian, and Korean.

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(2007) Ewe – DIE

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

Ameka, Felix K. (2007). He died old dying to be dead right: Transitivity and semantic shifts of ‘die’ in Ewe in crosslinguistic perspective. In Melissa Bowerman & Penelope Brown (Eds.), Crosslinguistic perspectives on argument structure: Implications for learnability (pp. 231-253). Mahwah: Erlbaum.

This chapter examines the structure and semantics of the equivalent of ‘die’ in Ewe, a Kwa (Niger–Congo) West African language, against the backdrop of universalist expectations about such a verb. It also discusses the potential problems the Ewe verb may pose to the learner and to theories of verb learning. In particular, it is demonstrated that the Ewe verb kú ‘die’ is not just a one-participant verb, as is universally expected of verbs that represent a dying situation, but it is also a two-place verb, that is, a transitive verb. Some syntactic and semantic properties of ‘die’ predicates are presented from a crosslinguistic perspective. The variation in behavior that we find means that there is very little about ‘die’ predicates that can be attributed to innate knowledge. The focus then shifts to the argument structure properties of the verb kú ‘die’ in Ewe. The semantic shift that ‘die’ predicates undergo from ‘die’ to ‘intensity’ and ‘desiderative’ (which can be positive or negative) is reviewed, as well as the attendant syntactic ramifications. Such shifts provide further evidence that the language learner cannot be guided by a simple form–meaning pairing. The chapter concludes with potential learnability problems.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2007) French – Discourse particles: BEN, VOILÀ, QUOI

Published on May 24, 2017. Last updated on January 15, 2022.

Waters, Sophia (2007). “Ben, voilà, quoi”: les significations et les emplois des particules énonciatives en français parlé [“Ben, voilà, quoi”: The meanings and uses of discourse particles in spoken French]. BA(Hons) thesis, University of New England, Armidale.

Written in French.

The aim of this thesis is to extract the meanings of three French utterance particles, used in the spoken language, viz. quoi, voilà and ben. The author relies on authentic examples to describe the use of each. The tool used to this end is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, which allows us to make explications accessible both to speakers of French and to those for whom French is a second language.

The author also emphasizes the importance of a thorough understanding of the particles of a language.


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

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(2007) NSM — Universals

Published on January 15, 2022. Last updated on January 15, 2022.

Wierzbicka, Anna. (2007). Do all languages have the same expressive power? An NSM perspective on semantic variation and universals. In Jocelyne Fernandez-Vest (ed.), Combat pour les langues du monde. Fighting for the world’s languages: Hommage à Claude Hagège, 483-496. Paris: L’Harmattan.

 


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2007) NSM and phraseology

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

Wierzbicka, Anna (2007). Reasonably well: Natural Semantic Metalanguage as a tool for the study of phraseology and its cultural underpinnings. In Paul Skandera (Ed.), Phraseology and culture in English (pp. 49-78). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110197860.49

No abstract available.

(2007) NSM primes

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on February 17, 2019.

Goddard, Cliff (2007). Semantic primes and conceptual ontology. In Andrea C. Schalley, & Dietmar Zaefferer (Eds.), Ontolinguistics: How ontological status shapes the linguistic coding of concepts (pp. 145-173). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110197792.2.145

The Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach to language analysis, originated by Anna Wierzbicka, claims to have identified some 65 universal semantic primes. They can be grouped in various ways, using syntactic and/or “thematic” criteria. The present study concentrates on a set of primes which may be termed “substantive”, and which form the foundation of the nominal lexicon. After an introduction in Section 1, Section 2 gives an account of the NSM substantive primes. Section 3 addresses the question of how major divisions within the nominal vocabulary are constructed either exclusively from semantic primes, or from primes in combination with semantic molecules. Concluding remarks form Section 4.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2007) NSM vs. Jackendoff’s Conceptual Semantics

Published on July 4, 2017. Last updated on August 16, 2021.

Wierzbicka, Anna (2007). NSM Semantics versus Conceptual Semantics: Goals and standards (A response to Jackendoff). Intercultural Pragmatics, 4(4), 521-529. DOI: 10.1515/IP.2007.026

No abstract available.

(2007) Russian – Emotions, attitudes and values

Published on August 1, 2018. Last updated on November 11, 2020.

Gladkova, Anna (2007). Russian emotions, attitudes and values: Selected topics in cultural semantics. PhD thesis, Australian National University.

Abstract:

This thesis explores the relationship between the Russian language and Russian culture through a detailed semantic analysis of selected expressions relating to emotions, attitudes, and values. The basic idea behind the study is that some words of the lexicon reflect cultural beliefs and attitudes, that is, that the meanings of these words encode ways of thinking and ways of understanding which are shared by speakers of a language. The cultural significance of the expressions under study is demonstrated by their semantic relationship to other Russian cultural key words and cultural ideas. The thesis shows the linguistic and cultural specificity of the words by comparing them with their English translational equivalents. The meanings of these English quasi-equivalents are discussed in relation to Anglo cultural norms. Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) is used to explicate meanings and to state cultural nonns. The explications of meanings are presented in two NSM versions – Russian and English. To justify the use of Russian NSM version, a focused study of the exponents of semantic primitives in Russian and their syntactic properties is undertaken. This study shows that the Russian and English NSM versions are equivalent. NSM provides a culture-neutral tool of linguistic analysis which allows one to formulate the results in a manner free from ethnocentric bias. The thesis seeks to contribute to a clearer understanding of Russian culture and of ways of thinking as they are embedded in the Russian language. The results of the thesis can be applied in language instruction, teaching cross-cultural communication, bilingual sh1dies, cognitive science and cultural psychology.

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

(2007) Russian – Propositional attitudes

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 17, 2018.

Gladkova, Anna (2007). Universal and language-specific aspects of “propositional attitudes”: Russian vs. English. In Andrea C. Schalley & Drew Khlentzos (Eds.), Mental states: Vol. 2. Language and cognitive structure (pp. 61-83). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.93.06gla

In linguistic literature inspired by philosophical tradition, it is often assumed that the key distinction in the area of “propositional attitude” is that between “know” and “believe”. The Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory of language and thought argues that while know is a universal conceptual prime (KNOW), believe is not. It posits THINK, not believe, as a universal counterpart of KNOW. The Moscow Semantic School posits primitives ЗНАТЬ ZNAT’ (KNOW) and СЧИТАТЬ SČITAT’ (which has no exact English equivalent). This chapter argues that the use of считать sčitat’ and believe as putative primes is unjustified. It supports думать dumat’ as the Russian exponent of the universal conceptual prime THINK and it shows that the use of думать dumat’ as a prime leads to much better results than the use of считать sčitat’.


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

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(2007) Semantic molecules

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on February 17, 2019.

Goddard, Cliff (2007). Semantic molecules. In Ilana Mushin, & Mary Laughren (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. PDF (open access)

This paper explains and explores the concept of semantic molecules in the NSM methodology of semantic analysis. A semantic molecule is a complex lexical meaning that functions as an intermediate unit in the structure of other, more complex concepts. The paper undertakes an overview of different kinds of semantic molecule, showing how they enter into more complex meanings and how they themselves can be explicated. It shows that four levels of “nesting” of molecules within molecules are attested, and it argues that while some molecules, such as ‘hands’ and ‘make’, may well be language-universal, many others are language-specific.


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(2007) Semantic primes and universal grammar (Book review)

Published on April 21, 2018. Last updated on September 10, 2018.

François, Jacques (2007). Book review of Bert Peeters (Ed.), Semantic primes and universal grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages. Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris, 102(2), 116-125.

Written in French.

This book review includes French translations of some of the explications provided in the chapters by Patrick Farrell and by Mónica Aznárez Mauleón and Ramón González Ruiz.

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(2007) Shape and colour

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

Wierzbicka, Anna (2007). Shape and colour in language and thought. In Andrea C. Schalley, & Drew Khlentzos (Eds.), Mental states: Vol. 2. Language and cognitive structure (pp. 37-60). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.93.05wie

“Colour” and “shape” are concepts important to the speakers of English and of many other languages. They are not, however, universal: there are many languages which have no words corresponding to the English words colour and shape, and in which questions like “what colour is it?” or “what shape is it?” cannot be asked at all. Clearly, speakers of such languages do not think about the world in terms of “colour” and “shape”. How do they think about it, then?

This study shows that by using an empirically discovered set of universal semantic primes which includes see and touch we can effectively explore ways of construal of the visual and tangible world different from those embedded in, and encouraged by, English.

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(2008) Cross-linguistic semantics [BOOK]

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on January 26, 2020.

Goddard, Cliff (Ed.) (2008). Cross-linguistic semantics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.102

Abstract:

Cross-linguistic semantics is central to the linguistic quest to understand the nature of human language. This set of studies explores and demonstrates cross-linguistic semantics as practised in the NSM framework.

