Browsing results for Main Authors
Published on August 18, 2018. Last updated on August 18, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2018). A ‘sense of entitlement’ encoded in English grammar. Etnolingwistyka, 30, 133-143. DOI: 10.17951/et.2018.30.133. PDF (open access)
This study claims that in English there is a grammatical construction, or even a family of constructions, that expresses the notion of a ‘sense of entitlement’. In sentences like Can I have my apple and cheese, please?, this notion is expressed with the pronoun my. To describe the meaning of this construction in a way that would be understandable not only to speakers of English but also to those whose languages do not contain a word for ‘entitlement’, Natural Semantic Metalanguage is used.
The ‘sense of entitlement’ is expressed when everyday rituals are violated, which disturbs the speaker, e.g. Would you leave me finish my breakfast?. The assumption here is that everyone has the right and wants to perform these regular, ritualistic activities. The range of potential obstacles has not been established at this stage of research but can be captured in the formula “I cannot do now what I always do at this time; this is bad; everybody can know this”.
The meaning of a ‘sense of entitlement’ is connected with such words and expressions as have the right to, be entitled to, personal space, privacy, violate/disturb/interfere, which express some of the major assumptions and concerns of contemporary Anglo-culture. Especially interesting is the connection between the ‘sense of entitlement’ and justice because both are grounded in the existence of voluntarily obeyed principles. It appears that English grammar contains an implicit understanding that everybody has the right to their personal routine that involves having breakfast (my breakfast) or dinner (my dinner) in a particular way, or e.g. reading (my newspaper). It is bad when the routine is disturbed by others.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) sense of entitlement, (T) English
Published on August 7, 2017. Last updated on February 16, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (2018). “Joking, kidding, teasing”: Slippery categories for cross-cultural comparison but key words for understanding Anglo conversational humor. Intercultural Pragmatics, 15(4), 487-514. DOI: 10.1515/ip-2018-0017
Terms like to joke (and joking) and to tease (and teasing) have a curious double life in contrastive and interactional pragmatics and related fields. Occasionally they are studied as metapragmatic terms of ordinary English, along with related expressions such as kidding. More commonly they are used as scientific or technical categories, both for research into English and for cross-linguistic and cross-cultural comparison. Related English adjectives such as jocular and mock are also much used in a growing lexicon of compound terms, such as jocular abuse, mock abuse, jocular mockery, and the like.
Against this background, the present paper has three main aims.
In the first part, it is argued that the meanings of the verbs to joke and to tease (and related nouns) are much more English-specific than is commonly recognized. They are not precisely cross-translatable even into European languages such as French and German. Adopting such terms as baseline categories for cross-cultural comparison therefore risks introducing an Anglocentric bias into our theoretical vocabulary. Nor can the problem be easily solved by attributing technical meanings to the terms.
Detailed analysis of the everyday meanings of words like joking and teasing, on the other hand, can yield insights into the ethnopragmatics of Anglo conversational humour. This task is undertaken in the second part of the paper. The important English verb to kid and the common conversational formulas just kidding and only joking are also examined. The semantic methodology used is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach.
Building on the NSM analyses, the third part of the paper considers whether it is possible to construct a typological framework for conversational humour based on cross-translatable terminology.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) amusing, (E) funny, (E) humour, (E) joke, (E) kid, (E) laugh, (E) tease, (T) English
Published on October 18, 2018. Last updated on August 15, 2021.
Sadow, Lauren (2018). Can cultural scripts be used for teaching interactional norms? Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 41(1), 91-116. DOI: 10.1075/aral.17030.sad
Although improving the teaching of invisible culture is a recognized need in the TESOL sector, no systematic approach has been developed yet for this purpose, in spite of scholarly calls for a more nuanced focus in classrooms and evidence that teachers are willing to apply such an approach. This paper attempts to bridge the gap between theory and pedagogical need by suggesting that the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) is a useful tool in ELT through which resources for teachers and learners can be developed. In particular, it discusses the results of a pilot study into using cultural scripts to teach cultural norms, demonstrating how they can be applied to classroom teaching situations, and discussing how materials can be developed from the theories.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (S) disagreement, (S) doing what one wants, (S) saying what one wants
Published on September 25, 2018. Last updated on September 25, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2018). A semantic menagerie: The conceptual semantics of ethnozoological categories. Russian Journal of Linguistics, 22(3), 539-559. DOI: 10.22363/2312-9182-2018-22-3-539-559. PDF (open access)
This paper proposes and discusses a set of semantic analyses of words from three different levels of the English ethnozoological taxonomic hierarchy: creature (unique beginner), bird, fish, snake, and animal (life-form level), dog and kangaroo (generic level). The analytical framework is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach. Though ultimately resting on the foundational elements of the NSM system, i.e. 65 semantic primes and their inherent grammar of combination, the analysis relies on the analytical concepts of semantic molecules and semantic templates. These provide mechanisms for encapsulating semantic complexity and for modelling relations between successive layers of the hierarchy. Other issues considered include the extent to which cultural components feature in the semantics of ethnozoological categories, and the extent to which semantic knowledge may vary across different speech communities.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) animals, (E) birds, (E) creatures, (E) dogs, (E) eggs, (E) feathers, (E) fish, (E) kangaroos, (E) snakes, (E) wings, (T) English
Published on November 19, 2017. Last updated on September 5, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2018). Talking about the universe in Minimal English: Teaching science through words that children can understand. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 169-200). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_8
Science education faces many challenges, not least that of rendering the key propositions into language that children can readily understand. This chapter applies Minimal English to a canonical science education narrative about changing scientific and pre-scientific understandings of the universe. It attempts to capture the key beliefs and mindsets associated with the views of Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Galileo, with a look ahead to the possibilities of further advances in scientific thinking about the cosmos.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) (living) creature, (E) day and night, (E) earth, (E) moon, (E) sky, (E) stars, (E) sun, (T) English, (T) semantic molecules
Published on August 18, 2018. Last updated on August 31, 2018.
