Tag: (E) cai 采

(2015) Chinese – Musical concepts


Tien, Adrian (2015). The semantics of Chinese music: Analysing selected Chinese musical concepts. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/clscc.5

Music is a widely enjoyed human experience. It is, therefore, natural that we have wanted to describe, document, analyse and, somehow, grasp it in language. This book surveys a representative selection of musical concepts in Chinese language, i.e. words that describe, or refer to, aspects of Chinese music. Important as these musical concepts are in the language, they have been in wide circulation since ancient times without being subjected to any serious semantic analysis. The current study is the first known attempt at analysing these Chinese musical concepts linguistically, adopting the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach to formulate semantically and cognitively rigorous explications. Readers will be able to better understand not only these musical concepts but also significant aspects of the Chinese culture that many of these musical concepts represent. This volume contributes to the fields of cognitive linguistics, semantics, music, musicology and Chinese studies, offering readers a fresh account of Chinese ways of thinking, not least Chinese ways of viewing or appreciating music. Ultimately, this study represents trailblazing research on the relationship between language, culture and cognition.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2012) Vietnamese – Classifiers


Dao, Loan (2012). The Vietnamese classifiers ‘CON’, ‘CÁI’ and the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach: A preliminary study. In Maia Ponsonnet, Loan Dao, & Margit Bowler (Eds.), Proceedings of the 42nd Australian Linguistic Society Conference – 2011 (pp. 58-74). http://langfest.anu.edu.au/index.php/als/als2011. PDF (open access)

This preliminary study is the first-ever attempt to analyse the lexical semantics of the two most commonly used classifiers in the Vietnamese language, con and cái, using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach. The study originates from an experience in teaching Vietnamese as a foreign language in Australia, where students’ difficulty in learning/acquiring the usage of the Vietnamese classifiers and the classifier noun phrases was observed. The ultimate aim of this pilot study is to use the semantic analysis of the classifiers achieved through NSM to enhance teaching and learning Vietnamese as a foreign language, and to advance the understanding of one of the world’s most extensive and elaborate classifier systems. If this aim is achieved, the study will further support the claim that NSM is an effective tool in the explanation of lexical semantics and language-specific grammatical categories and constructions.


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