Browsing results for Main Authors
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 3, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (1979). Particles and illocutionary semantics. Paper in Linguistics, 12(1-2), 185-229. DOI: 10.1080/08351817909370468
The aim of this paper is to come up with a semantic analysis of a number of English connective particles, including those usually referred to as “concessive” and “quasi-causal”. A semantic theory on the nature and representation of speech acts is argued to be a necessary preliminary to the semantic analysis of particles and other connectives. The paper seeks to discern the outlines of such an “illocutionary semantics”. The hypothesis that emerges is that particles are used as exponents of illocutionary force. Semantic representations for although, but, however, then and since are then developed on the basis of their role as exponents of illocutionary force.
Tags: (E) (whimperative), (E) although, (E) but, (E) hint, (E) however, (E) order, (E) remark, (E) request, (E) since, (E) then, (E) threat, (T) English
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on November 9, 2020.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1979). Ethno-syntax and the philosophy of grammar. Studies in Language, 3(3), 313-383.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.3.3.03wie
Abstract:
It is a commonplace to say that every language embodies in its very structure a certain world-view, a certain philosophy. To prove it in a rigorous and verifiable way, however, is quite a different matter. Scholars tend to treat the Humboldtian
(or Whorfian) thesis — despite its compelling intuitive appeal — with suspicion and embarrassment. One suspects that this is precisely because, while being “obviously true”, it is at the same time notoriously difficult to prove.
This paper seeks to explore one way in which insight and rigour might be achieved in this intriguing area. The essence of this approach is signaled by the first word of the title: ethno-syntax. Since the syntactic constructions of a language embody and codify certain language-specific meanings and ways of thinking, the syntax of a language must determine to a considerable extent this language’s cognitive profile. It is true that lexical items also embody language-specific ways of thinking. But the semantic analysis of an entire lexicon is a gigantic and practically unfeasible task; and a cognitive description of a language that confines itself to selected lexical items is usually open to the charge of being arbitrary and therefore inconclusive. In the case of syntactic constructions, on the other hand, there is more hope of surveying the entire
relevant areas. Moreover, syntactic constructions have on the whole a higher frequency of occurrence in speech than most categories of lexical items; they are also more stable, more resistant to change, less dependent on extra-linguistic
factors. For all these reasons it appears that a rigorous syntactic analysis of language-specific syntactic categories should provide an especially valuable source of insight into the common ways of thinking characteristic of a given speech community.
Translated into Polish as chapter 10 of:
Wierzbicka, Anna (1999). Język – umysł – kultura [Language, mind, culture]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
No abstract available.
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Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on May 22, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1979). Are grammatical categories vague or polysemous? (The Japanese ‘adversative’ passive in a typological context). Papers in Linguistics, 12(1/2), 111-162.
DOI: 10.1080/08351817909370466
Abstract:
The number of meanings that the syntax of a language codifies is usually fairly large. The number of available morphological devices is usually much smaller. It is therefore not surprising that languages make the same morphological devices perform a variety of tasks. Seen against this background, the Japanese passive has to be recognized as multiply ambiguous – or, in other words, multifunctional. How do hearers determine which particular meaning a speaker had in mind in any given utterance?
While real ambiguity does occur, in the vast majority of cases utterances contain a sufficient number of clues to guide hearers towards the correct (i.e. intended) interpretation of any given instance of the Japanese passive. Clues that help disambiguate Japanese passive constructions are listed, and it is argued that grammatical categories in general (i.e. including the Japanese passive) are polysemous rather than vague.
More information:
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 4 (pp. 257-292) of:
Wierzbicka, Anna (1988). The semantics of grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Tags: (E) [passive constructions]
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1980). Lingua mentalis: The semantics of natural language. Sydney: Academic Press.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 16, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1980). The case for surface case. Ann Arbor: Karoma.
Abstract:
This volume, a pioneering work in the forefront of theoretical debate, reviews the different perspectives – traditional, structural, and transformational – from which case has been viewed in Chomskyan and post-Chomskyan models and argues for a model of linguistic description that makes it possible to demonstrate the rationale behind the apparent chaos of case usage in rigorous and verifiable ways. The work is of immediate concern to those who regard passivization, ergativity, and deixis as controversial, given the restrictive linearity of the transformational paradigm.
