Choesna, Mayla (2017). Kata-kata bermuatan konsep freedom dalam budaya Inggris [Words expressing the concept of freedom in English culture]. Master’s thesis, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta.
Written in Indonesian.
This investigation into the key nouns for the concept of freedom in British English culture deals with usage patterns, meanings and underlying cultural aspects. Data were obtained from dictionaries and on-line corpora. The Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach is applied jointly with the Componential Analysis framework to investigate the issues.
This study yields several findings. At least 16 nouns are involved: liberty, carte blanche, free will, latitude, leeway, immunity, impunity, exemption, discretion, free speech, sovereignty, independence, autonomy, self-determination, and autarky. They can be grouped into three categories. The freedom to~ category includes liberty, carte blanche, free will, latitude, and leeway; the freedom from~ type includes immunity, impunity, and exemption; and the freedom of~ type includes discretion, free speech, sovereignty, independence, autonomy, self-determination, and autarky. The freedom to~ type has as its central feature “if I want to do something, I can do it”. The freedom from~ type relies on the semantic components “I don’t have to do something” / “many people have to do this”. The freedom of~ category is typically framed as “if I want to do something I can do it/I can do something” / “this something is something like this”. The differences between the various nouns – which can be designated as cultural key words – can be elucidated through the elaboration of their prototypical cognitive scenario as this is the part that developa the understanding of the concepts differently.
The concepts of freedom manifested in the nouns have cultural underpinnings. These are geographically and philosophically motivated. The insularity of the English developed their independence as well as their free spirit. Their philosophical outlook encouraged cultural values such as non-interference, nonimposition, personal autonomy, anti-dogmatism, and tolerance. Other linguistic evidence such as expressions corroborate the claim that freedom is an English cultural value. It can therefore be said that the realized cultural key words are the representation of the English concept of freedom.
See also: (E) autarky, (E) autonomy, (E) carte blanche, (E) discretion, (E) exemption, (E) free speech, (E) free will, (E) immunity, (E) impunity, (E) independence, (E) latitude, (E) leeway, (E) liberty, (E) self-determination, (E) sovereignty
Marini, Maria Giulia (2019). Languages of care in Narrative Medicine: Words, space and time in the healthcare ecosystem. Cham: Springer Nature.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-94727-3
Abstract:
This book explains how narrative medicine can improve evidence-based medicine (EBM), making it more effective and efficient, giving patients better quality of life and offering more satisfaction to all health care providers. It discusses not only the disease experienced by the person who is ill, but also focuses on the context and the culture, and investigates how narrative medicine can make other disciplines around the globe more applicable, less manipulative, and more “scientific”. Only by integrating the narrative aspects can EBM become more effective and efficient, with fewer uncured patients, more satisfied patients with a better quality of life, and satisfaction for all health care providers.
Every chapter is divided into two main sections: the first presents the latest research in the field, with comments and interviews with experts, while the second section provides a list of practical exercises and tasks.
This is a trail-blazing book, bringing health care and “human understanding” closer than ever before. A key feature of the book is the use of NSM, which can help humanize the relations between sick people and the caring professions by offering a new “language of care”: Basic Human. This is the first book to take this perspective on illness and care. Reaching other people through shared concepts is an art which can help us at many times, but perhaps especially when we are ill, or care for the ill.
Rating:
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
See also: (E) anxiety, (E) temperature, (E) trauma
Broad, Neil (2013). A semantic structural analysis of logical relations in Eastern Arrernte. Alice Springs: Australian Society for Indigenous Languages. PDF (open access)
Facsimile edition of the author’s (Master’s?) thesis, University of New England (submitted around the year 2000).
This study is an analysis of the semantic structure of logical relations in Eastern Arrernte, focussing in particular on the level of inter-propositional relations and to a lesser degree on how logical relations are expressed at higher levels in the semantic hierarchy.
Chapter 1, as well as introducing the topic in general terms, provides an introduction to the salient features of Eastern Arrernte phonology and grammar. Chapter 2 introduces the Semantic Structural Analysis (SSA) theory upon which the initial task of analysing logical relations, as they are expressed in Arrernte, was based, and discusses the inherent problems with this approach. The solution to the difficulties raised here effectively anchors the typology associated with logical relations in lexicogrammatical universals, that is, in effect, semantic primes allied with Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) theory.
