Browsing results for Place

(1989) NSM primes

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 16, 2020.

Wierzbicka, Anna (1989). Semantic primitives – The expanding set. Quaderni di semantica, 10(2), 309-332.

Abstract:

The set of hypothetical semantic prim(itiv)es proposed in earlier works is shown to be in need of considerable expansion. This outcome is due primarily to the work of Cliff Goddard. The present paper surveys a set of 28 elements, including – in addition to survivals from earlier sets – several elements proposed by Goddard, and some by Andrzej Bogusławski.

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Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(1997) Longgu – NSM primes (place)

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on August 15, 2021.

Hill, Deborah, & Goddard, Cliff (1997). Spatial terms, polysemy and possession in Longgu (Solomon Islands). Language Sciences, 19(3), 263-275. DOI: 10.1016/S0388-0001(96)00064-2

Lexical exponents of the proposed semantic primitives ABOVE, UNDER, INSIDE and ON THE SIDE are identified in Longgu (Solomon Islands). It is argued that the first three of these exponents are polysemous between a semantically primitive relational sense and a secondary topological sense. A number of issues relating to the morphosyntax of the exponents are discussed, including their status as ‘local nouns’, the significance of the fact that their basic syntactic frame employs the same system of person-number agreement suffixes as the inalienable possession construction, and the difference between this basic frame and a rarer ‘associative construction’. There is also a brief discussion of the status of the hypothetical primitive ON in Longgu.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(1998) NSM primes: place

Published on July 3, 2017. Last updated on February 17, 2019.

Goddard, Cliff (1998). Universal semantic primes of space – A lost cause? LAUD Working Papers, Series A, General and Theoretical Papers, 434. PDF (open access)

Reissued in 2007 with divergent page numbering.

In recent years, a new wave of research on language and space has uncovered surprising variation in the linguistic coding of spatial relationships. It is now known that some languages, e.g. Tzeltal, exhibit remarkable lexico-grammatical elaboration of spatial relationships; that in many languages of Africa and Oceania apparently simple spatial relationships such as INSIDE and ABOVE are encoded by means of noun-like words, or by a combination of a preposition and a postposition, each of which may be independently meaningful. It has also been shown that children’s early acquisition of spatial terminology differs markedly between typologically different languages.

In almost all this recent work, the emphasis has been on cross-linguistic variation in spatial semantics. The question then arises whether there any semantic universals of space that are still viable in the light of the attested variation in formal realization and lexico-grammatical elaboration. In particular, what of the semantic primes of space proposed within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework, namely: WHERE/PLACE, HERE, ABOVE, BELOW, INSIDE, ON (ONE) SIDE, NEAR, FAR?

After an introduction, the body of the paper has three sections. The first argues that three languages that exhibit markedly different spatial characteristics to English (Tzeltal, Longgu, Ewe) nevertheless still contain exponents of the NSM spatial primes. The second takes a fresh look at some of the new results on cross-linguistic variation in the acquisition of spatial semantics, with particular reference to Korean. The third surveys the grammaticalization of spatial meaning in a typological perspective, concluding that the items on the NSM inventory of spatial primes are all found as recurrent dimensions of grammaticalized meaning in a range of languages.

The overall conclusion is that NSM’s spatial primes are both viable and necessary for the description of spatial meanings within and across languages.

Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2014) English, Russian – NSM primes

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on June 25, 2019.

Gladkova, Anna (2014). HERE, NEAR, FAR: Spatial conceptualisation and cognition in a cross-linguistic perspective (English vs. Russian). In Luna Filipović, & Martin Pütz (Eds.), Multilingual cognition and language use: Processing and typological perspectives (pp. 121-150). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.44.05gla

Abstract:

This chapter explores variation and similarities in the conceptualization of space in Russian and English on the basis of selected terms of ‘location’ and ‘proximity/distance’. It adopts the NSM approach, which identifies eight semantic universals of space, three of which, HERE, NEAR, FAR, were tested for their realization in both languages. A semantic analysis of terms denoting ‘here’, ‘near’, ‘not far’, and ‘far’ confirms the presence of the three universal primes in English and Russian, though they differ in how they conceptually carve up the notion of space.

The study has implications for research into bilingualism and language acquisition and demonstrates that the NSM formulae can be used experimentally to test spatial conceptualization and cognition cross-linguistically.

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Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2016) Historical English – NSM primes: events, movement, contact

Published on December 16, 2017. Last updated on September 27, 2018.

Mateo Mendaza, Raquel (2016). Old English semantic primes: Events, movement, contact. PhD thesis, Universidad de la Rioja. PDF (open access)

This PhD thesis by publications consists of the author’s three published papers on Old English (2013 on TOUCH, 2016 on HAPPEN, 2016 on MOVE), preceded by an introduction and a summary of results, and followed by conclusions and perspectives for future research. It pursues the research line into the semantic primes of Old English started by Martín Arista and Martín de la Rosa. It aims at defining the criteria for exponent identification in a historical language and at applying to Old English a set of criteria that make reference to morphological, textual, semantic and syntactic aspects and that are ultimately based on markedness theory. The NSM category selected for analysis is Actions, events, movement, contact, which had not been studied in Old English in previous work.

On the descriptive side, the Old English exponents for the semantic primes TOUCH, HAPPEN and MOVE are identified. These exponents correspond, respectively, to the verbs (ge)hrīnan, (ge)limpan and (ge)styrian. The decision to select these rather than any other verbs is based on the fact that, except for some particular cases, they are the candidates that best satisfy the different morphological, textual, semantic and syntactic requirements imposed by the nature of each semantic prime.

Along with the descriptive results, significant advances are made on the methodological side because the three studies in the Old English exponents for these semantic primes contribute to the whole NSM paradigm by designing and implementing a method for indirect searching for prime exponents in historical languages. The indirect methodology proposed for the historical languages is in contrast with the direct method preferred in natural languages, which is based on linguistic analysis carried out by native speakers of the language and, moreover, on the availability of potentially infinite data.


Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner