Browsing results for Possession

(2016) NSM primes (possession)

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 5, 2018.

Goddard, Cliff & Wierzbicka, Anna (2016). ‘It’s mine!’ Re-thinking the conceptual semantics of “possession” through NSM. Language Sciences, 56, 93-104. DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2016.03.002

This study has two main parts. It begins with a conceptual and semantic analysis in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework of what linguists term “true possession” or “ownership”. The requirements of the NSM framework force the analysis to be conducted using very simple expressions that are available not only in English, but (ideally) in all languages. The main proposal is that true possession is anchored in a semantic prime with an egocentric perspective that occurs in a predicative construction, i.e. (IS) MINE. It is argued that expressions like This is mine are semantically irreducible and (very likely) universally expressible across the diversity of the world’s languages.

In the second part of the study, three semantically and grammatically complex “possession verbs” are examined: steal, give, and own. Intricate (but coherent) explications for the English versions of these words are proposed, using (IS) MINE and a range of other semantic components. Though no claim is made that all languages possess precisely these meanings, this study hopes to help pave the way for a lexical semantic typology of “ownership-related” concepts in the languages of the world.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2019) NSM primes – Possession

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

Goddard, Cliff and Anna Wierzbicka (2019). Cognitive Semantics, Linguistic Typology and Grammatical Polysemy: “Possession” and the English Genitive. Cognitive Semantics 5: 224-247.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.1163/23526416-00502003

Abstract

This paper explores the cognitive semantics of the typological category “possession” using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (nsm) approach. At the macro level, we argue that “possession” is not a unitary cognitive category for speakers, but instead represents an aggregation of diverse semantic schemas which center around three distinct conceptual anchor points: ownership, body-parts, and kinship relations. It is shown how each of these conceptual anchor points can be clearly identified using the nsm metalanguage of semantic primes and molecules. At the micro level, the paper undertakes a close examination of the cognitive semantics of English s-genitives in the frame [THIS SOMEONE’S] SOMETHING, e.g. Mary’s ring, Mary’s shoes, Mary’s drawing, Mary’s plate, Mary’s train. It is argued that the wide range of use of the s-genitive can be captured in a set of five semantic schemas, which constitute a network of grammatical polysemy.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2020) Amharic – NSM primes

Published on January 26, 2020. Last updated on February 9, 2020.

Amberber, Mengistu (2020). The conceptual semantics of alienable possession in Amharic. In Kerry Mullan, Bert Peeters, & Lauren Sadow (Eds.), Studies in ethnopragmatics, cultural semantics, and intercultural communication: Vol. 1. Ethnopragmatics and semantic analysis (pp. 207-222). Singapore: Springer.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9983-2_11

Abstract:

This study investigates the semantics of alienable possession in Amharic, with particular reference to a recent proposal in the NSM framework according to which ‘true possession’ or ‘ownership’ is more adequately expressed by the semantic prime (BE) MINE than by the (now abandoned) prime HAVE. The author argues that this claim is borne out by data from Amharic. It is shown that the verb allə ‘have’ cannot reliably distinguish between true possession and other types of possessive relations, whereas the sequence jəne nəw ‘it is mine’ is consistently associated with ownership. The study also briefly examines the semantics of two sets of verbs in which the semantic prime for alienable possession plays a key role.

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Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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