Tag: (E) kokoro 心

(2019) Japanese – Ethnopsychology and personhood

Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko (2019). Inochi and tamashii: Incursions into Japanese ethnopsychology. In Bert Peeters (Ed.), Heart- and soul-like constructs across languages, cultures, and epochs (pp. 30-57). New York: Routledge.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315180670-2

Abstract:

Japanese has several personhood terms that lack equivalents in other languages. Two such terms are inochi and tamashii, neither of which has been investigated. In English, inochi is usually translated as life. However, this poses significant issues since the modern English word life is polysemous. Many of its meanings cannot be translated into Japanese by means of the word inochi, which has its own and contextually different meanings. Similarly, tamashii is often translated as soul but this term also has multiple interpretations in the source language.

This chapter explores the meaning of inochi and tamashii using NSM. The results of the analysis indicate a core component of inochi is ‘this something can be a part of someone one time, not many times’. The results also show that a fundamental meaning of tamashii is ‘this something can be a part of someone many times’ and ‘this something cannot die’.

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(2005) Ethnopsychology and personhood

Wierzbicka, Anna (2005). Empirical universals of language as a basis for the study of other human universals and as a tool for exploring cross-cultural differences. Ethos, 33(2), 256-291.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/eth.2005.33.2.256

Abstract:

Genuine universals of culture or cognition can only be formulated if we have at our disposal a universal language, and similarly, only a universal language can allow us to formulate generalizations about different cultures from a culture-independent point of view. In this article, it is argued that a universal, “culture-free” language suitable both for the study of human universals and the exploration of cultural differences, can be built on the basis of empirical universals of language. Furthermore, it is claimed that such a language has already been largely constructed, thus bringing the notion of a “universal language” from the realm of utopia to the realm of everyday reality. The article shows that this language (NSM) can be used to describe and explore both universal and culture-specific forms of human thinking, and in particular, to identify and compare personhood models across languages and cultures.

Translations:

Into French (with some cuts):

Wierzbicka, Anna (2006). Les universaux empiriques du langage: tremplin pour l’étude d’autres universaux humains et outil dans l’exploration de différences transculturelles. Linx, 54, 151-179.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/linx.517 / Open access

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(2013) Japanese, Thai – Cultural key words / Ethnopsychology and personhood

Svetanant, Chavalin (2013). Exploring personhood constructs through language: Contrastive semantic of “heart” in Japanese and Thai. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Communication, 7(3), 23-32.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18848/2324-7320/cgp/v07i03/53576

Abstract:

This paper aims to explore personhood constructs of the Thai community and compare them to those of the Japanese community, with special reference to heart-related terms. It carries out a linguistic inquiry into the historical side of the lexicon and compares the conceptualization of ‘heart’ in Thai and Japanese to clarify the cognitive and conceptual similarities and differences in the underlying semantic structures. The framework for semantic analysis employed in this paper is the NSM approach.

A large number of heart/mind-related words in Thai and Japanese show features that are shared across the two communities, as well as subtle cognitive and conceptual differences; for example, ใจ chai (Thai) and 気 ki (Japanese) are relatively more dynamic and sensitive to mental/psychological changes when compared to 心 kokoro (Japanese). Linguistically speaking, they keep moving around, changing shape, size, colour, and temperature. However, while the entities of ใจ chai and 心 kokoro are cognitively more substantial as emotional containers of human beings, 気 ki is treated more like the intangible energy wrapping around 心 kokoro and contains no intellectual element.

The evidence from this study suggests that a semantic explication of personhood lexicalizations is a practical approach to clarify the obscure entities and contribute to the understanding of the conceptuality of personhood constructs across languages and cultures.

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(2002) Japanese – Emotions / Ethnopsychology and personhood

Hasada, Rie (2002). ‘Body part’ terms and emotion in Japanese. Pragmatics & Cognition, 10(1), 107-128.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.10.12.06has

Abstract:

This paper uses NSM to examine the use and meaning of the body-part terms or quasi-body-part terms associated with Japanese emotions. The terms analysed are 心 kokoro, 胸 mune, 腹 hara, 気 ki, and 虫 mushi. In Japanese, kokoro is regarded as the seat of emotions. 胸 mune (roughly, ‘chest’) is the place where Japanese believe 心 kokoro is located. 腹 hara (roughly, ‘belly’) can be used to refer to the seat of ‘thinking’, for example in the expression of anger-like feelings that entail a prior cognitive appraisal. The term 気 ki (roughly, ‘breath’) is also used for expressions dealing with emotions, temperament, and behaviour; among these, 気 ki is most frequently used for referring to mental activity. 虫 mushi – literally, a ‘worm’ that exists in the 腹 hara ‘belly’ – is also used for referring to specific emotion expressions.

The data used for analysis are from various sources: published literature both in Japanese and English, newspaper and magazine articles, film scripts, comic books, advertisements, dictionaries, and popular songs.

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(2000) Japanese – Emotions

Hasada, Rie (2000). An exploratory study of expression of emotions in Japanese: Towards a semantic interpretation. PhD thesis, Australian National University. PDF (open access)

The present study explores the emotional world of Japanese people. Using the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory, this thesis attempts to explicate the conceptual organization of aspects of Modern Standard Japanese, with a special focus on the lexicon. This thesis also aims to explicate the cultural norms that are related to the emotion words/expressions with the use of culture-independent, universal Natural Semantic Metalanguage. A great amount of data is taken from various sources: TV or radio broadcasting, actual conversation, published literature both in Japanese and English, film scripts, dialogues in magazines, newspaper/magazine articles, comic books, advertisements, letters, dictionaries, and popular songs.

The work is organized in the following way. Chapter 1 is the introduction. Chapter 2 consists of a review of the literature on emotions and includes philosophical, anthropological, and psychological approaches. Chapter 3 demonstrates the importance of linguistic study for the research on emotions, and suggests the Natural Semantic Metalanguage as the most appropriate method for achieving the main goals of this thesis. Chapter 4 discusses the grammatical features of emotion expression sentences. Chapter 5 deals with those body parts terms which are related to emotions in Japanese. Chapters 6 to 11 explicate the meanings of various Japanese emotion words and expressions. Chapter 12 focuses on communication of nonverbal emotion in Japanese culture. Chapter 13 examines characteristic Japanese speakers’ attitudes towards emotions. Chapter 14 is the conclusion.

Wherever possible, the thesis seeks to probe into culturally-based aspects of the conceptual structure of emotion words/expressions, by drawing on a variety of anthropological, psychological, and sociological studies of Japanese society.


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

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