Tag: (S) Philosophy of the Middle Way

(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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(2009) Cultural scripts

Goddard, Cliff (2009). Cultural scripts. In Gunter Senft, Jan-Ola Östman, & Jef Verschueren (Eds.), Culture and language use (pp. 68-80). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/hoph.2.07god

Previously published as:

Goddard, Cliff (2006). Cultural scripts. In Jan-Ola Östman, & Jef Verschueren (Eds.), Handbook of pragmatics: Vol. 10. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/hop.10.cul2

The term ‘cultural script’ refers to a technique for articulating culture-specific norms, values, and practices in terms which are clear, precise, and accessible to cultural insiders and outsiders alike. This result is possible because cultural scripts are formulated in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) of semantic primes, a highly constrained ‘mini-language’ of simple words and grammatical patterns which evidence suggests have equivalents in all languages. Cultural scripts exist at different levels of generality (high level and lower level; high level scripts are sometimes referred to as master scripts). They may relate to different aspects of thinking, speaking, and behaviour. The cultural scripts approach offers a promising method for describing cultural norms and practices in a way that is free from Anglocentrism and that lends itself to direct practical applications in intercultural communication and education.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2002) Lao – NSM syntax

Enfield, N. J. (2002). Combinatoric properties of Natural Semantic Metalanguage expressions in Lao. In Cliff Goddard, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Meaning and universal grammar: Theory and empirical findings. Vol. II (pp. 145-256). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.61.08enf

The current version of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) identifies about 60 semantically basic morpholexical items that are hypothesized to be found in every language of the world. It is argued that these universal semantic units have meanings that are both simple, and identical across languages. Further, it is hypothesized that all language-specific semantic structures are complex, and may be analysed (and translated across languages) by means of complex expressions involving just the 60 or so basic universal semantic units. No other descriptive metalanguage (formal or otherwise) insists on this level of cross-translatability, and so it is apparently the closest thing to a real standard of comparison available for cross-linguistic semantic description. To achieve this, not only must the units of the system be semantically basic and cross-linguistically identical, but their combinatoric properties must also be basic and cross-linguistically identical. The purpose of this study is to evaluate current hypotheses regarding universal combinatoric properties of the putative morpholexical/semantic universals, with reference to Lao.


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

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(2002) Chinese (Mandarin) – NSM primes, NSM syntax

Chappell, Hilary (2002). The universal syntax of semantic primes in Mandarin Chinese. In Cliff Goddard, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Meaning and universal grammar: Theory and empirical findings. Vol. I (pp. 243-322). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/slcs.60.12cha

The present chapter represents an enlargement in scope over Chappell (1994), which was mainly restricted to identifying Mandarin exponents of semantic primes, 39 in number at that time. In the present study, the primary focus is the syntax of the proposed primes in Mandarin. I examine the syntactic frames of each prime to test the claims made by Goddard and Wierzbicka with respect to the universal syntax of semantic primes. Since the number of primes has increased to 59 in the intervening period, some space has been allocated to justifying the selection of the particular lexemes or expressions for the newly proposed primes, and for cases where I have revised my earlier analysis.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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