Translations:
Into Russian (pp. XI-XIX, 1-27, 95-109, 147-152, 155-162 only) as:
Chapter 8 (pp. 255-301) of Вежбицкая, Анна (2011), Семантические универсалии и базисные концепты [Semantic universals and basic concepts]. Москва [Moscow]: Языки славянских культуры [Languages of Slavic Culture].
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Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1981). Case marking and human nature. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 1, 43-80. DOI: 10.1080/07268608108599266
No abstract available.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1982). Why can you have a drink when you can’t *have an eat? Language, 58(4), 753-799.
This paper argues that sentences in the have a V frame are not a jungle of idiosyncrasies, but exhibit orderly and systematic behavior, governed by strict semantic rules. These rules can be stated in precise formulae with full predictive power. Ten subtypes are singled out: each has a slightly different semantic formula, but all have a common core, which is a semantic invariant of the have a V frame. These semantic formulae, which account for differences both in acceptability (have a drink and *have an eat) and in meaning (drink and have a drink), are stated not in terms of ad-hoc features or labels, but in an independently justified semantic metalanguage based on natural language.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on March 14, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1983). Skirts and trousers: Lexikography and conceptional analysis. Wiener Slawistischer Almanach, 11, 229-255.
Abstract:
Trying to replace dictionary definitions with something more adequate turns out to be a task much more laborious and much more sophisticated than anyone would assume who has never attempted to do it. This paper pursues the goal of capturing the ‘true’ meaning of a set of words for kinds of clothing. To avoid circularity, it defines the meaning of these words in terms of a small set of indefinables: not necessarily ultimate, truly irreducible indefinables, but at least relative indefinables, i.e. items that are indubitably simpler in meaning than the definienda themselves.
The title of the paper is as printed above: lexikography instead of lexicography, and conceptional instead of conceptual.
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Tags: (E) cardigan, (E) dress, (E) jacket, (E) jumper, (E) skirt, (E) trousers
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1984). Apples are not a “kind of fruit”: The semantics of human categorization. American Ethnologist, 11(2), 313-328.
Translated into Polish as chapter 3 of:
Wierzbicka, Anna (1999). Język – umysł – kultura [Language, mind, culture]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
This paper examines the semantic structure of English classificatory terms in the area of concrete lexicon, linking differences in semantic structure with differences in grammatical characteristics of different classes of nouns. I argue that in recent literature on human categorization the strictly taxonomic categories (i.e., categories based on hierarchies of kinds) have not been distinguished from
other types of categories. I discuss four types of supercategory that do not stand for “a kind of thing”: two different types of collective supercategories that stand for heterogeneous collections of things, a supercategory that stands for heterogeneous classes of materials, and a supercategory of purely functional concepts.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1984). *Diminutives and depreciatives: Semantic representation for derivational categories. Quaderni di semantica, 5(1), 123-130.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on March 14, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1984). Cups and mugs: Lexicography and conceptual analysis. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 4(2), 205-255.
DOI: 10.1080/07268608408599326
A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 1 (pp. 10-103) of:
Wierzbicka, Anna (1985). Lexicography and conceptual analysis. Ann Arbor: Karoma.
Abstract:
In contrast to most other recent [1984] writings on the subject, this paper tries to demonstrate not only that it is possible to say what ordinary words mean, but also that both the process and the results of establishing these meanings can be exciting and illuminating. It tries to do this not by arguing theoretically that it is possible to define everyday words, but by actually defining them in practice. The focus is on names of simple artefacts, and in particular on the words cup and mug, which have acquired a special notoriety in the literature.
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Tags: (E) blue, (E) cups, (E) devils, (E) handle, (E) mugs, (E) niebieski, (E) rather, (E) red
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1984). *Review of Geoffrey Leech, Principles of pragmatics. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 4(1), 99-109.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1984). *Review of John Lyons, Semantics. Talanya, 102-109.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1985). Oats and wheat: The fallacy of arbitrariness. In John Haiman (Ed.), Iconicity in syntax (pp. 311-342). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/tsl.6.16wie
It is the purpose of the present paper to challenge a Bloomfieldian dogma and to explore the opposite view: that form classes are semantically motivated, and that differences in grammatical behavior reflect iconically differences in meaning. As my test case I will take the very area which apparently gives the tenet of arbitrariness the strongest possible support: mass nouns. I investigate the very restricted grammatical category singular/plural, the arbitrariness of which is a standard topos in all the linguistic textbooks. I undertake to show that seemingly arbitrary distinctions like the one between wheat and oats are in fact motivated by a set of principles with predictive power.
