Semantic primes, semantic molecules, semantic templates

Key concepts in the NSM approach to lexical typology

Bibliographic Data

ID3988576
AuthorsC Goddard (0000-0003-2523-2855, Bridge University, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume50
Issue3
Publication date2012-01-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLinguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0024-3949 • E-ISSN: 1613-396X
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/ling-2012-0022
OpenAlexW2039533511
LanguageCA
Citations received25
References cited21

The Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach has a long track record in crosslinguistic lexical semantics (Wierzbicka 1992, 1996, 1999; Goddard 1998, 2006, 2008, 2011; Harkins and Wierzbicka 2001; Goddard and Wierzbicka 2002; Peeters 2006; Gladkova 2010; Ye 2007a, 2007b, 2010; Bromhead 2009, 2011; Wong 2005, 2010; and other works). It is therefore not surprising that it has a clear theoretical position on key issues in lexical semantic typology and a well-developed set of analytical techniques. From a theoretical point of view, the overriding issue concerns the tertium comparationis . What are the optimal concepts and categories to support the systematic investigation of lexicons and lexicological phenomena across the world's languages? To this question, the NSM approach offers the following answer: the necessary concepts can — and must — be based on the shared lexical-conceptual core of all languages, which NSM researchers claim to have discovered over the course of a thirty-five year program of empirical crosslinguistic semantics. This shared lexical-conceptual core is the minilanguage of semantic primes and their associated grammar. In addition, over the past 10 or so years, NSM researchers have developed certain original analytical constructs which promise to enhance the power and systematicity of the approach: in particular, the notions of semantic molecules and semantic templates. This paper sets out to explain and illustrate these notions, to report some key analytical findings (updated, in many cases, from previously published accounts), and to extrapolate their implications for the further development of lexical typology

Key (lock) · Lexical item · Lexical Semantics · Lexicon · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Semantic property · Semantic similarity · Semantics (computer science) · Sociology · Typology · Artificial Intelligence · Categorization, perception, and language · Computer Science · Lexicography and Language Studies · linguistics and terminology studies · Philosophy

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