Chapter 3 begins by examining inter-propositional logical relations using SSA theory. The discussion turns to show how each of these types can be analysed and expressed as a reductive paraphrase, and how the seven differentiated types can be grouped into two core semantic structural categories, representing BECAUSE-types and IF-types. The discussion in Chapter 4 is an examination of the specific way in which the two core categories of logical relations are marked in Arrernte sentences. In so doing, recurrent patterns of marking logical relations and the key structural features are identified.
Chapter 5 introduces logical relations expressed at higher-than-sentence levels in the semantic hierarchy. Two specific texts, one a Dreaming narrative, the other a recount narrative, are examined, and some general observations made regarding the semantic structure of logical relations in Arrernte discourse. In addition, some preliminary observations are expressed regarding the type of reasoning process that can be identified in Arrernte discourse. Chapter 6 brings together the significant conclusions from this study.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
See also: (E) mere
Dewi, Putu Dian Aryswari Octania (2012). The translation of emotions in Eat, Pray, Love into Makan, Doa, Cinta: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach. Thesis, Udayana University, Denpasar.
Chappell, Hilary M. (1978). Semantics of some causatives in Chinese and English. BA(Hons) thesis, Australian National University.
Bramley, Nicolette Ruth (1987). The meaning of ‘love’ and ‘hate’ and other emotion words in Japanese and English. BA(Hons) thesis, Australian National University.
Rating:
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Bromhead, Helen (2018). Landscape and culture – Cross-linguistic perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: 10.1075/clscc.9
This book is based, in part, on the author’s PhD thesis:
Bromhead, Helen (2013). Mountains, rivers, billabongs: Ethnogeographical categorization in cross-linguistic perspective. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
The relationship between landscape and culture seen through language is an exciting and increasingly explored area. This ground-breaking book contributes to the linguistic examination of both cross-cultural variation and unifying elements in geographical categorization.
The study focuses on the contrastive lexical semantics of certain landscape words in a number of languages. It presents landscape concepts as anchored in a human-centred perspective, based on our cognition, vision, and experience in places. The aim is to show how geographical vocabulary sheds light on the culturally and historically shaped ways people see and think about the land around them. Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) is used throughout, because it allows an analysis of meaning which is both fine-grained and transparent, and culturally sensitive.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
See also: (E) bay, (E) beach, (E) billabong, (E) bush, (E) cliff, (E) coast, (E) cordillera, (E) cove, (E) creek, (E) dam, (E) desert, (E) field, (E) fleuve, (E) harbour, (E) hill, (E) hills, (E) inlet, (E) island, (E) karu, (E) meadow, (E) mountain, (E) mountain range, (E) mountains, (E) nyaru, (E) ocean, (E) paddock, (E) peninsula, (E) pila, (E) precipice, (E) puli, (E) puti, (E) river, (E) rivière, (E) sea, (E) seaside, (E) shore, (E) sierra, (E) stream, (E) tali, (E) the bush, (E) tjukitji
Bromhead, Helen (2013). Mountains, rivers, billabongs: Ethnogeographical categorization in cross-linguistic perspective. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
A more recent publication building on this one is:
Bromhead, Helen (2018). Landscape and culture – Cross-linguistic perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
This thesis examines the topic of ethnogeographical categorization by looking at the contrastive lexical semantics of a selection of landscape terms in a number of languages. The main languages in focus are English, including the Australian variety of English, French, Spanish, and the Australian Aboriginal language Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara.
The thesis argues that languages and cultures categorize the geographical environment in diverse ways. Common elements of classification are found across the selected languages, but it is argued that different priorities are given to these factors. Moreover, the thesis finds that there are language-specific aspects of the landscape terms, often motivated by culture and land use. Notably, this thesis presents ethnogeographical concepts as being anchored in an anthropocentric perspective, based on human vision and experience in space.
The Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) technique of semantic analysis is used throughout. The use of the universal concepts and language of NSM allows the author to clearly state the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic similarities and differences in the semantics of the landscape terms examined. It is argued that this methodology provides an effective tool in the exploration of ethnogeographical categories.
