Semantic primes and universal grammar : empirical evidence from the Romance languages / edited by Bert Peeters.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Peeters, Bert, 1960-

Series:

Studies in language companion series ; v. 81.

Studies in language companion series, 0165-7763 ; v. 81

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Semantics.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Metalanguage.

Romance languages--Semantics.

Romance languages.

Physical Description:

xii, 374 p.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : J. Benjamins, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This volume is part of a research program which started with the publication, in 1972, of Anna Wierzbicka's groundbreaking work on Semantic Primitives. The first within the program to focus on a number of typologically similar languages, it proposes a French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian version of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) elaborated over the years by Wierzbicka and colleagues. Repetition is avoided through teamwork: a number of authors working on the languages under examination have had equal input in a set of five papers dealing with distinct parts of the metalanguage. Some of the findings presented here invite us to have a fresh look at what has already been achieved, and to amend some of the working hypotheses of the NSM approach accordingly. The volume also contains six case studies (on Italian sfogarsi, Portuguese saudades, Spanish crisis, French certes, Spanish expressions of sincerity and Italian and Spanish diminutives, respectively).

Contents:

Semantic Primes and Universal Grammar

Editorial page

Title page

LCC data

Table of contents

Acknowledgements

List of contributors

List of abbreviations

Typographical conventions and symbols

Preface

References

Scope and contents of this volume

The Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach

1.1. Basic principles

1.2. The growth of the NSM lexicon

1.3. Allolexy and portmanteaus

1.4. Polysemy

1.5. NSM syntax

1.6. Valency options

1.7. Concluding remarks

Notes

Romance versions of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage

Natural Semantic Metalanguage exponents and universal grammar in Romance

2.1. Substantives

2.1.1. i and you

2.1.2. someone and something

2.1.3. people

2.1.4. body

2.2. Determiners

2.2.1. this

2.2.2. same

2.2.3. other

2.3. Quantifiers

2.3.1. one and two

2.3.2. some

2.3.3. much / many

2.3.4. all

2.4. Summary of exponents (without allolexes)

NSM exponents and universal grammar in Romance

3.1. Evaluators and descriptors

3.1.1. good and bad

3.1.2. big and small

3.1.3. Placement rules for evaluators and descriptors in Romance NSMs

3.2. Mental predicates

3.2.1. know

3.2.2. think

3.2.3. want

3.2.4. feel

3.2.5. hear and see

3.3. Summary of exponents (without allolexes)

4.1. Speech

4.1.1. say

4.1.2. words

4.1.3. true

4.2. Actions, events and movement

4.2.1. do

4.2.2. happen

4.2.3. move

4.3. Existence and possession

4.3.1. there is

4.3.2. have

4.4. Life and death

4.4.1. live

4.4.2. die

4.5. Summary of exponents (without allolexes)

Acknowledgments

5.1. Time

5.1.1. when (time).

5.1.2. now

5.1.3. before and after

5.1.4. a long time and a short time

5.1.5. for some time

5.1.6. in one moment

5.2. Space

5.2.1. where (place)

5.2.2. here

5.2.3. above and below

5.2.4. far and near

5.2.5. side

5.2.6. inside

5.2.7. touch

5.3. Summary of exponents (without allolexes)

6.1. Logical concepts

6.1.1. not

6.1.2. can

6.1.3. maybe

6.1.4. because of

6.1.5. if

6.2. Intensifier and augmentor

6.2.1. very

6.2.2. more

6.3. Taxonomy and partonomy

6.3.1. kind of

6.3.2. part

6.4. Similarity

6.4.1. like

6.5. Summary of exponents (without allolexes)

The Natural Semantic Metalanguage applied

Sfogarsi

7.1. Introduction

7.2. Sfogare and its closest English counterpart to vent

7.3. Sfogarsi

7.3.1. A dictionary definition and some examples

7.3.2. Explicating sfogarsi

7.4. Some cultural values reflected in Italian communication

7.5. Concluding remarks

Portuguese saudade and other emotions of absence and longing

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Key features of saudade

8.2.1. Saudade as emotional affliction

8.2.2. Saudade vs. saudades

8.2.3. What stimulates saudade

8.2.4. Where saudade is felt

8.2.5. Saudade as an edifying emotion

8.3. NSM and saudade / nostalgia / falta

8.4. The culture-specific nature of saudade

The development of a key word

9.1. Introduction

9.2. Synchronic evidence for crisis as a key word

9.2.1. The ``common word'' criterion

9.2.2. The ``semantic domain'' criterion

9.2.3. The ``phraseological cluster'' criterion

9.3. Diachronic evidence for the emergence of crisis as a key word.

9.3.1. Crisis as medical judgment

9.3.2. Crisis as medical situation

9.3.3. Crisis as a negative situation

9.3.4. The crisis worsens

9.3.5. The crisis life-style of the 20th century

9.4. Dynamism as evidence of semantic change

The French connector certes

10.1. Introduction

10.2. The affirmative certes

10.2.1. Dialogal certes

10.2.2. Monologal certes

10.3. The concessive certes in binary structures: Certes… mais

10.3.1. Summary of features

10.3.2. Formal features

10.3.3. Semantic features

10.3.4. Pragmatic features

10.3.5. Discursive structure: Thematic coherence

10.4. An NSM explication of the certes… mais sequence

10.5. Concluding remarks

Francamente, el rojo te sienta fatal

11.1. Introduction

11.2. The modalizing expressions of sinceridad

11.3. Sincerity, cooperation and communicative strategy

11.4. Semantics and pragmatics of speech modalizers of ``frankness'', ``honesty'' and ``sincerity''

11.4.1. Hablar sinceramente

11.4.2. Hablar honestamente

11.4.3. Hablar francamente

11.4.4. Sinceridad, honestidad, franqueza and socially approved behavior

11.5. Concluding remarks

Towards a description of Spanish and Italian diminutives within the NSM framework

12.1. Introduction

12.2. Formal aspects of Spanish and Italian diminutive formation

12.2.1. Formal aspects of Spanish diminutive formation

12.2.2. Formal aspects of Italian diminutive formation

12.3. Analysis

12.3.1. Diminutive functions

12.3.2. The COM function

12.3.3. The DIM function

12.3.4. The END function

12.3.5. The EUPH function

12.3.6. The HUM function

12.3.7. The INS function

12.3.8. The INT function

12.3.9. The IRON function

12.3.10. The PEJ function.

12.3.11. The POC function

12.3.12. Discussion

12.4. An NSM account of the functions of Spanish and Italian diminutives

12.4.1. Preliminary remarks: Directionality

12.4.2. NSM explications14

12.5. Theoretical issues

12.5.1. Diminutives: Lexicalization, grammaticalization or conventionalization?

12.5.2. Diminutive formation, reduplication and absolute superlatives

12.6. Concluding remarks

Index of primes (by language)

Index of primes and allolexes (alphabetical)

Index of concepts

Index of names

The series Studies in Language Companion Series.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612155390

9781282155398

1282155393

9789027293275

9027293279

OCLC:

237778041

Publisher Number:

9789027230911