Asano, Yuko (2003). A semantic analysis of epistemic modality in Japanese. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2001) English (Singapore) – Particles (A)
Wong, Jock Onn (2001). To speak or not to speak? The ‘a’ particles of Singlish. National University of Singapore Centre for Advanced Studies Research Papers Series, 37, 33 pp.
A more recent publication building on parts of this one is chapter 7 (pp. 230-259) of:
Wong, Jock O. (2014). The culture of Singapore English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139519519
(2000) English (Singapore) – ME, MEH
Wong, Jock Onn (2000). The ‘mE’ particle of Singlish. National University of Singapore Centre for Advanced Studies Research Papers Series, 18, 25 pp.
The non-standard variety of Singapore English commonly known as Singlish has a set of particles the meanings of which have intrigued and also evaded many researchers. These researchers have described the meanings of the particles mostly with a functional approach, in which the functions of a particle under study are listed, and the meaning of the particle characterized in terms of these functions. Results have proved futile. In this paper, the meaning of the Singlish particle ‘mE’ (commonly spelt ‘meh’ elsewhere) is described using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach, which involves corpus study, native speaker introspection, and a reductive paraphrase using semantic primitives to represent the invariant meaning. With this semantic model, the meaning of ‘mE’ can be clearly, precisely, and unambiguously stated in simple English. The semantic formula is shown to be applicable to all instances of use, thus achieving empirical adequacy.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(1994) English (Aboriginal)
Harkins, Jean (1994). Bridging two worlds: Aboriginal English and crosscultural understanding. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
This sociolinguistic study of Aboriginal English of Alice Springs town camps, published with the blessing of the Yipirinya School Council at Alice Springs, where the author’s linguistic research was based, aims to show that Aboriginal English is a full dialect of English, whose resources it uses to express Aboriginal conceptual distinctions. It explains how there can be misunderstanding when Aboriginal English is seen as an imperfect attempt to learn standard English. The study discusses implications for education particularly for language programs at Yipirinya School.
This book is the published version of:
Harkins, Jean (1988). English as a ‘two-way’ language in Alice Springs. MA thesis, Australian National University.
(1988) English (Aboriginal)
Harkins, Jean (1988). English as a ‘two-way’ language in Alice Springs. MA thesis, Australian National University.
This thesis is a sociolinguistic study of the use of English by Aboriginal people in the Alice Springs town camps. It seeks to describe Aboriginal speakers’ English in its social and cultural context, with special reference to issues in the development of an English language programme at Yeperenye School. Chapter 1 gives a sociolinguistic sketch of the uses of English and other languages in the town camps, including language choice and codeswitching, and a review of literature. Chapter 2 examines variation in the noun phrase, including number marking, pronouns, possession, determiners and quantifiers, and prepositions, arguing that this variation can only be explained with reference to the speakers’ semantic system. Chapter 3 examines tense, aspect and mood, finding systematic differences in meaning which can explain differences from non-Aboriginal English, particularly in modal expressions. Chapter 4 examines the work of Bernstein, Halliday, Walker and others whose ideas have been influential in education, and demonstrates that there is no lack of logical connections in Aboriginal speakers’ English, through an examination of connectives, causal relations and ellipsis. Chapter 5 discusses the meanings of lexical items and grammatical constructions, pragmatic and illocutionary meanings, and argues that the processes of reanalysis and language change which have given rise to this variety of English are semantically based. Chapter 6 presents the conclusions of this study, including its theoretical implications and implications for education.
(2017) NSM and lexicography
Goddard, Cliff (2017). Natural Semantic Metalanguage and lexicography. In Patrick Hanks, & Gilles-Maurice de Schryver (Eds.), International handbook of modern lexis and lexicography (online). Berlin: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-45369-4_14-1
Abstract:
This chapter gives perspectives on meaning description in lexicography from the standpoint of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach to linguistics, which among contemporary approaches to linguistics can claim the longest and most serious engagement with lexical semantics.
Note:
The Handbook is classified as a “Living Reference Work”, which means it is being continously updated. It was first published in 2017.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2014) English (Ireland) – Opinions
Gąsior, Weronika Zofia (2014). Intercultural pragmatics: An investigation of expressing opinions in Irish English amongst Irish and Polish students. PhD thesis, University of Limerick. PDF (open access)
Research in cross-cultural pragmatics has been limited to a handful of speech acts, and opinions remain rather poorly documented. The aim of this research was to explore the speech act of opinions from the dual perspective of pragmalinguistics-sociopragmatics, focusing additionally on the Irish variety of the English language and the Irish-Polish intercultural context. An empirical study of the expression of opinions among Polish and Irish students was conducted, using a mixed-method approach. The corpus of opinions was gathered through open role-plays among Irish and Polish university students, and it was complemented with focus group interviews which explored issues of sociopragmatic attitudes and awareness in expressing opinions.
The findings suggest that opinions should be treated as a speech act set, quite complex in its execution and an example of a rich environment for investigation of cooccurrence of many speech acts. Consequently, opinions are not achieved by simple ‘I think (that) x…’ sentences, but rather involve a negotiation of meaning represented in the use of concessive (dis)agreements, the most prominent being the use of ‘yes, but’ expressions. Additionally, opinions present not only face-saving strategies, such as those for polite disagreements, but they also promote face-enhancing moves and foster relationship-building communication.
The findings suggest further that in the Irish culture opinions are based on beliefs, while from the Polish participants’ perspective they are also based on facts and expected to be supported in conversation by good arguments. These different perspectives may have repercussions on how both cultures approach exchanges of opinions. While a direct cultural clash between them is not a direct conclusion to be drawn from the data, a possible misinterpretation of each other’s intentions should be pointed out. Consequently, some pedagogical and interculturally-oriented recommendations with reference to opinions are put forward.
(2007) Old English – NSM primes (descriptors)
de la Cruz Cabanillas, Isabel (2007). Semantic primes in Old English: A preliminary study of descriptors. Selim, 14, 37-58.
The aim of this paper, which contains no explications, is to apply the methodology of semantic primes to Old English to check whether it represents a suitable theoretical and methodological framework for the lexical and semantic study of this period. It consists of a preliminary analysis of the semantic primes grouped as Descriptors: BIG/SMALL. The group is discussed taking into account a sample of texts provided by the Helsinki Corpus of English Texts and supplemented by the information contained in the Dictionary of Old English Corpus. The main sources of information on Old English definitions are A Thesaurus of Old English by Roberts and Kay (1995) and A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary by Clark Hall (1931). The article attempts at being just a first approach to the topic, which could be further developed and extended to other semantic categories.
(2016) Historical English – NSM primes: events, movement, contact
Mateo Mendaza, Raquel (2016). Old English semantic primes: Events, movement, contact. PhD thesis, Universidad de la Rioja. PDF (open access)
This PhD thesis by publications consists of the author’s three published papers on Old English (2013 on TOUCH, 2016 on HAPPEN, 2016 on MOVE), preceded by an introduction and a summary of results, and followed by conclusions and perspectives for future research. It pursues the research line into the semantic primes of Old English started by Martín Arista and Martín de la Rosa. It aims at defining the criteria for exponent identification in a historical language and at applying to Old English a set of criteria that make reference to morphological, textual, semantic and syntactic aspects and that are ultimately based on markedness theory. The NSM category selected for analysis is Actions, events, movement, contact, which had not been studied in Old English in previous work.
On the descriptive side, the Old English exponents for the semantic primes TOUCH, HAPPEN and MOVE are identified. These exponents correspond, respectively, to the verbs (ge)hrīnan, (ge)limpan and (ge)styrian. The decision to select these rather than any other verbs is based on the fact that, except for some particular cases, they are the candidates that best satisfy the different morphological, textual, semantic and syntactic requirements imposed by the nature of each semantic prime.