Peeters, Bert (2018). (White) lies and (pieux) mensonges: Ethnolinguistic elaborations on not telling the truth. Etnolingwistyka, 30, 169-188. DOI: 10.17951/et.2018.30.169. PDF (open access)
The fact that most European languages have a word similar to the verb lie has led many to believe that lying is a universal cognitive category, that all human beings have an intuitive understanding of what it means to lie, and that all forms of discourse involving a lack of truth can be analysed as forms of lying, wherever they occur. This is a myth. Within Europe itself, there are differences, and these become more outspoken once we move further away. Even a Melanesian creole such as Bislama, in spite of being English-based, has no strict equivalent to the verb lie; the closest it gets is by means of the verb giaman, which, unlike lie, refers to a fairly common, sometimes even a necessary course of action.
On the other hand, whereas, at least from an Anglo point of view, lying is mostly felt to be morally reprehensible, there are instances that are not as straightforward. In English, lies that are deemed less bad than others are often referred to as white lies. Other terms exist, but this one is by far the commonest and has a high degree of cultural salience. Does the concept exist in other languages, e.g. French? The phrase pieux mensonge comes to mind. White lies and pieux mensonges are shown to be overlapping categories, but carry different connotations, which are spelled out using a tool known as the Natural Semantic Metalanguage.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) lie, (E) pieux mensonge, (E) white lie, (S) truth and untruth
Published on May 27, 2019. Last updated on July 25, 2020.
Habib, Sandy (2018). Heaven and hell: A cross-linguistic semantic template for supernatural places. RASK, 48, 1–34.
Open access
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to devise a cross-linguistic semantic template for supernatural place terms. To achieve this objective, six supernatural place concepts were analysed, and an explication for each concept was built. Comparing the explications yielded a seven-part semantic template. The usefulness of this semantic template is threefold. First, it eases the task of explicating supernatural place concepts because the parts of the template can serve as guidelines to be followed while constructing the explications. Second, it makes it easier to compare related supernatural place concepts from different languages. Third, it unveils the devices that are embodied in the structure of supernatural place concepts and that enable people to use these complex concepts without difficulty.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) aljanna, (E) gan eden, (E) geyhinom, (E) heaven, (E) hell, (E) jahannam
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:
- Analyzing address practices from a cultural semantic point of view
- “Sorry boss”: an unrecognized category of English address nouns
- “Prego, signore”: the semantics of Italian “titles” used to address people
- “Hi, how are you?”
- “Ciao!” or “ciao ciao”?
- “Dear customers, …”
- “Caro Mario,” “Gentile cliente,” “Egregio dottore”
- “Best wishes,” “kind regards,” “yours sincerely”
- “Distinti,” “cordiali,” “affettuosi saluti”
- Italian cultural scripts for address practices
- Australian cultural scripts for address practices
- Address practices in intercultural communication
- Concluding remarks
More information:
Revised version of the author’s PhD thesis, Australian National University (2017).