It emerges from the present study that the syntax of mass nouns in English is iconic to a degree previously undreamt of either by linguists or by philosophers who have written on the subject. Grammatical behavior which has previously been regarded as idiosyncratic has been shown to be semantically motivated. The grammar of mass nouns reflects iconically the way in which different classes of things and ‘stuffs’ are conceptualized. The apparent idiosyncrasies, far from being arbitrary, are revealing of subtle distinctions in the underlying conceptualizations. The relationship is iconic in the sense that the system of formal distinctions and the system of conceptual distinctions are mutually isomorphic.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on March 14, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1985). Challenge, dare, defy: The semantics and lexicography of speech act verbs. Beiträge zur Phonetik und Linguistik, 48, 77-92.
Abstract:
Lexicographers have done a tremendous amount of work that, though lacking in the glamour of fashionable linguistic theories, may well prove to be of more use, and of more lasting value. It would be impardonable if, in undertaking new kinds of lexicographic activity, the semanticists and lexicographers of today and of tomorrow failed to acknowledge the great debt they owe to the classical dictionaries of the past. Nonetheless, the time has come to explore new avenues of lexicographic research. The present paper, and the dictionary (published 1987) on which it is based, is an attempt in this direction. It provides definitions of three English speech act verbs: challenge, dare, and defy.
In the author’s analysis, no speech act verb can be defined in terms of another speech act verb. The only verb referring to speech that can occur in the explications is say, which is regarded as indefinable and has the status of a universal semantic prime. The other words used in the explications do not always have this status, but they are all relatively simple. The strict separation of the words that are being defined from the small set of relatively simple words used for defining prevents vicious circles; rather than translating unknowns into other unknowns, the analysis reduces ‘posteriora’, i.e. complex and relatively obscure concepts, to ‘priora’, i.e. simpler and relatively clear concepts.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) ask, (E) challenge, (E) dare, (E) defy, (E) order
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 10, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1985). *The double life of a bilingual. In Roland Sussex, & Jerzy. Zubrzycki (Eds.), Polish People and Culture in Australia (pp. 187-223). Canberra: Australian National University.
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 17, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1985). Different cultures, different languages, different speech acts: Polish vs. English. Journal of Pragmatics, 9(2-3), 145-178.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(85)90023-2
Abstract:
This paper discusses a number of differences between English and Polish in the area of speech acts, and links them with different cultural norms and cultural assumptions. It is shown that English, as compared with Polish, places heavy restrictions on the use of the imperative and makes extensive use of interrogative and conditional forms. Features of English which have been claimed to be due to universal principles of politeness are shown to be language-specific and culture-specific. Moreover, even with respect to English, they are shown to be due to aspects of culture much deeper than mere norms of politeness. Linguistic differences are shown to be associated with cultural differences such as spontaneity, directness, intimacy and affection vs. indirectness, distance, tolerance and anti-dogmaticism. Certain characteristic features of Australian English are discussed and are shown to reflect some aspects of the Australian ethos. Implications for a theory of speech acts and for interethnic communication are discussed. In particular, certain influential theories of speech acts (based largely on English) are shown to be ethnocentric and dangerous in their potential social effects.
Translations:
Into Polish:
Chapter 6 (pp. 228-269) of Wierzbicka, Anna (1999), Język – umysł – kultura [Language, mind, culture]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
More information:
A more recent publication building on this one is:
Chapter 2 (pp. 25-65) of Wierzbicka, Anna (1991), Cross-cultural pragmatics: The semantics of human interaction. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
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Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on March 14, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1985). Lexicography and conceptual analysis. Ann Arbor: Karoma.
Abstract:
This book is about the meaning of words – simple everyday words, such as bottle or jar; trousers or skirt; tree, flower or bird. Stating the meaning of such words is infinitely more difficult and challenging than might be expected. However, the book proves that everyday words are definable; it does so not just by reasoning (which can always turn out to be fallacious) but by way of demonstration ad oculos. The definitions provide evidence towards resolving the much debated issue of dictionaries vs. encyclopedias.