Areas of landscape vocabulary covered in this thesis include words for ‘long flowing-water places’, such as river, in chapter 3; words for ‘standing-water places’, such as lake, in chapter 4; words for ‘elevated places’, such as mountain, in chapter 5; seascape terms, such as coast, in chapter 6; and words for larger areas of the land, such as desert and the bush, in chapters 7 and 8. The thesis also offers suggestions for new directions for research.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Arnawa, Nengah (2007). Semantik universal dan pembelajaran bahasa: Studi kasus pada anak-anak usia 4-6 tahun [Universal semantics and language learning: A case study of children aged 4-6]. Widyadari, 4, 14-23. PDF (open access)
Language learning theory suggests that learning materials should be designed at a higher level than the linguistic competencies of learners. To implement this idea, a description of children’s language is needed. One instrument that can be used to describe children’s language is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, which includes in its lexicon a set of universal meanings (semantic primes) that exist in spite of the variability of human cultures. These meanings are the first to be mastered by children acquiring their first language. Combining the semantic primes in accordance with the morphosyntactic rules of a language produces canonical sentences. Canonical sentences produced by children can be used as a basis for composing language learning materials.
This paper is about language acquisition and language learning. It does not contain any explications or scripts. No rating is provided.
See also: (T) Indonesian
Asano, Yuko (1998). Evidentiality and indirectness in Japanese. Master’s thesis, Australian National University.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
Gladkova, Anna & Larina, Tatiana (2018). Anna Wierzbicka, words and the world. Russian Journal of Linguistics, 22(3), 499-520.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-9182-2018-22-3-499-520 / Open access
Abstract:
This introduction to a special issue of the Russian Journal of Linguistics summarizes Anna Wierzbicka’s contribution to the linguistic study of meaning. It presents the foundations of the NSM approach, discussing the current state of the approach with reference to the 65 semantic primes, universal grammar and the principle of reductive paraphrase in semantic explications. The article also traces the origin of Wierzbicka’s ideas to Leibniz. The NSM framework has been tested on about thirty languages of diverse origin. The applications of the approach are broad and encompass lexical areas of emotions, social categories, speech act verbs, mental states, artifacts and animals, verbs of motion, kinship terms (among others), as well as grammatical constructions.
More information:
Simultaneously published in English and Russian. The Russian version follows the English one.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
See also: (E) happy, (T) Russian
Kotorova, Elizaveta (2018). Analysis of kinship terms using Natural Semantic Metalanguage: Anna Wierzbicka’s approach. Russian Journal of Linguistics, 22(3), 701-710. DOI: 10.22363/2312-9182-2018-22-3-701-710. PDF (open access)
Written in Russian.
This paper provides a brief overview of some publications by Anna Wierzbicka devoted to the study of kinship terms in different languages and cultures. The paper considers the approach of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), proposed by Wierzbicka for describing the semantics of kinship terms based on the use of lexical universals and shows the advantages of this approach in comparison with other methods of analysis. It demonstrates advantages of this method over other methods of semantic analysis, including overcoming eurocentrism tendencies in the analysis of kinship terms.
The paper contains Russian versions of some of the explications proposed in:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2016). New perspectives on kinship: Overcoming the Eurocentrism and scientism of kinship studies through lexical universals. In Nancy Bonvillain (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of linguistic anthropology (pp. 62-79). New York: Routledge.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2016). Back to ‘mother’ and ‘father’: Overcoming the eurocentrism of kinship studies through eight lexical universals. Current Anthropology, 57(4), 408-429.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2017). The meaning of kinship terms: A developmental and cross-linguistic perspective. In Zhengdao Ye (Ed.), The semantics of nouns (pp. 19-62). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wong, Jock Onn (2018). The semantics of logical connectors: therefore, moreover and in fact. Russian Journal of Linguistics, 22(3), 581-604. DOI: 10.22363/2312-9182-2018-22-3-581-604. PDF (open access)
When teaching English words, teachers and textbooks may place more emphasis on “content” words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) than on words that contribute to the “textual” aspect of English, such as logical connectors. A consequence is that even if a student has some mastery of grammar and the use of “content” words, they may not be able to produce cohesive texts or construct logical relations.
Teaching the meanings of logical connectors is not easy, and the traditional use of synonyms and examples of use are not always helpful. Using synonyms in English or supposedly equivalents in the student’s first language is not ideal because the student may end up understanding the word from the perspective of another word or, worse, another language. Using examples of use may be helpful to a certain extent but this method does not spell out the invariant meaning of the logical connector in question and students are expected to draw their own conclusions on the basis of a few examples.
