Natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) is a linguistic theory that reduces lexicons down to a set ofsemantic primitives. It is based on the conception of Polish professorAndrzej Bogusławski. The theory was formally developed byAnna Wierzbicka atWarsaw University and later at theAustralian National University in the early 1970s,[1] andCliff Goddard atAustralia'sGriffith University.[2]
The natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) theory attempts to reduce the semantics of all lexicons down to a restricted set of semantic primitives, or primes. Primes are universal in that they have the same translation in every language, and they are primitive in that they cannot be defined using other words. Primes are ordered together to formexplications, which are descriptions of semantic representations consisting solely of primes.[1]
Research in the NSM approach deals extensively with language andcognition, and language andculture. Key areas of research includelexical semantics,grammatical semantics,phraseology andpragmatics, as well ascross-cultural communication.
Dozens of languages, including representatives of 16 language groups, have been studied using the NSM framework. They includeEnglish,Russian,Polish,French,Spanish,Italian,Swedish,Danish,Finnish,Malay,Japanese,Chinese,Korean,Ewe,Wolof,East Cree,Koromu, at least 16Australian languages, and a number ofcreole languages includingTrinidadian creole,Roper River Kriol,Bislama andTok Pisin.[3]
Apart from the originatorsAnna Wierzbicka andCliff Goddard, a number of other scholars have participated in NSM semantics, most notablyBert Peeters,Zhengdao Ye,Felix Ameka,Jean Harkins,Marie-Odile Junker,Anna Gladkova,Jock Wong,Carsten Levisen,Helen Bromhead,Karen Stollznow,Adrian Tien,Carol Priestley,Yuko Asano-Cavanagh andGian Marco Farese.
Semantic primes (also known as semantic primitives) are concepts that areuniversal, meaning that they can be translated literally into any known language and retain their semantic representation, andprimitive, as they are proposed to be the most simple linguistic concepts and are unable to be defined using simpler terms.[1]
Proponents of the NSM theory argue that every language shares a core vocabulary of concepts. In 1994 and 2002, Goddard and Wierzbicka studied languages across the globe and found strong evidence supporting this argument.[1]
Wierzbicka's 1972 study[4] proposed 14 semantic primes. That number was expanded to 60 in 2002 by Wierzbicka and Goddard, and the current agreed-upon number is 65.[5][6]
Each language's translations of the semantic primes are called exponents. Below is a list of English exponents, or the English translation of the semantic primes. It is important to note that some of the exponents in the following list arepolysemous and can be associated with meanings in English (and other languages) that are not shared. However, when used as an exponent in the Natural semantic metalanguage, it is only the prime concept which is identified as universal.
The following is a list ofEnglish exponents of semantic primes adapted fromLevisen and Waters (eds.) 2017.[7]
| Category | Primes |
|---|---|
| Substantives | I, you, someone, people, something/thing, body |
| Relational Substantives | kind, part |
| Determiners | this, the same, other~else~another |
| Quantifiers | one, two, some, all, much/many, little/few |
| Evaluators | good, bad |
| Descriptors | big, small |
| Mentalpredicates | think, know, want, don't want, feel, see, hear |
| Speech | say, words, true |
| Actions,Events,Movement | do, happen, move |
| Existence,Possession | be (somewhere), there is, be (someone/something), (is) mine |
| 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, touch (contact) |
| Logical concepts | not, maybe, can, because, if |
| Intensifier, Augmentor | very, more |
| Similarity | like/as/way |
NSM primes can be combined in a limited set ofsyntactic frames that are also universal.[8] Thesevalency options specify the specific types of grammatical functions that can be combined with the primes. While these combinations can be realized differently in other languages, it is believed that the meanings expressed by these syntactic combinations are universal.
Examples of valency frames for the "say" semantic prime:
A semantic analysis in the NSM approach results in a reductive paraphrase called an explication that captures the meaning of the concept explicated.[8] An ideal explication can be substituted for the original expression in context without change of meaning.
For example:Someone X broke something Y:
Semantic molecules are intermediary words used in explications and cultural scripts. While not semantic primes, they can be defined exclusively using primes. Semantic molecules can be determined as words that are necessary to build upon to explicate other words.[7] These molecules are marked by the notation [m] in explications and cultural scripts. Some molecules are proposed to be universal or near-universal, while others are culture- or area-specific.[10]
Examples of proposed universal molecules:
| Body parts | hands, mouth, eyes, head, ears, nose, face, teeth, fingers, breast, skin, bones, blood |
|---|---|
| Physical | long, round, flat, thin, hard, soft, sharp, smooth, heavy |
| Biosocial | children, men, women, be born, mother, father, wife, husband |
Minimal English is a derivative of the natural semantic metalanguage research, with the first major publication in 2018.[11] It is a reduced form of English designed for non-specialists to use when requiring clarity of expression or easily translatable materials.[12] Minimal English uses an expanded set of vocabulary to the semantic primes. It includes the proposed universal and near-universal molecules, as well as non-universal words which can assist in clarity.[13] As such, it already has counterparts targeted at speakers of other natural languages, e.g.Minimal French,[14]Minimal Polish,[15]65 Sanaa (Minimal Finnish)[11]: 225–258 and so on. Minimal English differs from other simple Englishes (such asBasic English) as it has been specifically designed for maximal cross-translatability.
Applications of NSM have also been proposed fornatural-language processing,natural-language understanding andartificial intelligence.[16]
Ghil'ad Zuckermann suggests that NSM can be of benefit inrevivalistics (language revitalization) as it "can neutralize the Western semantic bias involved in reconnecting with ancient Aboriginal traditions using English, and may allow a fuller understanding of the original meaning of the Aboriginal lexical items."[17]: 217