Along with the descriptive results, significant advances are made on the methodological side because the three studies in the Old English exponents for these semantic primes contribute to the whole NSM paradigm by designing and implementing a method for indirect searching for prime exponents in historical languages. The indirect methodology proposed for the historical languages is in contrast with the direct method preferred in natural languages, which is based on linguistic analysis carried out by native speakers of the language and, moreover, on the availability of potentially infinite data.
Sound application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner
(2009) Historical English – Compound adpositions
Guarddon Anelo, María del Carmen (2009). The Natural Semantic Metalanguage of Old English compound adpositions. ES: Revista de filología inglesa, 30, 61-84. PDF (open access)
This paper examines the lexical content of a number of complex adpositions in Old English and the semantic processes that have produced them. Specifically, I have analyzed the complex adpositions that have in, on and at as controlling elements. The theoretical framework used is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage. The semantic primes put forward within this model are used to approach four fundamental aspects: 1) The senses of the component elements that are inherited by the complex adposition and the senses that are blocked; 2) The new senses which were not present in the component elements but arise in the process; 3) The potential semantic incompatibilities that prevent the combination of some adpositions and 4) The internal syntactic organization found in these complex adpositions.
This paper is also concerned with the more general issue of the diachronic evolution of the complex adpositions under analysis. I attempt to unveil the semantic factors that have led to the disappearance of some of these adpositions while others have survived to present-day English.
On the whole, the main goal of this paper is to demonstrate that the explanation of the combinatorial properties of spatial primes can serve to
shed light upon aspects of the grammar of space that have not been clarified yet by the Cognitive Linguistics framework.
No actual explications are put forward in this paper.
(2016) Chinese (Cantonese, Hong Kong) – Particles
Leung, Helen Hue Lam (2016). The semantics of utterance particles in informal Hong Kong Cantonese (Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach). PhD thesis, Griffith University, Brisbane. PDF (open access)
This study identifies the semantic invariants of some commonly-used Cantonese utterance particles in Hong Kong Cantonese. The particles are a distinctive and ubiquitous feature of informal, everyday Cantonese, occurring every 1.5 seconds on average. The particles are necessary for expressing speakers’ transitory attitudes, assumptions, or feelings connected with an utterance. Although they are not grammatically obligatory, conversation sounds unnatural when they are omitted. There are approximately 30 ‘basic’ particles, which can combine with each other to form ‘clusters’, resulting in roughly 100 variations. This number easily surpasses that of comparable particles in Mandarin, and is matched by very few, if any, other languages. Semantic analysis of Cantonese utterance particles is challenging because their meanings are extremely elusive, even to native speakers. The range of use of each particle is so varied and wide-ranging that some Cantonese speakers and scholars have concluded that the particles have no stable semantic content. Prior research on the particles has produced contradictory, vague, obscure or inaccurate descriptions.
This study demonstrates that particles have meaning, by using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach to identify the semantic invariants, or ‘core’ meanings, of a selection of commonly-used utterance particles, namely laa1, wo3, gaa3, laa3, and zaa3. NSM expresses the meanings of words and concepts in reductive paraphrases called explications, where the language used is limited to a set of semantic primes. Using this method, each particle’s meaning is identified and stated in versatile explications which are clear, accurate, translatable, and testable. The explications reliably explain each particle’s range of use in the Hong Kong Cantonese Corpus, which comprises 180 000 words of naturally-occurring Cantonese. One of the most significant findings is that explications for Cantonese utterance particles are typically short and simple. The results prove that the particles have stable and identifiable meanings.
In addition, the explications reveal the role of semantics in determining why particles can or cannot combine in particular ways. The particles selected for analysis occur in many common clusters, e.g. gaa3-laa1, gaa3-zaa3-wo3, while other clusters are unacceptable, e.g. *laa1-wo3. The meanings of particle clusters are widely claimed to be the combined meanings of the particles of which they are made up, but there have been no serious attempts to verify this. To do so would first require accurate definitions of the individual particles. The explications proposed in this study shed light on this neglected area. It is found that where particle clusters are acceptable in speech, the combined explications reveal the meanings of the clusters. A semantic critique of sub-morphemic analyses of monosyllabic particles is also presented.