The opening chapters give a state-of-the-art overview of the NSM model, propose several theoretical innovations and advance a number of original analyses in connection with names and naming, clefts and other specificational sentences, and discourse anaphora. Subsequent chapters describe and analyse diverse phenomena in ten languages from multiple families, geographical locations, and cultural settings around the globe. Three substantial studies document how the metalanguage of NSM semantic primes can be realized in languages of widely differing types: Amharic (Ethiopia), Korean, and East Cree. Each constitutes a lexicogrammatical portrait in miniature of the language concerned. Other chapters probe topics such as inalienable possession in Koromu (Papua New Guinea), epistemic verbs in Swedish, hyperpolysemy in Bunuba (Australia), the expression of ‘momentariness’ in Berber, ethnogeometry in Makasai (East Timor), value concepts in Russian, and “virtuous emotions” in Japanese.

Table of contents:

I. The Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory

1. Natural Semantic Metalanguage: The state of the art (Cliff Goddard)
2. New semantic primes and new syntactic frames: “Specificational BE” and “abstract THIS/IT” (Cliff Goddard, & Anna Wierzbicka)
3. Towards a systematic table of semantic elements (Cliff Goddard)

II. Whole metalanguage studies

4. Semantic primes in Amharic (Mengistu Amberber)
5. The Natural Semantic Metalanguage of Korean (Kyung-Joo Yoon)
6. Semantic primes and their grammar in a polysynthetic language: East Cree (Marie-Odile Junker)

III. Problems in semantic metalanguage

7. Hyperpolysemy in Bunuba, a polysynthetic language of the Kimberley, Western Australia (Emily Knight)
8. Re-thinking THINK in contrastive perspective: Swedish vs. English (Cliff Goddard, & Susanna Karlsson)
9. Identification and syntax of semantic prime MOMENT in Tarifyt Berber (Noureddine Elouazizi, & Radoslava Trnavac)

IV. Semantic studies across languages

10. The ethnogeometry of Makasai (East Timor) (Anna Brotherson)
11. The semantics of “inalienable possession” in Koromu (PNG) (Carol Priestley)
12. Tolerance: New and traditional values in Russian in comparison with English (Anna Gladkova)
13. Two “virtuous emotions” in Japanese: Nasake/joo and jihi (Rie Hasada)

Each chapter has a separate entry, where more information is provided.

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(2008) English (Anglo, Singapore) – Tags

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

Wong, Jock (2008). Anglo English and Singapore English tags: Their meanings and cultural significance. Pragmatics & Cognition, 16(1), 88-117. DOI: 10.1075/p&c.16.1.06won

A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 6 (pp. 180-229) of:

Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519

This study investigates a few Anglo English and Singapore English tags. The focus is on their meaning and the ways of thinking they reflect, rather than their forms and functions. The study contrasts the so-called Anglo English tag questions and the Singapore English tag is it? and tries to show that their semantic and pragmatic differences relate to differences in ways of thinking in the two cultures. For the purposes of this research, meaning is articulated in a paraphrase couched in Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), which comprises a set of empirically established semantic primes and a universal grammar.

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(2008) English, French – Greetings

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

Peeters, Bert (2008). Ça va? vs How are you? Remarques ethnophraséologiques [Ça va? vs How are you? Ethnophraseological notes]. Synergies-RUI, 1, 101-118.

(2008) English, Malay – Ethnopsychology and personhood

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 18, 2019.

Goddard, Cliff (2008). Contrastive semantics and cultural psychology: English heart vs. Malay hati. In Farzad Sharifian, René Dirven, Ning Yu, & Susanne Niemeier (Eds.), Culture, body, and language: Conceptualizations of internal body organs across cultures and languages (pp. 75-102). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110199109.2.75

Abstract:

This is a contrastive NSM analysis of two ethnopsychological constructs (English heart, Malay hati). Rejecting the use of English-specific metaterminology, such as mind, cognition, affect, etc., as both ethnocentric and inaccurate, the study seeks to articulate the conceptual content of the words under investigation in terms of simple universal concepts such as FEEL, THINK, WANT, KNOW, PEOPLE, SOMEONE, PART, BODY, HAPPEN, GOOD and BAD.

For both words, the physical body-part meaning is first explicated, and then the ethnopsychological sense or senses (it is claimed that English heart has two distinct ethnopsychological senses). The chapter also reviews the phraseology associated with each word, and in the case of English heart, proposes explications for a number of prominent collocations: a broken heart, listening to your heart, losing heart and having your heart in it.

The concluding discussion makes some suggestions about experiential/semantic principles whereby body parts can come to be associated with cultural models of feeling, thinking, wanting and knowing. At a theoretical level, the study seeks to draw links between culturally informed cognitive semantics, on the one hand, and the field of cultural psychology, on the other.

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