Browsing results for Substantives

(1976) NSM primes – I, YOU

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 3, 2018.

Wierzbicka, Anna (1976). In defense of YOU and ME. In Wolfgang Girke, & Helmut Jachnow (Eds.), Theoretische Linguistik in Osteuropa: Originalbeiträge und Erstübersetzungen (pp. 1-21). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.

In 1976 terminology, I and YOU are “semantic primitives”; in more recent times, they have been referred to as semantic primes. They cannot be defined away in terms of other primes and they cannot be dispensed with in favour of some arbitrary indices, such as those used in the artificial languages of symbolic logic. Their status as semantic primes can be confirmed on the basis of empirical semantic studies.

(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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(2006) Historical English – NSM primes

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on October 25, 2018.

Martín Arista, Javier, & Martín de la Rosa, María Victoria (2006). Old English semantic primes: Substantives, determiners and quantifiers. Atlantis, 28(2), 9-28.

The aim of this journal article is to apply the methodology of semantic primes to Old English. In this preliminary analysis the semantic primes grouped as Substantives, Determiners and Quantifiers are discussed: I, YOU, SOMEONE, PEOPLE, SOMETHING/THING, BODY, THIS, THE SAME, OTHER, ONE, TWO, SOME, ALL and MUCH/MANY. After an analysis of several instances of portmanteaus, allolexy and non-compositional polysemy, the conclusion is reached that even though the nature of the linguistic evidence that is available does not allow for native speaker judgements, semantic primes represent a powerful theoretical and methodological tool for the lexical and syntactic study of Old English.


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

(2017) English, Creoles – NSM primes

Published on May 12, 2017. Last updated on September 13, 2018.

Levisen, Carsten; Priestley, Carol; Nicholls, Sophie; & Goldshtein, Yonatan (2017). The semantics of Englishes and Creoles: Pacific and Australian perspectives. In Peter Bakker, Finn Borchsenius, Carsten Levisen & Eeva Sippola (Eds.), Creole studies – Phylogenetic approaches (pp. 345-368). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/z.211.15lev. PDF (open access)

This paper provides a lexical-semantic comparison of a selection of Englishes and English-related creoles in the Australia-Pacific area. Faced with the conundrum of sociolinguistic classificatory practice and its contested categories (“language”, “creole”, “dialect”, “variety” and English(es)”), it attempts to circumvent the problematic of metavocabulary by taking a new, two-pronged approach. Firstly, it relies on semantic primes, comparing and contrasting their lexicalizations (especially those of the prime PEOPLE) across the sample of creoles. Secondly, it uses phylogenetic networks to visualize the results and to form new hypotheses.

The results provide counter-evidence to the claim that Melanesian and Australian creoles are “varieties of English”. The creole sample displays three basic types of relations: “shared-core” types (Australian English vs. New Zealand English); “closely related core” types (Hawai’i Creole vs. Anglo Englishes); and “distantly related core” types (Tok Pisin vs. Anglo English, Kriol vs. Anglo English, or Yumplatok vs. Anglo English). The results are measured against Scandinavian languages to explore the language-dialect question, and against Trinidadian (a Caribbean creole) to explore the extent of lexical-semantic areality. It is concluded that current sociolinguistic metavocabulary is inadequate for representing the complexity of the new ways of speaking in the Australia-Pacific region, and it is suggested a principled areal-semantic investigation of words based on semantic principles is the way to go.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2019) Arabic, Hebrew – NSM primes

Published on July 28, 2020. Last updated on July 28, 2020.

Habib, Sandy (2019). NSM substantives: the Arabic and Hebrew exponents of six simple, universal concepts. International Journal of Arabic Linguistics, 5(2), 188-207.

Open access

Abstract:

Of all the substantives, only six are regarded by the NSM approach as being simple and universal. These six substantives are realized in English by means of the words I, you, someone, something, people, and body. While proving their simplicity is evidenced by the fact that they cannot be defined further using simpler terms, proving their universality requires identifying them in as many languages as possible. This paper aims to do so in three Semitic languages, which are Jish Arabic, Standard Arabic, and Hebrew, and demonstrates that these six concepts indeed have exponents in these three languages.

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(2021) Danish – Syntax

Published on August 21, 2023. Last updated on November 17, 2023.

Levisen, Carsten. (2021). The syntax of something: Evaluative affordances of noget in Danish construction grammar. Nordic Journal of Linguistics, 44(1), 3-24.

DOI: 10.1017/S033258652000013X

Abstract

This paper explores ‘the evaluative noget construction’ in Danish. The construction consists of noget ‘something’ juxtaposed by a noun in an evaluative frame such as e.g. Det er noget pjat, ‘It’s nonsense’. With a starting point in cross-linguistic studies on SOMETHING, the paper moves on to explore core members of this evaluative class in Danish, providing a detailed semantic analysis of the construction’s core configurations. The affordance of noget ‘something’ to mean ‘something bad’ is a key to understanding the construction, and from this general premise the class of evaluatives take off in multiple negative direc- tions, providing a snapshot of the Danish linguaculture of evaluation. The paper argues for a Cultural Construction Grammar that can bring together the lexicogrammatical integrationism of construction grammar approaches with the linguacultural holism of the research in ethnosyntax. The goal is to provide high-definition analysis of complex, language-specific constructions in a simple, globally translatable metalanguage.

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(2021) Japanese — Pronouns

Published on January 10, 2022. Last updated on January 10, 2022.

Yee, Timothy Bing Lun & Wong, Jock. (2021).  Japanese first-person singular pronouns revisited: A semantic and cultural interpretation. Journal of Pragmatics, 181(2021), pp 139-161. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.05.025

 

Abstract:

Japanese pronouns have been the subject of scrutiny in many studies. The contexts of their use have thus often been discussed. However, although we know from literature that some pronouns are more ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’, or more formal or informal than others, it does not appear that we have reached a deep understanding of their inherent meanings. For example, we do not fully understand, from an insider perspective, why some Japanese first-person singular pronouns are said to be more masculine or feminine than others. We do not know why, for example, ore is said to be strongly masculine whereas atashi is seen as strongly feminine. Above all, we do not know which one of these pronouns is the Japanese exponent of the semantic prime I, i.e., the one that is indefinable. The present study aims to address these research gaps. However, due the constraints of space, it only analyzes the meanings of the six most common first-person singular pronouns: ore, watashi, jibun, boku, atashi, and uchi. It further proposes that the Japanese exponent of the semantic prime I is jibun. The study uses Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) to articulate meaning in terms that are maximally clear and minimally ethnocentric.

 

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

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