This study also considers the complexities of using NSM for Hong Kong Cantonese. If basic NSM assumptions are correct, any explication should be able to be expressed in simple and natural Cantonese, giving the same meaning as in any other language. This thesis identifies and evaluates Cantonese exponents of all the 65 proposed semantic primes, and explores some Cantonese-specific issues. Each particle explication is presented in English and Cantonese.
(2006) English, Polish – Moral dilemmas
Wierzbicka, Anna (2006). Współczesne dylematy moralne przez pryzmat dwóch języków – angielskiego i polskiego [Contemporary moral dilemmas through the perspective of English and Polish]. Etnolingwistyka, 18, pp. 145-164.
Written in Polish.
The linguistic communities of Poles and English-speaking Australians live in their respective linguistic worlds and coherent “moral languages”. The two languages, however, differ from each other in their key words and concepts. As a result, the moral dilemmas of these communities also differ. The author, a speaker of English and Polish belonging to two “moral worlds”, analyzes a few key English concepts with no adequate Polish equivalents. Examples are taken from a discussion in the newspaper The Australian in 2006. Questions sent to the editor were answered by eminent figures (a writer, historian, editor, judge, archbishop), who used moral concepts expressed with English words and expressions privacy, invasion of privacy, entitled, to commit oneself, to move on, unreasonable, committed, evidence, fair and unfair or experience. The questions and answers are supplemented in the article with the author’s comments and precise explications in the form of “cultural scripts”. The latter are constructed from the elements of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, developed and used by the author for many years. It is concluded that “the way we think depends to some extent on the language we speak”. In order to liberate oneself from the grips of language, one must, while explicating the meanings of words, use universal primes.
(1996) Polish, German – Interjections
Wierzbicka, Anna (1996). Między modlitwą a przekleństwem: O Jezu! i podobne wyrażenia na tle porównawczym [Between praying and swearing: A comparative study of Jesus! and other expressions]. Etnolingwistyka, 8, pp. 25-39.
Abstract:
Interjections such as Polish Mój Boże (‘Oh, my God!’), O Jezu (‘Jesus!’) or Matko Boska! (lit. ‘Oh, Virgin Mary!’) are usually neglected in descriptions of language for being “marginal” or “semantically empty” (or both at once). In this paper, these expressions are treated with due attention and a rich analysable semantics is attributed to them. A detailed comparison of Polish Mój Boże! and German Mein Gott illustrates the differences in the range of emotions present in each of the two expressions. It also indicates the need to conduct detailed comparative research on apparently equivalent interjections in various languages.
More information:
Written in Polish.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2018) Narrative Medicine
Peeters, Bert, & Marini, Maria Giulia (2018). Narrative Medicine across languages and cultures: Using Minimal English for increased comparability of patients’ narratives. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 259-286). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_11
Narrative medicine is an approach to medicine which seeks to combine with and enhance conventional evidence-based medicine by adding perspectives and experience in medical humanities. The chapter expounds on the importance of effective communication with patients and in particular on the importance of having some structured protocols (scripts, interview prompts, and the like) to encourage more comprehensive and effective patient narratives and to allow for increased comparability between them. It tells the story of an emerging collaboration with Minimal English and an international pilot study applying Minimal English to such protocols.