To overcome such pedagogic obstacles, some scholars advocate the use of a maximally clear and minimally ethnocentric metalanguage, the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), to capture word meaning. In this paper, the NSM methodology, founded by Anna Wierzbicka, is used to capture the meaning of three logical connectors, therefore, moreover and in fact, for English language teaching purposes.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
See also: (E) in fact, (E) moreover, (E) therefore
Goddard, Cliff (2018). A semantic menagerie: The conceptual semantics of ethnozoological categories. Russian Journal of Linguistics, 22(3), 539-559. DOI: 10.22363/2312-9182-2018-22-3-539-559. PDF (open access)
This paper proposes and discusses a set of semantic analyses of words from three different levels of the English ethnozoological taxonomic hierarchy: creature (unique beginner), bird, fish, snake, and animal (life-form level), dog and kangaroo (generic level). The analytical framework is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach. Though ultimately resting on the foundational elements of the NSM system, i.e. 65 semantic primes and their inherent grammar of combination, the analysis relies on the analytical concepts of semantic molecules and semantic templates. These provide mechanisms for encapsulating semantic complexity and for modelling relations between successive layers of the hierarchy. Other issues considered include the extent to which cultural components feature in the semantics of ethnozoological categories, and the extent to which semantic knowledge may vary across different speech communities.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
See also: (E) animals, (E) birds, (E) creatures, (E) dogs, (E) eggs, (E) feathers, (E) fish, (E) kangaroos, (E) snakes, (E) wings, (T) English
Sumarni, Laurentia (2011). A semantic and cultural analysis of the colloquial Jakartan Indonesian discourse particles. LLT Journal, 14(1). PDF (open access)
Indonesia is a diglossic speech community, where two significantly different “high” and “low” varieties co-exist. The high variety (Bahasa Indonesia/BI) is the official language of government, education, and formal occasions, while the low variety consists of the non-standard languages commonly spoken in informal ordinary speech. Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian is the most prominent non-standard language, predominant in casual speech and associated with urban youth in the capital city, Jakarta, used by most Generations X and Y in informal communication, novels, TV shows, films, and web-based social networks.
This article discusses the semantic and cultural analysis of two colloquial Jakartan discourse particles (DPs), dong and sih. DPs mark the difference between H and L varieties and are salient features in colloquial speech. However, the usage and meaning of these particles are not considered important in the development of language in Indonesia. Their meanings are hard to pin down because a lot depends on the mood, intonation and tone of voice at the time of utterance. The pragmatic and paralinguistic aspects of the particles are not easily translatable into other languages. NSM is used as a tool for explication to arrive at the semantic core meaning of DPs dong and sih so that they are accessible across languages. Corpus data is taken from 5 novels published between 2004 and 2010.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
See also: (E) dong, (E) sih
Ratna Erawati, Ni Ketut & Ngurah Sulibra, I Ketut (2017). Speech act verb in Old Javanese: Natural Semantics Metalanguage analysis. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 4(2), 71-80. PDF (open access)
Based on their semantic components, verbs in Old Javanese are classified into states, processes, and actions. Speech verbs are a subtype of the latter. In this paper, they are analysed with the help of NSM theory. Based on the analysis of the speech verbs included, we can see that each of them reflects two important components of semantics (dictum and illocutionary purpose) that show similar overall meaning but subtle differences from one verb to another.
The speech act verbs included belong to the following general categories: ask, reply, request, tell, promise, call, scold, persuade, advise, discuss, complain, accuse, entertain, mock, berate.
Crude application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
See also: (E) adaya, (E) adoya, (E) agosthi, (E) ajêmur, (E) akon, (E) amalĕh, (E) amañcana, (E) amarimisi, (E) ambada, (E) amid, (E) aminta, (E) amisuh, (E) Amitĕkĕti, (E) amrahasana, (E) añeta, (E) angdalih, (E) angĕdö, (E) angundang, (E) añjaluk, (E) añodya, (E) apunagi, (E) atag, (E) atutur, (E) cumala, (E) cumarita, (E) dumalih, (E) dumĕlingakĕn, (E) makon, (E) maminta, (E) masahur, (E) masamaya, (E) masasambat, (E) matakwan, (E) mataña, (E) matutur, (E) mawrĕta, (E) sumahur, (E) sumapa, (E) tumaña, (E) tumon, (E) umaradhana
Perović, Slavica (2016). Apologising and the Montenegrin cultural script. Logos et Littera, 1(3), pp. 1-24. PDF (open access)
The paper deals with the representation of the speech act of apology through cultural scripts. The research has been done on a corpus of students’ responses gathered through an interview of the Discourse Completion Task (DCT) type. The speech act of apology is analysed within the politeness theory originated by Brown and Levinson (1987) and the category of ‘face’. The complexity and specificity of this speech act in Montenegrin leads us to establish six semantic components of apologizing for which we devise cultural scripts. Furthermore, two broad categories of apologies are identified: non-verbal and verbal. These are labelled ‘to do is to say’ and ‘to say is to do’, respectively, and give rise to do master scripts. The analysis in this paper relies on the idea of cultural scripts developed by Anna Wierzbicka and Cliff Goddard, executed through the semantic primes of Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM).
Crude application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
See also: (E) (abasement), (E) (admittance), (E) (regret), (E) (responsibility), (E) poniženje, (S) apologies
Marusch, Tina (2010). Natural semantic formalisms? A discussion of the naturalness in Wierzbicka’s approach to lexical semantic analysis. Master’s thesis, Technische Universität Chemnitz. PDF (open access)
The underlying assumption of this thesis is that NSM explications are only partly accessible to the intuition of native speakers. That is, although the analysis consists of natural language and the speaker readily understands every word in isolation, the composite meaning is much more difficult to comprehend. Apart from the alleged clarity and simplicity of the vocabulary, there are other factors influencing
comprehension, such as the complexity of the definition. Furthermore, the subtle differences in meaning are not efficiently enough brought out in the explications for test subjects to recognize the differences as such.
The thesis does not exclude the possibility that NSM paraphrases are a useful tool in lexical semantic analysis and that one can learn many things about meaning from them. For a trained linguist, who is familiar with the structure of the explications, the analyses, especially those of abstract concepts, will be very telling. However, the verifiability through the intuition of native speakers cannot be taken for granted.
Therefore, NSM practitioners cannot claim to avoid obscurity that afflicts many other semantic methods. The claim that NSM submits itself to a higher standard of verifiability than any other rival method cannot be upheld.
Although Marusch’s thesis adopts a rather critical stance vis-a-vis the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach, as the outline above abundantly demonstrates, it is included in the database because it constructs its case on the basis of a number of slightly adapted explications that have been referred to in more recent NSM literature.
No rating is provided.
Kwon, Jeong-Hyun & Lee, Sang-Geun (2017). A study on Korean EFL learners’ perception of English emotion words in the NSM theory. Studies in Linguistics, 43(4), 209-232. DOI: 10.17002/sil..43.201704.209. PDF (open access)
The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which Korean EFL learners (n = 12) at an advanced English proficiency level could distinguish subtle differences in meaning among closely related English emotion words. For data collection, this study conducted two tasks: a sentence-completion task and an explication-recognition task. For the explication-recognition task, the study used seven existing NSM explications and instructed participants to match each of seven emotion words up with its most appropriate explication. They were also asked to underline the component(s) of the explication that affected their choices to minimize any possible casual choices. For the sentence completion task, the participants were asked to fill out each blank (20 blanks in total) with the most appropriate word of emotion and then briefly explain reasons for their choices. The results of this study support the Leibnizian position that it could be more effective for L2 learners to learn culture-specific words with context than without.
No rating is provided.
Hovhannisyan, Hovhannes; Yavrumyan, Marat & Kocharyan, Hayk (2014). The religious factor in Armenia-Turkey relations and in the development of new mechanisms of adaptation. Yerevan: Yerevan State University. PDF (open access)
This report, written before there was any talk about Minimal English, shows how cultural scripts formulated in NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) could possibly play a role in the establishment of normal political relations at an international level. It focuses on the Armenian-Turkish border regions, paying particular attention to tendencies that have the potential to either facilitate or be an obstacle towards the strengthening of mutual trust and the implementation of an open-border policy.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
