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(2012) Chinese (Cantonese) – Particles (laa1)

Leung, Helen Hue Lam (2012). The semantics of the Cantonese utterance particle ‘laa1’. In Maïa Ponsonnet, Loan Dao, & Margit Bowler (Eds.), Proceedings of the 42nd Australian Linguistic Society Conference – 2011 (pp. 245-280). http://langfest.anu.edu.au/index.php/als/als2011. PDF (open access)

This paper will carry out an in-depth semantic analysis of one of the most salient and frequently used Cantonese utterance particles, laa1 (high level tone). Cantonese utterance particles occur in continuous talk every 1.5 seconds on average, and play a very important role in Cantonese speakers’ self-expression.
There are approximately one hundred utterance particles in Cantonese, outnumbering those in Mandarin. However, it has been suggested that the particles have no meaning, and there has not been much comprehensive semantic analysis of individual particles. Where utterance particles have
previously been described, the descriptions do not fully and accurately convey their meanings.
In this study, a range of naturally occurring examples of laa1 from the Hong Kong Cantonese Corpus will be examined, and an invariant meaning of laa1 proposed using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). This approach offers advantages over previous descriptions of laa1, and will allow a simple,
precise and translatable definition to be constructed. It is found that laa1 indicates some shared knowledge between a speaker and an addressee. This study addresses the current gap in Cantonese linguistics, and contributes to the understanding of Cantonese utterance particles.

(2013) Chinese (Cantonese) – Particles (gaa3, particle combinations)

Leung, Helen Hue Lam (2013). The Cantonese utterance particle ‘gaa3’ and particle combinations: An NSM semantic analysis. In John Henderson, Marie-Eve Ritz, & Celeste Rodríguez Louro (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2012 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society (27 pp.). https://sites.google.com/site/als2012uwa/proceedings. PDF (open access)

Cantonese utterance particles occur in ordinary Cantonese conversation every one or two seconds. Speech becomes unnatural when they are omitted. They are often used in combinations of more than one, with ‘basic’ and ‘compound’ particles totalling approximately one hundred. However, it is generally agreed that the particles’ meanings are extremely elusive. This study uses the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework and natural speech data from the Hong Kong Cantonese Corpus to explain the meaning of the utterance particle gaa3 as used in statements. Gaa3  is the second most frequently used utterance particle in the corpus, and the eleventh most frequently used Cantonese word
overall. The NSM explication proposed clearly states what the ‘core’ or invariant meaning of gaa3 is. Furthermore, the explications of gaa3 and two other particles, laa1 and wo3, can reveal why they can
(or cannot) combine, and what their composite meanings are. This is a new approach to the untested idea that the meaning of particle ‘clusters’ is equal to that of the individual particles combined. The explications begin to expose a system with which the vast array and patterns of Cantonese utterance particles can be explained in a logical way.

(2006) Korean – Verbs (KKAY-DA, CCOGAY-DA, NANUU-DA)

이정애 [Lee, Jeong-Ae] (2006). *한국어의 메타언어적 의미분석을 위한 소론 [A Natural Semantic Metalanguage study of Korean – focused on the Korean verbs kkay-da, ccogay-da and nanuu-da] [In Korean]. 담화와 인지 [Discourse and Cognition], 13(1), 221-242.

(2007) Korean – 화 hwa

이정애 [Lee, Jeong-Ae] (2007). 문화간 의사소통을 위한 ‘화’ 의 의미분석 [A semantic analysis of the emotion word hwa for cross-cultural communication]. 담화와 인지 [Discourse and Cognition], 14(1).

Written in Korean.

See also:

(2011) Korean – Interjections

이정애 [Lee, Jeong-Ae] (2011). *NSM에 기초한 국어 간투사의 의미 기술 [The semantic description of interjections in a Korean-based NSM] [In Korean]. 한국어 의미학 [Korean Studies in Meaning], 36.

(2012) Korean – Indirectness

이정애 [Lee, Jeong-Ae] (2012). *국어의 간접성과 NSM [Indirectness in Korean and Natural Semantic Metalanguage] [In Korean]. 語文學 [Chinese Literature], 118.

(2005) German (?) – Colour adjectives

이해윤 [Lee, Hae Yun] (2005). 기본 색채 형용사의 의미기술 [The meanings of colour adjectives]. 獨語敎育 (Koreanische Zeitschrift für deutschunterricht) [Korean Journal for German Language Teaching], 33, 141-160.

Written in Korean.

(1997) English – Property transfer verbs

Langford, Ian (1997). The semantics of legal speech acts: Property transfer verbs. BA(Hons) thesis, University of New England.