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) (titles of address), (E) a presto, (E) affettuosi saluti, (E) affettuoso, (E) all best, (E) all the best, (E) best, (E) best regards, (E) best wishes, (E) caro, (E) ciao, (E) ciao ciao, (E) cordiali saluti, (E) cordialmente, (E) dear, (E) distinti saluti, (E) egregio, (E) gentile, (E) hi, (E) kind, (E) kind regards, (E) regards, (E) saluti, (E) signora, (E) signore, (E) signori, (E) signorina, (E) simpatico, (E) sincerely, (E) un bacio, (E) un caro saluto, (E) un saluto, (E) vabbè, (E) vabbene, (E) warmest wishes, (E) yours, (E) yours sincerely, (S) address practices, (T) Italian
Published on August 20, 2018. Last updated on June 17, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2018). How much longer can the Berlin and Kay paradigm dominate visual semantics? English, Russian and Warlpiri seen ‘from the native’s point of view’. In Diana Young (Ed.), Rematerializing colour: From concept to substance (pp. 67-90). Herefordshire: Sean Kingston Publishing.
Abstract:
How does the outsider linguist find out if speakers of another language have colour terms? Using the Australian Aboriginal language Warlpiri as a starting point, the author argues that interpretation of the patterns of names produced in response to stimuli (such as Munsell colour chips) is difficult, and one has to take care not to assign English terms to those patterns. That is, in trying to interpret what a word means, we cannot assume that kardirri means ‘white’, because speakers produced this word when looking at chips with colours that English speakers might call ‘white’. The focus here is on determining the senses (intensions) of words – that is, on finding language-specific categories. The Warlpiri lack a word approximating the English word ‘colour’. It is claimed that, if speakers do not have a word for a category such as colour, it is hard to say that in their minds they see the world in terms of a cognitive category ‘colour’ (which is not to deny that they have colour vision).
Examination of dictionary entries in the Warlpiri-English Dictionary establishes the importance of the properties ‘visual conspicuousness’ (the startling pink prunus trees), ‘things shining somewhere’ (sunlight gleaming on the white cockatoos), ‘visual contrasts within an object’ (the dappled pink and green of the japonica hedge), and creating colour reference by comparison with things in the world around (kunjuru ‘smoke’, kunjuru-kunjuru ‘like smoke’, a term conventionally applied to smoke-coloured things). However, even though the Dictionary is a good starting-place for raising such hypotheses, it cannot help us test them, since it is a collection of all words, with little comment on whether they are used frequently or not, and since the words come from several dialects.
The author argues against using the word ‘colour’ in the English definitions and translations in the dictionary, because this creates or reinforces a belief that the Warlpiri have a linguistic category of ‘colour’.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) kunjuru-kunjuru, (E) sky, (E) yukuri-yukuri, (T) English
Published on November 19, 2017. Last updated on May 1, 2019.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2018). Charter of global ethic in Minimal English. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 113-141). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_6
Abstract:
Taking UNESCO’s Earth charter as its point of departure, this chapter argues that the globalizing world needs a global ethics. At the same time, the chapter builds on the Declaration toward a global ethic (1993) endorsed by the Parliament of the World’s Religions (and inspired by the Dalai Lama) whose Principle 6 reads: “This must be a Declaration translatable into other languages”. A charter of 24 ethical norms phrased in Minimal English is proposed as a platform for a global discourse on ethics.
More information:
Revised translation of a Polish original published in 2015 and again in 2017 as:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2015). Karta etyki globalnej w słowach uniwersalnych [A charter of global ethics in universal words]. Teksty Drugie, 2015(4), 257-279.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2017). Karta etyki globalnej w słowach uniwersalnych [A charter of global ethics in universal words]. In Jerzy Bartmiński, Stanisława Niebrzegowska-Bartmińska, Marta Nowosad-Bakalarczyk, & Jadwiga Puzynina (Eds.), Etyka słowa: Wybór opracowań. Vol. 1 (pp. 523-538). Lublin: UMCS.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) humane, (S) charter of global ethic
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 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 November 19, 2017. Last updated on September 5, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff, & Wierzbicka, Anna (2018). Minimal English and how it can add to Global English. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 5-27). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_2
The concept of Minimal English was first proposed by Anna Wierzbicka in 2014 as a radically reduced ‘mini English’ that can provide a common auxiliary interlanguage for speakers of different languages, and as a global means for clarifying, elucidating, storing and comparing ideas. This idea is taken up by Cliff Goddard and Anna Wierzbicka in this chapter. Aside from arguing for the benefits of using cross-translatable words, they stress that Minimal English is intended not to replace or supplant ordinary English, but to add to its effectiveness as a global tool for communication and discourse. The chapter outlines the origins, purpose and composition of Minimal English and explains its value as a supplement to English in its role as a global lingua franca. It argues for the great importance of cross-translatability in many contexts and shows with examples that many taken-for-granted words and concepts of Anglo English are heavily culture-laden and hence untranslatable. The chapter also clarifies how Minimal English is different from Ogden’s ‘Basic English’ and from Plain English.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (T) English, (T) semantic molecules
Published on November 19, 2017. Last updated on September 5, 2018.
