Natural Semantic Metalanguage

Title
Natural Semantic Metalanguage
Publication Date
2006
Author(s)
Goddard, Cliff
Editor
Editor(s): Keith Brown
Type of document
Entry In Reference Work
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Elsevier Ltd
Place of publication
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Edition
2
DOI
10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/01060-9
UNE publication id
une:2304
Abstract
Natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) is both a theory of language description, originated by Anna Wierzbicka, and its method of semantic representation: a minilanguage of empirically established universal semantic primes along with their inherent universal grammar. The article outlines how the theory evolved from the early 1970s and how semantic primes can be identified within and across languages. It illustrates the NSM technique of semantic explication using a selection of English words from different lexical domains (causatives, emotions, social categories, and natural kind words). It also explains how intermediate-level 'semantic molecules' constructed from semantic primes enter into the structure of more complex concepts.
Link
Citation
Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, v.8, p. 544-551
ISBN
0080443648
Start page
544
End page
551

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