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

(2000) English – MURDER, MANSLAUGHTER, HOMICIDE

Langford, Ian (2000). Forensic semantics: The meaning of murder, manslaughter and homicide. Forensic Linguistics, 7(1), 72-94. DOI: 10.1558/ijsll.v7i1.72

The purpose of this paper is to show how the meaning of an expression referring to a crime can be stated in simple words that anyone can understand. Judges need to explain to juries the meaning of the crime that the accused is charged with, the accused needs to understand it, interpreter and translator need to understand it, and of course, lawyers need to understand the charge when advising clients and when preparing for trial. This paper shows how the forensic linguist can help people involved in the criminal justice system to understand the meaning of expressions referring to crimes. This can be done by a method of analysis which represents meaning through about sixty basic English words and a simple syntax known to all speakers of English.


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

See also: , ,

(2002) English – Semantics of crime

Langford, Ian (2002). The semantics of crime: A linguistic analysis. PhD thesis, Australian National University.


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

(2007) Giryama – ‘Peace’, ‘conflict’

Krijtenburg, Froukje (2007). Cultural ideologies of peace and conflict: A socio-cognitive study of Giryama discourse (Kenya). PhD thesis, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. PDF (open access)

This study is inspired by the idea that ‘ordinary’ people, and especially their understandings and beliefs, are an essential – yet relatively neglected – factor in intercultural conflict resolution. Within the wider context of social studies of conflict and its attempted resolution this is a cognitive study of their understandings (i.e. the ‘cultural understandings’) of ‘peace’ and ‘conflict’. The overall framework is that of anthropological linguistics, with its characteristic view of language as linguistic practice. An analytical model is developed and applied to a case study of the Giriama of Kenya. This model facilitates accounting for an insider view as well as a cross-cultural comparison. It can be used for studying ‘cultural understandings’ of ‘peace’ and ‘conflict’ in other communities,and renders outcomes that can be compared. The research domain is everyday and public discourse.

(2015) English, Giryama – ‘Peace’

Krijtenburg, Froukje, & de Volder, Eefje (2015). How universal is UN ‘peace’? A comparative linguistic analysis of the United Nations and Giryama (Kenya) concepts of ‘peace’. International Journal of Language and Culture, 2(2), 194-218. DOI: 10.1075/ijolc.2.2.03kri

It is now commonly accepted that, for the sake of international peace, the provisions of the UN Charter (originally devised to regulate interstate wars) should be interpreted so as to allow for intrastate interference as well. Yet the UN Charter does not explicitly state what the term peace refers to. It seems that the concept underpinning this term is so much the norm that only deviations from it are marked and therefore noteworthy or definable. Still, in view of the wide array of UN peacekeeping missions all over the world, a clear notion of ‘peace’ could make an important contribution to the success of these missions. In view of this, the paper addresses two questions: what lies behind the concept of ‘peace’ embedded in UN discourse, and how internationally salient is it? To provide the necessary perspective, we undertake a comparative ethnolexicological analysis of the UN and Giryama (Kenya) ‘peace’ concepts. The analysis aims to highlight those aspects of Giryama kuelewana and UN peace that are characteristically ‘socially meaningful’ and concludes by highlighting convergences and divergences between them.

(2003) French – Emotions (shame)

Koselak, Arkadiusz (2003). Approche sémantique du concept de honte [A semantic approach of the concept of shame]. Pratiques, 117-118, 51-76. DOI: 10.3406/prati.2003.1995. PDF (free access)

Written in French.

The twofold aim of this paper is to characterize honte ‘shame’ as an emotion and to describe how it surfaces in some common French phrases. The approach is in part linguistic, in part non-linguistic. In the linguistic and more specifically semantic analysis of honte, the author takes his cue from different theoretical frameworks, including the NSM approach.


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

See also: , , , , ,

(2003) Anna Wierzbicka’s natural semantics and its intercultural stakes

Koselak, Arkadiusz (2003). La sémantique naturelle d’Anna Wierzbicka et les enjeux interculturels [Anna Wierzbicka’s natural semantics and its intercultural stakes]. Questions de communication, 4, 83-95. DOI: 10.4000/questionsdecommunication.4611. PDF (open access)

Written in French.

This paper is an introduction to an original method of semantic analysis still relatively little-known in France. The research carried out by Anna Wierzbicka takes full account of cultural differences and allows for different aspects of human communication to be envisaged by means of a single descriptive tool – the Natural Semantic Metalanguage. The presentation is divided into two sections: the first looks at the postulates that underpin Wierzbicka’s methodology, the second provides some concrete examples.


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

(2004) French – ‘Dream’

Koselak, Arkadiusz (2004). Rêver: questions sémantiques [Dreaming: Semantic questions]. Le langage et l’homme, 39(1), 85-108.

Written in French.

This article looks at some of the semantic aspects of dreaming. After an introduction aimed at exploring the relationship between the etymology of the verb and the ethnology of the process, a description of the meanings of the French verb rêver is proposed, together with the supposedly prototypical conditions for the selection of each meaning. Lastly, we shall look at agentivity, a crucial parameter needed to establish the uniqueness of the verb in the paradigm of mental verbs. The study is set against the backdrop of the cognitive approach to language (broadly defined) and a Wierzbickian perspective is adopted.

(2005) French, Polish – Emotions (shame)

Koselak, Arkadiusz (2005). Quelle honte! Ale wstyd! Observations sémantiques sur quelques emplois de honte et de wstyd [Quelle honte! Ale wstyd! Semantic observations on a few uses of honte et wstyd]. Roczniki Humanistyczne, 53(5), 105-124.

Written in French.

This paper deals with the lexical expression of French honte and Polish wstyd (‘shame’), both through the two base words and through some of their derivatives. There are subtle differences between the two, in line with the cognitive and anthropological linguistics premise according to which language accounts for the construction of a worldview in a given culture. The author relies on a certain number of utterances in the two languages to compare honte and wstyd and identify what they share and what the differences are.


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

See also: ,

(2007) French, Polish – Emotions

Koselak, Arkadiusz (2007). Sémantique des sentiments: “Quand je pense à toi, je ressens quelque chose de mauvais” en français et en polonais [The semantics of emotions: “When I think of you, I feel something bad” in French and in Polish]. PhD thesis, Université Paul-Verlaine (Metz). PDF (open access)

Written in French.

 

(2010) NSM primes

Koselak, Arkadiusz (2010). Les primitifs sémantiques dans la langue: leur place et leur fonction [Semantic primes in language: Their place and function]. In Franck Neveu, Valelia Muni Toke, Jacques Durand, Tom Klingler, Lorenza Mondada, & Sophie Prévost (Eds.), Congrès mondial de linguistique française – CMLF 2010 (pp. 1727-1739). Paris: Institut de linguistique française. DOI: 10.1051/cmlf/2010063. PDF (open access)

Written in French.

 

(1995) Chinese (Mandarin) – Emotions / Ethnopsychology and personhood

Kornacki, Paweł (1995). Heart & face: Semantics of Chinese emotion concepts. PhD thesis, Australian National University.

Open access

Abstract:

This thesis uses NSM to explore the conceptual organization of a subset of the emotion vocabulary of Modern Standard Chinese. Chapter One (Introduction) provides background information on the analytic perspective adopted in the thesis, the sources of data, and a preliminary discussion of some of the issues in the early Chinese ethnotheory of “emotion”. Chapter Two explicates the key concept of 心 xin ‘heart/mind’, which is the cognitive, moral, and emotional ‘centre’ of a person. Chapter Three discusses two related notions, 面子 miànzi and 脸 liăn, usually glossed in English by means of the word face; both notions speak to the culturally perceived relevance to the self of other people’s judgements. Chapter Four develops this theme further, dealing with the ‘social feelings’ of Chinese, i.e. reactions to the things people say and think about us. Chapter Five focuses on the semantic field of Chinese ‘anger’-like expressions. Chapter Six analyses the lexical data pertinent to the conceptualization of different kinds of subjectively ‘bad’ feelings, whereas Chapter Seven discusses the emotional reactions to various types of good situations and events.

Wherever possible, the thesis seeks to probe into the culturally based aspects of the conceptual structure of emotion words by drawing on a variety of anthropological, psychological and sociological studies of the Chinese society. On the methodological level, the thesis attempts to demonstrate that the bias inherent in conducting the cultural analysis with complex, language-specific notions (e.g., ‘anger’, ‘shame’, ‘happiness’) can be subverted through a recourse to universally shared simple meanings.


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

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

(2001) Chinese – Emotions

Kornacki, Paweł (2001). Concepts of anger in Chinese. In Jean Harkins, & Anna Wierzbicka (Eds.), Emotions in crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 259-292). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI: 10.1515/9783110880168.255

This paper focuses on five Mandarin Chinese words – 怒 nu, 生气 shēngqì, 恼(火) nao(huo), 憤 fen, 討厭 taoyan – as well as their figurative associations and elaborations, all of which are pertinent to the conceptualization of the “emotions” often rendered with, or comparable to, the English words angry or anger. Ever since Darwin’s classic treatment of emotions, “anger”, “something like anger”, or “a family of anger concepts/expressions” have been recurrently proposed by a number of Western psychologists as one of the “fundamental”, “universal”, “primitive” or “basic” human “emotions”, but this approach has also been criticized. My aim here will be to examine some of the insights that the analysis of the Chinese lexical data might contribute to this debate.


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

See also: , , , , ,