Goddard, Cliff (2018). Minimal English: The science behind it. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 29-70). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_3
This chapter explains in an accessible way the linguistic research that underpins the specifics of Minimal English. The “science behind Minimal English” is the body of research, by linguists working in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach, into which words and grammatical patterns match across the languages of the world. The chapter includes a review of all semantic primes, classified in twelve groups.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (T) English
Published on November 19, 2017. Last updated on May 1, 2019.
Christian, David (2018). Big History meets Minimal English. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 201-224). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_9
Abstract:
“Big History” refers to the teaching of human history at very large scales, including evolutionary history and cosmology. If Minimal English attempts to find a common language for humanity, Big History attempts to find a common historical story, a modern origin story shared by all humans. To what extent, then, can a modern science-based origin story be expressed in Minimal English? In dialogue with Wierzbicka’s chapter on the universe, which immediately precedes this one (“Talking about the universe in Minimal English: Teaching science through words that children can understand”), this chapter asks what aspects of a modern origin story will prove most challenging to the Minimal English project.
The appendix to this paper is a “partial history of the world and the rise of humanity, told in Minimal English” (Anna Wierzbicka and Cliff Goddard, September 2016). The rating below refers to the appendix.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) Partial history of the world and the rise of humanity
Published on November 19, 2017. Last updated on May 1, 2019.
Goddard, Cliff (Ed.) (2018). Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6
Abstract:
‘Minimal English’ is a new tool for improving communication and promoting clearer thinking in a world where the use of Global English can create numerous comprehension and communication issues. It is based on research findings from within cross-linguistic semantics, in particular the NSM approach. The essays and studies in this book are by leading experts who explore the value and application of Minimal English in various fields, including ethics, health, human rights discourse, education and international relations. Informed guidelines and practical advice on how to communicate in clear and cross-translatable ways using the new tool is also provided.
Table of contents:
- Introduction (Cliff Goddard)
- Minimal English and how it can add to Global English (Cliff Goddard and Anna Wierzbicka)
- Minimal English: The science behind it (Cliff Goddard)
- Minimal English and diplomacy (William Maley)
- Internationalizing Minimal English: Perils and parallels (Nicholas Farrelly and Michael Wesley)
- Charter of Global Ethic in Minimal English (Anna Wierzbicka)
- Torture laid bare: Global English and human rights (Annabelle Mooney)
- Talking about the universe in Minimal English: Teaching science through words that children can understand (Anna Wierzbicka)
- Big History meets Minimal English (David Christian)
- Introducing the concept of the ‘65 words’ to the public in Finland (Ulla Vanhatalo and Juhana Torkki)
- Narrative Medicine across languages and cultures: Using Minimal English for increased comparability of patients’ narratives (Bert Peeters and Maria Giulia Marini)
More information:
Each chapter has its own entry and its own rating, except for Chapter 4, which illustrates the pitfalls and complexities of diplomatic communication, particularly in crisis situations. Apart from an imperfect rendering of Wierzbicka’s 1997 explication of the English word freedom (in Understanding Cultures through their Key Words, p. 154), Chapter 4 does not contain any explications using either NSM or Minimal English.
Published on November 19, 2017. Last updated on August 15, 2021.
Vanhatalo, Ulla, & Torkki, Juhana (2018). Introducing the concept of the ‘65 words’ to the public in Finland. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 225-258). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_10
The authors report and reflect on their experiences of popularizing the ‘65 words’ method in various domains of public life in Finland. The ‘65 words’ method is a simplified version of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, modified and adapted to the Finnish language. Case studies are presented from media, business, politics, the church, and education.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (T) Finnish
Published on November 19, 2017. Last updated on August 21, 2018.
Peeters, Bert, & Marini, Maria Giulia (2018). Narrative Medicine across languages and cultures: Using Minimal English for increased comparability of patients’ narratives. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 259-286). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_11
Narrative medicine is an approach to medicine which seeks to combine with and enhance conventional evidence-based medicine by adding perspectives and experience in medical humanities. The chapter expounds on the importance of effective communication with patients and in particular on the importance of having some structured protocols (scripts, interview prompts, and the like) to encourage more comprehensive and effective patient narratives and to allow for increased comparability between them. It tells the story of an emerging collaboration with Minimal English and an international pilot study applying Minimal English to such protocols.
Appendix A reproduces the new Narrative Medicine storyline, written in Minimal Italian and in Minimal English.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Tags: (E) Narrative Medicine storyline
Published on June 8, 2018. Last updated on September 1, 2018.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2018). I know: A human universal. In Stephen Stich, Masaharu Mizumoto, & Eric McCready (Eds.), Epistemology for the rest of the world (pp. 215-250). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
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)