Appendix A reproduces the new Narrative Medicine storyline, written in Minimal Italian and in Minimal English.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2018) Minimal Finnish
Vanhatalo, Ulla, & Torkki, Juhana (2018). Introducing the concept of the ‘65 words’ to the public in Finland. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 225-258). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_10
The authors report and reflect on their experiences of popularizing the ‘65 words’ method in various domains of public life in Finland. The ‘65 words’ method is a simplified version of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, modified and adapted to the Finnish language. Case studies are presented from media, business, politics, the church, and education.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2018) Minimal English – Big History
Christian, David (2018). Big History meets Minimal English. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 201-224). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_9
Abstract:
“Big History” refers to the teaching of human history at very large scales, including evolutionary history and cosmology. If Minimal English attempts to find a common language for humanity, Big History attempts to find a common historical story, a modern origin story shared by all humans. To what extent, then, can a modern science-based origin story be expressed in Minimal English? In dialogue with Wierzbicka’s chapter on the universe, which immediately precedes this one (“Talking about the universe in Minimal English: Teaching science through words that children can understand”), this chapter asks what aspects of a modern origin story will prove most challenging to the Minimal English project.
The appendix to this paper is a “partial history of the world and the rise of humanity, told in Minimal English” (Anna Wierzbicka and Cliff Goddard, September 2016). The rating below refers to the appendix.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2018) English – Understandings of the universe
Wierzbicka, Anna (2018). Talking about the universe in Minimal English: Teaching science through words that children can understand. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 169-200). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_8
Science education faces many challenges, not least that of rendering the key propositions into language that children can readily understand. This chapter applies Minimal English to a canonical science education narrative about changing scientific and pre-scientific understandings of the universe. It attempts to capture the key beliefs and mindsets associated with the views of Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Galileo, with a look ahead to the possibilities of further advances in scientific thinking about the cosmos.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2018) English – TORTURE
Mooney, Annabelle (2018). Torture laid bare: Global English and human rights. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 143-167). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_7
The prohibition against torture is a well settled, absolute right in international law and human rights. As such, it presents an ideal case to understand what is at stake in human rights generally. The chapter considers the definitions of ‘torture’ contained in the UN Convention Against Torture and the Rome Statute, and then attempts to distill their essence into clear explanatory texts in Minimal English. This offers a way of thinking about the being at the heart of human rights: the human person.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2018) Ethics – A global charter
Wierzbicka, Anna (2018). Charter of global ethic in Minimal English. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 113-141). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_6
Abstract:
Taking UNESCO’s Earth charter as its point of departure, this chapter argues that the globalizing world needs a global ethics. At the same time, the chapter builds on the Declaration toward a global ethic (1993) endorsed by the Parliament of the World’s Religions (and inspired by the Dalai Lama) whose Principle 6 reads: “This must be a Declaration translatable into other languages”. A charter of 24 ethical norms phrased in Minimal English is proposed as a platform for a global discourse on ethics.
More information:
Revised translation of a Polish original published in 2015 and again in 2017 as:
Wierzbicka, Anna (2015). Karta etyki globalnej w słowach uniwersalnych [A charter of global ethics in universal words]. Teksty Drugie, 2015(4), 257-279.
Wierzbicka, Anna (2017). Karta etyki globalnej w słowach uniwersalnych [A charter of global ethics in universal words]. In Jerzy Bartmiński, Stanisława Niebrzegowska-Bartmińska, Marta Nowosad-Bakalarczyk, & Jadwiga Puzynina (Eds.), Etyka słowa: Wybór opracowań. Vol. 1 (pp. 523-538). Lublin: UMCS.
Rating:
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
(2018) Minimal English
Farrelly, Nicholas, & Wesley, Michael (2018). Internationalizing Minimal English: Perils and parallels. In Cliff Goddard (Ed.), Minimal English for a global world: Improved communication using fewer words (pp. 95-112). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62512-6_5
This chapter links the development of Minimal English to the concerns of practitioners and analysts of international affairs. Using examples from the Asian region, the authors suggest that, in this new era of multipolar intercultural relations, the need for neutral languages for coordination is greater than ever. A case study of US–China relations shows that using English in ways that do not acknowledge its heavy cultural and power baggage can invite misunderstanding and resistance. The authors argue that Minimal English offers a chance to move from a mode of domination and socialization to a mode of coordination and renegotiation.
The rating below relates to the explications, which were developed by Anna Wierzbicka, Cliff Goddard, and Zhengdao Ye.
Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners
