Tag: (E) ná

(2003) Mental states / NSM primes

Goddard, Cliff (2003). Thinking across languages and cultures: Six dimensions of variation. Cognitive Linguistics, 14(2-3), 109-140.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cogl.2003.005

Abstract:

This article is an exercise in typological semantics. It adopts the principles of the NSM approach to survey cross-linguistic variation in ways of talking about ‘thinking’. It begins by summarizing research indicating that there is a universal semantic prime THINK that can provide a stable reference point for cross-linguistic comparison. Six different dimensions of variability are then canvassed: different patterns of lexical polysemy, different degrees and modes of lexical elaboration, different ethno-theories of the person, different ways in which think-related meanings can be encoded morphosyntactically, different cultural scripts that may encourage or discourage particular ways of thinking, and differing patterns of usage in discourse.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(1990) Ewe – Experiencers

Ameka, Felix (1990). The grammatical packaging of experiencers in Ewe: A study in the semantics of syntax. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 10(2), 139-181. DOI: 10.1080/07268609008599440

It is now generally accepted that languages have different means of representing the same extra-linguistic or real world situation. It is furthermore assumed that these different means of representation reflect different conceptualizations of real-world situations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the different morpho-syntactic devices that are available in Ewe, a Kwa language of West Africa, for the presentation of the conceptualizations of an experiencer of an emotion or sensation.


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

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(1996) Ewe – Body parts

Ameka, Felix (1996). Body parts in Ewe grammar. In Hilary Chappell, & William McGregor (Eds.), The grammar of inalienability: A typological perspective on body part terms and the part-whole relation (pp. 783-840). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110822137.783

The purpose of this paper is to describe the treatment of body parts (and other meronyms, that is, part terms in part-whole relationships) in the grammar of Ewe, a Kwa language of West Africa. It is assumed that language and, in this particular instance, grammar, is an embodiment and a reflection of conceptual structures of its speakers. Hence an analysis of the Ewe syntactic structures in which body parts participate should reveal the way in which these items are conceptualized in that language. To this end, the semantics of three adnominal constructions are investigated: an “alienable” structure signalled by the possessive connective ɸé, body parts occur as possessa in this construction; an “inalienable” construction which has no overt marking, body parts do not normally occur in this construction except in some cases with a first or second person singular pronominal possessor; and the syntactic compound marked by a high tone suffix. These compounds may be possessive or classificatory in function, and body parts tend to occur in the latter. The semantic ramifications of the property of body parts to assume grammatical roles distinct from the roles of their “owners” are also explored.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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