At the same time, the book is an attempt to narrow the gap between lexicography and semantics. The latter has an obligation to provide theoretical foundations for the former. But it will never be able to do so if it doesn’t come down from its speculative heights and engage in the humble task of actually trying to define something. Serious analysis of concrete lexical data requires a well thought-out theoretical framework; but a theoretical framework cannot be well thought-out if it is not grounded on a solid empirical basis. What is needed is a union of the two, lexicography and semantics, and this is the goal to which the present book aspires. Both the definitions and the discussion are free of any technical items, and can be followed by the intelligent layperson.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Reviews:
Peeters, Bert (1989). Journal of English Linguistics, 22(2), 249-250.
DOI: 10.1177/007542428902200209
Tags: (E) animal, (E) apple, (E) apricot, (E) ask, (E) banana, (E) barrel, (E) bicycle, (E) bird, (E) blue, (E) bottle, (E) bucket, (E) cabbage, (E) car, (E) carafe, (E) cardigan, (E) carrot, (E) cat, (E) cauliflower, (E) cherry, (E) cow, (E) cucumber, (E) cup, (E) devil, (E) dog, (E) dress, (E) elephant, (E) fish, (E) flower, (E) fox, (E) fruit, (E) grape, (E) handle, (E) horse, (E) jacket, (E) jar, (E) jug, (E) jumper, (E) lemon, (E) lettuce, (E) lid, (E) lie, (E) lion, (E) mouse, (E) mug, (E) niebieski, (E) onion, (E) orange, (E) order, (E) peach, (E) pear, (E) pineapple, (E) plum, (E) potato, (E) pumpkin, (E) radish, (E) red, (E) saucer, (E) skirt, (E) spout, (E) squirrel, (E) strawberry, (E) tiger, (E) tomato, (E) tree, (E) trousers, (E) vegetables, (E) wolf
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 17, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1985). A semantic metalanguage for a crosscultural comparison of speech acts and speech genres. Language in Society, 14(4), 491-514.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500011489
Abstract:
This paper discusses a number of speech acts and speech genres from various languages, approaching them through the words that name them. It is claimed that folk names of speech acts and speech genres are culture-specific and provide an important source of insight into the communicative routines most characteristic of a given society; and that to fully exploit this source one must carry out a rigorous semantic analysis of such names and express the results of this analysis in a culture-independent semantic metalanguage. The author proposes such a metalanguage and illustrates her approach with numerous detailed semantic analyses. She suggests that analyses of speech acts and speech genres carried out in terms of English folk labels are ethnocentric and unsuitable for cross-cultural comparison. She shows how folk labels of speech acts and speech genres characteristic of a given language reflect salient features of the culture associated with that language, and how the use of the proposed semantic metalanguage, derived from natural language, helps to achieve the desired double goal of insight and rigour in this area of study.
More information:
A more recent publication building on this one is:
Chapter 5 (pp. 149-196) of Wierzbicka, Anna (1991), Cross-cultural pragmatics: The semantics of human interaction. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
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Tags: (E) address, (E) application, (E) ask, (E) japirlyung, (E) joke, (E) kawał, (E) lecture, (E) order, (E) paper, (E) podanie, (E) referat, (E) satosu さとす, (E) speech, (E) talk, (E) threaten, (E) warn
Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 18, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (1986). Semantics and the interpretation of cultures: The meaning of ‘alternate generations’ devices in Australian languages. Man, 21, 34-49.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2802645
Abstract:
This article aims to reveal the real meaning of some devices that play a crucial role in the linguistic communication of Australian Aborigines. The elements in question include alternative sets of pronouns, determined by the principle of ‘generation harmony’. It is argued that technical labels such as ‘harmonic’ and ‘disharmonic’ reflect the anthropologist’s rather than the native speaker’s point of view. As an alternative to the use of arcane, and psychologically arbitrary, semantic metalanguage widely used in anthropological and linguistic literature, a semantic metalanguage is proposed, based on a postulated system of universal semantic prim(itiv)es. The interpretation of cultures requires more than translation of native categories into an arcane technical language of the scientist; an analytical framework is proposed by which native categories of thought can be translated into a language that makes it possible (i) to capture native speakers’ meaning, and (2) to make that meaning accessible to people from other cultures.
More information:
A more recent publication building on this one is:
Chapter 10 (pp. 355-370) of Wierzbicka, Anna (1992), Semantics, culture, and cognition: Universal human concepts in culture-specific configurations. New York: Oxford University Press.
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