Asc Page 13 – nsm-approach.net

(2000) Indonesian – Senses: seeing

Mulyadi (2000). Struktur semantis verba penglihatan dalam Bahasa Indonesia [The semantic structure of verbs of seeing in Indonesian]. Linguistik Indonesia, 18(2), 77-89. PDF (open access)

Written in Indonesian.

This article deals with the semantic structure of the Indonesian seeing verbs related to seeing. Using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory, it finds that the semantic structure of Indonesian verbs related to seeing involves a combination of the elements MELIHAT ‘see’, MERASAKAN ‘feel’, MENGETAHUI ‘know’, MENGATAKAN ‘say’, and MEMIKIRKAN ‘think’. The clusters that form are MELIHAT/MERASAKAN ‘see/feel’, MELIHAT/MENGETAHUI ‘see/know’, MELIHAT/MENGATAKAN ‘see/say’, and MELIHAT/MEMIKIRKAN ‘see/think’.


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(2017) Japanese – Idioms relying on body part terms

Putri, Darni Enzimar (2017). Makna idiom Bahasa Jepang: Kajian Metabahasa Semantik Alami [The meaning of Japanese idioms: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage analysis]. PhD thesis, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar.

Written in Indonesian.

The research reported in this thesis focuses on the analysis of the meaning of Japanese idioms. The Japanese idioms investigated are limited to those including body part terms. The purpose of the research is twofold: (1) to describe and to explain by means of semantic primes a set of phrases belonging to the Japanese language, and (2) to describe and to analyse the semantic structure of idioms in the Japanese language. Anna Wierzbicka’s Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) is used as the basic method for the analysis of the idioms.

The analysis indicates that the idioms can be divided into 3 prototypes: (1) a mental predicate prototype that includes the primes THINK, KNOW, FEEL, WANT, SEE, and HEAR; (2) a speech prototype that involves the prime SAY; and (3) a prototype involving action, events, movement, and contact that is formed around the primes DO, HAPPEN, and MOVE.

(2016) Japanese – Emotions

Putri, Darni Enzimar (2016). Struktur semantis idiom yang bermakna emosi dalam Bahasa Jepang [Semantic structure of idioms referring to emotions in Japanese]. 言葉ジャーナル / Jurnal Kotoba (Andalas University, Indonesia), 3.

Open access

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to describe the literal meaning, using NSM, of a number of Japanese idioms that refer to emotions and include body part terms.

Explications (in Indonesian) are provided for the following phrases: 頭を冷やし atama o hiyasu (‘calm’, lit. ‘cool-headed’), 顔をほころばせた kao o hokorobaseru (‘happy’, lit. ‘with a flinch on one’s face’), 肩の荷 がおり kata no ni ga oriru (‘relieved’, lit. ‘a load off one’s shoulders’), 鼻が高い hana ga takai (‘proud’, lit. ‘long-nosed’), 舌を巻いた shita o maku (‘amazed’, lit. ‘tongue rolled up’), 顔 が 赤くなり kao ga akakunaru (‘ashamed’, lit. ‘red-faced’), 顔をくもらせた kao o kumoraseru (‘sad’, lit. ‘cloud-faced’), 親の顔が見たい oya no kao ga mitai (‘dumbfounded’, lit. ‘I want to see their parents’ face’), 耳が痛い mimi ga itai (‘offended’, lit. ‘my ear hurts’), 目のかたきにし me no kataki ni suru (‘hate’, lit. ‘make an eye-enemy of someone’), 鼻 に ついて hana ni tsuku (‘sick and tired’, lit. ‘hit in the nose’), 唇をかむ kuchibiru o kamu (‘disappointed’, lit. ‘biting one’s lip’), 首をひねった kubi o hineru (‘confused’, lit. ‘head leaning to one side’), 胸が潰れる mune ga tsubureru (‘totally shocked’, lit. ‘heart-no-longer-beating’), 腹が立つ hara ga tatsu (‘angry’, lit. ‘stomach standing up’), 頭にき atama ni kuru (‘get mad’, lit. ‘come to one’s head’), 腰が抜け koshi ga nukeru (‘go weak on the knees’, lit. ‘ have one’s hips fall out from under one’), 目を白黒させ me o shirokurosaseru (‘surprised’, lit. ‘eyes made black and white’), 尻に火が付い shiri ni hi ga tsuku (‘restless’, lit. ‘a fire lit on one’s butt’), 二の足を踏ん ni no ashi o fumu (‘hesitant’, lit. ‘stepping on one’s second foot’), 大きな顔をし ookiina kao o suru (‘arrogant’, lit. ‘making a big face’).

More information:

Written in Indonesian.

The explication provided for 目に沁みた me ni shimita (‘mesmerized’, lit. ‘my eyes smart’) is unreliable. There is no evidence that the phrase has the indicated metaphorical meaning.

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(2014) Japanese – SEE

Purnawati, Ketut Widya (2014). Japanese mental predicate ‘see’ in kanji: 見る miru, 観る miru, 視る miru, 看る miru: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach. Lingual: Journal of Language and Culture, 3(2).

DOI: 10.24843/LJLC.2014.v03.i02.p07 / Open access

Abstract:

The semantic prime SEE is lexicalized in Japanese as MIRU, which is written as 見る in Japanese kanji and kana. Within the Japanese version of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, MIRU 見る belongs to the group of Mental Predicates. In Japanese itself, though, the verb miru is not written only in one way as mentioned above, but may also be written in other ways, such as 観る miru, 視る miru, and 看る miru. In general, these kanji denote the semantic prime SEE – or MIRU in Japanese. However, each of them has actually its own specific meaning as well. This paper is aimed at defining the differences between the miru verbs in Japanese.

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(2014) English, Indonesian – Medical concept of ‘damage’

Jayantini, I Gusti Agung Sri Rwa (2014). The medical concept of damage and its Indonesian equivalent cedera: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach. Lingual: Journal of Language and Culture, 3(2). DOI: 10.24843/LJLC.2014.v03.i02.p06. PDF (open access)

This paper investigates the meaning configuration of the English medical concept ‘damage’ and its Indonesian equivalent ‘cedera’ as one of the interesting phenomena faced in English-Indonesian medical terminology translation. The former is found in the medical textbook entitled General Ophtamology while the latter is its Indonesian translation identified in Oftamologi Umum. The two books are references for the study of eye disease and medication. Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) theory is utilized to explicate the meaning of the terms. Adding the specific features of meaning once the basic explication is drawn up allows for the distinctive characteristics of ‘damage’ and ‘cedera’ to be comprehensively presented.


Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner

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(2006) Burmese – Positive emotions

Harris, Petrina A. (2006). Someone feels something good: A Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach to defining Burmese positive emotions. Master’s thesis, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, Dallas.

Held at the GIAL library, call number “495.80143 H315s 2006”.

(2016) Chinese (Cantonese, Teochew) – ‘Uncle’-type kinship terms

Xue, Wendi (2016). The semantics of ‘uncle’-type kinship terms in Cantonese (Guangzhou) and Teochew (Jieyang). Master’s thesis, Australian National University.

Kinship stands as the foundation of all human societies, and kinship terms have been an important area of research in cultural anthropology and linguistics. Although scholars have accumulated much information on kinship terminology across many languages, there is still a gap to be bridged regarding the Sinitic languages, especially the non-Mandarin varieties of Chinese; moreover, many previous studies require semantic reanalysis so that the native speaker’s point of view can be revealed. This thesis examines the under-surveyed groups of kinship terms which are semantically related to the English category of ‘uncle’ (henceforth ‘uncle’-type) in Cantonese and Teochew, and uses the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) for their semantic analysis. It offers full NSM explications for the 32 ‘uncle-type’ terms in the two languages under three major categories: father’s side, mother’s side and in-laws; it also explains how these explications are arrived at and discusses the similarities and differences in the semantic patterns between these two non-Mandarin Chinese varieties. An innovative aspect of the thesis is that it proposes four culture-specific semantic molecules in explications. As well as shedding light on the under-explored area of ‘uncle’-type kinship terminology in Sinitic languages, this work highlights the diversity within Han Chinese culture, which has often been misunderstood as a homogeneous system based on the prevailing Mandarin-centric conventions.


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

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(2014) English, Japanese – Proverbs

Neale, Miles (2014). No rest for the wicked; no leisure for the poor: A comparison of Japanese and English proverbs using Natural Semantic Metalanguage. BA(Hons) thesis, University of Queensland.

Abstract:

Can two proverbs created by different cultures in different languages have the same meaning? This dissertation presents the results of an investigation comparing the core meanings of ten Japanese and English proverbs that certain proverb dictionaries define as being equivalent in meaning. The thesis compares Japanese proverbs chosen from iroha karuta, a proverb-based card game, with English ‘equivalents’ listed in Japanese proverb dictionaries. The investigation uses data from the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese, the British National Corpus and a corpus of internet blogs to develop semantic explications that demonstrate the core meaning of each proverb. These explications reveal that many of the Japanese proverbs rely on a different metaphor, offer different advice and index a different real-world situation compared to their English ‘equivalents’. The results of this investigation demonstrate how proverbs reproduce folk wisdom, ritual and the differing ideologies of Japanese and English culture.

More information:

The following proverbs are explicated and compared:

Nen niwa nen o ireyo versus Look before you leap
Binbō hima nashi versus No rest for the wicked
Inu mo arukeba bō ni ataru versus Every dog has its day
Ryōyaku wa kuchi ni nigashi versus Good medicine tastes bitter
Ron yori shōko versus The proof of the pudding is in the eating
Nakittsura ni hachi versus To pour salt on the wound
Atama kakushite shiri kakusazu versus The foolish ostrich buries its head in the sand (and thinks it is not seen)
Chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru versus Many a little makes a mickle
Hana yori dango versus Pudding before praise
Raku areba ku ari versus There is no pleasure without pain

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(2009) Emotions

Besemeres, Mary, & Wierzbicka, Anna (2009). Emotion terms as a window on culture, social psychology and subjective experience. In S. V. Ionov et al. (Eds.), Language and emotions: Semantic and pragmatic aspects. Festschrift for Viktor Ivanovich Shakhovsky (pp. 14-32). Volgograd: Volgograd University Press.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2005) Christ’s “eucharistic words”

Wierzbicka, Anna (2005). W poszukiwaniu lepszego zrozumienia “słów eucharystycznych” Chrystusa [In search of a better understanding of Christ’s “eucharistic words”]. Znak, 604, 33-55.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(1998) NSM primes SOMEONE, SOMETHIING

Bogusławski, Andrzej (1998). The semantic primitives ‘someone’, ‘something’ and the Russian contradistinction -nibud’ vs. -to. In Maciej Grochowski, & Gerd Hentschel (Eds.), Funktionsworter im Polnischen (pp. 33-35). Oldenburg: BIS.

(1999) Language, mind, culture [BOOK]

Wierzbicka, Anna (1999). Język – umysł – kultura [Language, mind, culture]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.

Abstract:

This book is an anthology of papers and chapters by Anna Wierzbicka, originally published in English and appearing here in a Polish translation.

Table of contents:

I. Językowa kategoryzacja świata [Language categorization of the world]

1. Prototypy i warianty [Prototypes and variants]
2. Prototypy w semantyce i pragmatyce: Eksplikowanie znaczeń wyrażających postawy uczuciowe [Prototypes in semantics and pragmatics: Explication of meanings expressing emotional attitudes]
3. Owoce i warzywa: Semantyka kategoryzacji ludzkiej [Fruit and vegetables: The semantics of human categorization]
4. Mówienie o emocjach: Semantyka, kultura i poznanie [Talking about emotions: Semantics, culture, and cognition]
5. Emocje: Język i “skrypty kulturowe” [Emotions: Language and “cultural scripts”]

II. Kultura a pragmatyka [Culture and pragmatics]

6. Różne kultury, różne języki, różne akty mowy [Different cultures, different languages, different speech acts]
7. Akty i gatunki mowy w różnych językach i kulturach [Speech acts and speech genres in different languages and cultures]
8. Włoska reduplikacja: Pragmatyka międzykulturowa i semantyka illokucyjna [Italian reduplication: Cross-cultural pragmatics and illocutionary semantics]

III. Kultura a gramatyka [Culture and grammar]

9. Przypadki gramatyczne a natura człowieka [Grammatical cases and the nature of man]
10. Etnoskładnia i filozofia gramatyki [Ethno-syntax and the philosophy of grammar]

IV. Kultura a słownictwo [Culture and vocabulary]

11. Znaczenie nazw kolorów i uniwersalia widzenia [The meaning of color terms and universal vision]
12. Słownik kluczem do historii i kultury: “Ojczyzna” w językach niemieckim, polskim i rosyjskim
[Lexicon as a key to history, culture, and society: “Homeland” and “fatherland” in German, Polish and Russian]
13. “Wolność” – “Libertas” – “Freedom” – “Svoboda”: Uniwersalne ideały czy specyficzne dla danej kultury jednostki leksykalne? [Wolność – Libertas – Freedom – Svoboda: Universal ideals or culture-specific lexical units?]
14. “Duša” – “Soul” i “Mind”: Dowody językowe na rzecz etnopsychologii i historii kultury [Duša – soul and mind: Linguistic evidence for ethnopsychology and cultural history]

More information:

Chapter 1 is a translation of: ?

Chapter 2 is a translation of: Prototypes in semantics and pragmatics: Explicating attitudinal meanings in terms of prototypes (1989)

Chapter 3 is a translation of: Apples are not a “kind of fruit”: The semantics of human categorization (1984)

Chapter 4 is a translation of: Talking about emotions: Semantics, culture, and cognition (1992)

Chapter 5 is a translation of: Emotion, language, and cultural scripts (1994)

Chapter 6 is a translation of: Different cultures, different languages, different speech acts: Polish vs. English (1985)

Chapter 7 is a translation of: ?

Chapter 8 is a translation of: Italian reduplication: Cross-cultural pragmatics and illocutionary semantics (1986)

Chapter 9 is a translation of: ?

Chapter 10 is a translation of: Ethno-syntax and the philosophy of grammar (1979)

Chapter 11 is a translation of: The meaning of color terms: Semantics, culture, and cognition (1990)

Chapter 12 is a translation of: Lexicon as a key to history, culture, and society: “Homeland” and “fatherland” in German, Polish and Russian (1995) – See also: Understanding cultures through their key words (1997), chapter 4

Chapter 13 is a translation of: Understanding cultures through their key words (1997), chapter 3

Chapter 14 is a translation of: Soul and mind: Linguistic evidence for ethnopsychology and cultural history (1989)

See the original chapters for abstracts and links to explications and cultural scripts.

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(2009) English – FRUSTRATION

Besemeres, Mary, & Wierzbicka, Anna (2009). The concept of frustration: A culture-specific emotion and a cultural key word. In Agata Błachnio, & Aneta Przepiórka (Eds.), Closer to emotions: Vol. 3 (pp. 211-226). Lublin: KUL.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2011) Empirically grounded universals

Wierzbicka, Anna (2011). Uniwersalia ugruntowane empirycznie [Empirically grounded universals]. Teksty Drugie, 2011(1/2), 13-30. PDF (open access)

Written in Polish.

One of the central debates in human sciences concerns the relation between human universals and human diversity. Some scholars – for example the cognitivist Stephen Pinker – emphasize the unity of human nature and treat the diversity as more or less superficial. Others – for example the anthropologist Clifford Geertz – emphasize the diversity and are sceptical of any proposed universals. The NSM theory of language, culture and cognition developed by linguists Anna Wierzbicka and Cliff Goddard rejects the “either-or” approaches to universality and diversity and explores cultural diversity with analytical techniques based on empirically grounded universals. Through decades of cross-linguistic investigations, NSM researchers have identified a set of universal human concepts, lexically embodied, as evidence suggests, in all languages, together with their inherent grammar. In hundreds of descriptive studies, they have applied this approach to the investigation of culturally-shaped systems of meaning, using as their common measure the set of “universal words”, that is, lexically embodied concepts found in the intersection of all sampled languages.

This article argues that the NSM approach can bring a resolution of the stalemate between universalists such as Pinker and relativists (or “anti-antirelativists”) such as Geertz: NSM provides a conceptual basis on which human sciences can build, without ethnocentrism, even in the era of a global domination of English and its use, in scholarship and in education, can facilitate genuine cross-cultural understanding.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

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(2005) Finnish – Emotions

Tuovila, Seija (2005). Kun on tunteet: Suomen kielen tunnesanojen semantiikkaa [Such emotions: The semantics of emotion words in the Finnish language]. Oulu: Oulu University Press.

Open access

Abstract:

This study focuses on the semantics of Finnish emotion words (i.e. words comparable to English terms such as joy and anger). Male and female conceptual frameworks for emotions are compared, as well as those of different age groups. Both a qualitative and a quantitative analysis are carried out; the data consist of the written responses of a hundred Finns to a questionnaire item that asked them to name various emotions.

The cognitively most important emotion words for Finns are found to be: viha, ilo, rakkaus, suru, pelko, onnellisuus, kateus, ahdistus, väsymys, masennus, tuska, ihastus, tyytyväisyys, inho, jännitys, pettymys, kaipaus, rauhallisuus, ikävä, and toivo. According to the study, the emotions with the highest frequency of expression in the Finnish language are hatred, joy, love and sorrow. Women are found to have more words for emotions than men. The emotion vocabulary includes more negative words than positive ones. The findings suggest that the Finns think more often good of other people than bad, and more often bad of themselves than good.

The explications given for the 51 most commonly used emotion words are based on principles developed within the NSM approach. The main semantic categories for emotion words are as follows: “Something good happened or will happen”, “Something bad happened or will happen”, “I want”, “I don’t want”, “I think something about myself”, “I think something about others”, “I know / don’t know”. The precise semantic contents of emotion words is explained in terms of prototypical scenarios.

More information:

Written in Finnish.

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(2007) Russian – Emotions, attitudes and values

Gladkova, Anna (2007). Russian emotions, attitudes and values: Selected topics in cultural semantics. PhD thesis, Australian National University.

Abstract:

This thesis explores the relationship between the Russian language and Russian culture through a detailed semantic analysis of selected expressions relating to emotions, attitudes, and values. The basic idea behind the study is that some words of the lexicon reflect cultural beliefs and attitudes, that is, that the meanings of these words encode ways of thinking and ways of understanding which are shared by speakers of a language. The cultural significance of the expressions under study is demonstrated by their semantic relationship to other Russian cultural key words and cultural ideas. The thesis shows the linguistic and cultural specificity of the words by comparing them with their English translational equivalents. The meanings of these English quasi-equivalents are discussed in relation to Anglo cultural norms. Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) is used to explicate meanings and to state cultural nonns. The explications of meanings are presented in two NSM versions – Russian and English. To justify the use of Russian NSM version, a focused study of the exponents of semantic primitives in Russian and their syntactic properties is undertaken. This study shows that the Russian and English NSM versions are equivalent. NSM provides a culture-neutral tool of linguistic analysis which allows one to formulate the results in a manner free from ethnocentric bias. The thesis seeks to contribute to a clearer understanding of Russian culture and of ways of thinking as they are embedded in the Russian language. The results of the thesis can be applied in language instruction, teaching cross-cultural communication, bilingual sh1dies, cognitive science and cultural psychology.

