natural semantic metalanguage

Introduction

The Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) is an approach to semantic analysis based on reductive paraphrase (that is, breaking concepts/words down into combinations of simpler concepts/words) using a small collection of semantic primes. The semantic primes (below) are believed to be atomic, primitive meanings present in all human languages. Words from ordinary language are analyzed in NSM by means of script-like explications as the following examples illustrate:

plants: living things / these things can't feel something / these things can't do something

sky: something very big / people can see it / people can think like this about this something: "it is a place / it is above all other places / it is far from people"

sad: X feels sad = X feels something / sometimes a person thinks something like this: "something bad happened / if I didn't know that it happened I would say: 'I don't want it to happen' / I don't say this now because I know: 'I can't do anything'" / because of this, this person feels something bad / X feels something like this

anger: I think this person did something bad / I don't want this person to do things like this / I want to do something because of this

Anna Wierzbicka originated the NSM theory in the early 1970s (Wierzbicka 1972). The initial inventory consisted of only 14 primitives. In the following years it slowly grew. As of 2002, the list consists of 61 semantic primitives and is not yet regarded as complete. Other linguists who have participated in NSM research include Cliff Goddard, Felix Ameka, Hilary Chappell, David Wilkins and Nick Enfield. NSM is commonly used in cross-cultural semantics. Definition of a prime grammar, that describes how these prime words can be combined into sentences, is a work in progress.

Semantic Primitives

The English exponents of the 61 Semantic Primitives (addition of LONG is proposed)

substantives: I, YOU, SOMEONE, PEOPLE, SOMETHING/THING, BODY
determiners: THIS, THE SAME, OTHER
quantifiers: ONE, TWO, SOME, ALL, MANY/MUCH
evaluators: GOOD, BAD
descriptors: BIG, SMALL, (LONG)
intensifier: VERY
mental predicates: THINK, KNOW, WANT, FEEL, SEE, HEAR
speech: SAY, WORD, TRUE
actions, events and movement: DO, HAPPEN, MOVE
existence and possession: THERE IS, HAVE
life and death: LIVE, DIE
time: WHEN/TIME, NOW, BEFORE, AFTER, A LONG TIME, A SHORT TIME, FOR SOME TIME, MOMENT
space: WHERE/PLACE, HERE, ABOVE, BELOW; FAR, NEAR; SIDE, INSIDE; TOUCHING
"logical" concepts: NOT, MAYBE, CAN, BECAUSE, IF
augmentor: MORE
taxonomy, partonomy: KIND OF, PART OF;
similarity: LIKE

The assumption that these primes are present in all languages was tested extensively against these 9 languages: Polish, Mandarin, Malay, Lao, Spanish, Korean, Mangaabe-Mbula (Papua language), Cree (Canadian Indian language), Yankunytjatjara (Australian language).

Natural Semantic Metalanguage

Introduction

Semantic Primitives

Further Reading

Bibliography

External link