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(2017) Chinese – Cultural key words: RÈNAO

Kornacki, Paweł (2017). What does it mean to have a good time the Chinese way? An ethnopragmatic exploration of a Chinese cultural keyword. In Anna Duszak, Arkadiusz Jabłoński & Agnieszka Leńko-Szymańska (Eds.), East-Asian and Central-European Encounters in Discourse Analysis and Translation (pp. 57-82). Warsaw: Institute of Applied Linguistics. PDF (open access)

The paper examines the main uses and the symbolic significance of the Chinese cultural key word 热 闹 rènao. Often rendered in English with its literal gloss of ‘hot and noisy’, it has been viewed by both Chinese and Western scholars as primary in making sense of Chinese social behaviour, across a variety of contexts. The present study analyses two Chinese cultural texts – a report from a local temple festival and a debate over two different styles of feasting, which frequently rely on this salient cultural notion. While the formula crowds, events, noise in the psychological literature dealing with this Chinese social value is often confirmed by the described cultural data, it is argued that close attention to the meaning and form of the descriptive language used by the cultural actors yields valuable insights into indigenous viewpoints. In particular, the notion of 热 闹 rènao turns out to be closely intertwined with other prominent Chinese cultural concerns, such as the idea of 人情味 rén qíng wèi (‘flavour of human feelings’), Chinese cultural identity, Chinese language, and a particularly complex culinary culture as described in the anthropological literature.


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

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(2018) French – Mental predicates

Jaworska, Anna (2018). NSM exponents of mental predicates in French: Translation, commentary, and lexical elaboration of THINK. Folio: A Students’ Journal, 4, 29-62. PDF (open access)

This paper is devoted to the NSM exponents of “mental predicates” in French. The aim of the study is to examine how NSM applies to French. The paper focuses on a French translation of 99 canonical sentences (formulated in English) and discusses major difficulties in translating those sentences (in the section “Mental Predicates”) into French.


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

(1994) Japanese – Psychomimes

Hasada, Rie (1994). The semantic aspects of onomatopoeia: Focusing on Japanese psychomimes. MA thesis, Australian National University. PDF (open access)

This thesis aims to examine the semantic aspects of Japanese onomatopoeia, which is among the least studied language phenomena in Japanese linguistics. The focus of the thesis is on explicating the meaning of psychomimes, the onomatopoeic words that refer to emotions. Among Japanese onomatopoeia, psychomimes are the hardest for non-native speakers to acquire. This is because their meanings are more abstract and more culturally embedded than other types of onomatopoeic words. The thesis also considers some cultural aspects that are
linked to Japanese onomatopoeic words, since their explication will facilitate a deeper understanding of the use and meaning of those words.

I demonstrate that the complex Japanese-specific meanings involved in selected psychomimes can be clearly shown and made comprehensible to outsiders when they are translated into the universal or near-universal Natural Semantic Metalanguage and represented in
the framework of a “prototype scenario”. I show that the complex and unique semantic concepts of Japanese psychomimes, which are usually described as ‘untranslatable’, are nonetheless translatable on the level of semantic explication with language-independent semantic
metalanguage. The similarities and dissimilarities in labelling and the conceptualization encoded in different psychomimes become apparent with the use of the universal Natural Semantic Metalanguage.


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

 

See also: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

(2007) Korean – Ethnopsychology and personhood

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2007). Contrastive semantics of Korean ‘maum’ vs. English ‘heart’ and ‘mind’. The Journal of Studies in Language, 22(3), 171-197.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18627/jslg.22.3.200702.171 / Open access

Abstract:

This paper uses the semantic framework provided by the NSM approach to contrast three ethnopsychological constructs: 몸 maum in Korean, and heart and mind in English. The latter are the most common translational equivalents of the Korean term. There is no semantic equivalence: which of the two English words is used to translate 몸 maum in any particular context is contextually driven. All three play a significant role in expressing emotions and thoughts, but no contrastive semantic analysis of the terms is found in the literature. This study shows it is possible to compare culturally loaded and complex concepts in terms of semantic similarities and differences by using an appropriate tertium comparationis. At the same time it indicates that NSM can endow ethnopsychology with a practical and descriptive tool.

More information:

An earlier version of this paper was published as:

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2004). Korean maum vs. English heart and mind: Contrastive semantics of cultural concepts. In Christo Moskovsky (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2003.html.

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