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NSM SEMANTIC PRIMES
Cliff Goddard 4 January 2011
I, YOUI dont know, I want you to do/knowsomething, something bad can happen tome/you, someone like me
HEREsomething is happening here now
NOWsomething is happening here now
SOMEONEthis someone, the same someone,
someone else, this other someone
PLACE~WHERE(in) this place, (in) the same place,
somewhere else, (in) this other place, insome places, in many places,in the place where
TIME~WHEN(at) this time, (at) the same time, at another
time, at this other time, at some times, atmany times,at the time when
SOMETHING~THINGthis thing, the same thing, something else,this other something
PARTthis part, the same part, another part, thisother part, part of something, part ofsomeones body, part of a place, this thinghas two/many parts
KINDthis kind, the same kind, another kind, thisother kind, something/someone ofone/two/many kinds, people ofone/two/many kinds
PEOPLEmany people, some people, people thinklike this, people can say
BODYpart of someones body, two kinds ofbodies, body of one kind
WORDSmany words, other words, one word, saysomething with (not with) words, say thesewords, these words say something
THIS~ITthis someone (something), these people, atthis time, in this place, this kind, this part,because of this, it is like this
THE SAMEthe same someone, the same thing, thesame part, the same kind, at the same time,in the same place, someonesays/does/thinks/knows/wants/feels thesame
OTHER~ELSEsomeone else, something else, at anothertime, somewhere else, other parts, otherkinds, this other part, this other kind, thisother someone, this other thing
ALL
all people, all things, all parts, all kinds, at alltimes, in all places
ONE
one someone, one thing, one part, one kind,one of these things/people, something ofone kind, at one time, in one place, onemore thing
MUCH~MANY
many people, many things, many parts,many kinds, at many times, in many placesmuch something of this kind (e.g. water),much/many more
SOME
some people, some things, some parts,some kinds, at some times, in some places,some of thesethings/people
TWO
two things, two parts, two kinds,two of these things/people, two more things
LITTLE~FEW
few people, few thingsa little something of this kind (e.g. water)
GOODsomething good, someone good, goodpeople, something good happens, dosomething good (for someone), feelsomething good, this is good, it is good if ...
BADsomething bad, bad people, something badhappens, do something bad (to someone),feel something bad, this is bad, it is bad if ...
TRUEthis is true, this is not true
BIGsomething big, a big place, a big part
SMALLsomething small, a small place, a small part
VERYvery big, very small, very good, very bad,very far, very near, a very short time, a verylong time
HAPPENsomething happenssomething happens to someonesomething happens to somethingsomething happens in a place
DOsomeonedoessomething(tosomeoneelse)someonedoessomethingtosomething(with
somethingelse)someonedoessomethingwithsomeone
elsesomeonedoessomethinggoodforsomeone
else
SAYsomeone says something (to someone)someone says something (good/bad)
(about someone/something)someone says something like this: - -someone says something (not) with words
WANTsomeone wants something,
someone wants to do/know/say something,someone wants someone else to do/know
somethingsomeone wants something to happen
FEELsomeone feels something (good/bad) (in
part of the body)someone feels like thissomeone feels something good/bad
towards someone else
THINKsomeone thinks (something good/bad)
about someone/somethingsomeone thinks like this: - -,many people think like this: - -(at this time) someone thinks that ...
SEEsomeone sees someone/something (in a
place)
HEARsomeone hears something
KNOWsomeone knows something (about
someone/something)someone knows when/where/who ...someone knows that ...people can know thissomeone knows someone else (well)
BE (specificational)this someone is someone like methis is something of one kinthis is something big/smallsomeone can say who this someone issomeone can say what kind of thing
this is
THERE ISthere is something in this placethere is someone in this placethere are two/many kinds of
MOVEsomeone moves (in this place)something moves in this placeparts of this someones body move
BE (locational)someone is in a placesomething is in a placesomeone is with someone else
HAVEsomeone has something (many things)someone has something of this kind
TOUCHsomething touches something else (in a
place)something touches someone (part of this
someones body)someone touches someone else (part of
this other someones body)
LIVEsomeone lives for a long timesomeone lives in this placemany people live in this placesomeone lives with someone else
DIEsomeone dies at this timeall people die at some time
MORE~ANYMOREsomeone wants more, someone doesmore, someone wants to know/say moreabout it, one more, two more, many morenot living anymore, not like this anymore
NOT~DONTI dont know, I dont want this, someonecant do this, it is not like this, not good, notbad, not because of anything else
CANsomeone can (cant) do somethingsomeone cant not do somethingsomething (good/bad) can happenit can be like this
BECAUSEbecause of this/it, it happened because thissomeone did something before
LIKE~WAYdo it like this, move like this, happen like
this, do it in this waythink like this: - -, it is like this: ,like/as this someone wantssomeone like me
MAYBEmaybe it is like this, maybe it is not like this,
maybe someone else can do it
IFif it happens like this for some time, ...,
if you do this, ..., if someone doessomething like this, ...
BEFORE
before this, some time before, a short timebefore, a long time before
A SHORT TIME
for a short time, a short time before, a shorttime after
FOR SOME TIME
it happens for some time, someone doesthis for some time
AFTERafter this, some time after, a short timeafter, a long time after
A LONG TIMEfor a long time, a long time before, a longtime after
MOMENTit happens in one moment
ABOVEabove this place
NEARnear this place, near someone
INSIDEinside this something, inside part ofsomeones body
BELOW
below this place
FAR
far from this place
ON ONE SIDE
on this side, on the same side, on one side,on two sides, on all sides
Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM)
Semantic primes are the vocabulary of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage. NSM grammar specifies how primes can be combined in ways that make sense and appear to be possible in alllanguages. This table displays the English exponents of the primes and some of their basic combinatorial possibilities. Many other, more complex combinations are possible, especially usingoperators and connectives like NOT, CAN, MAYBE, IF, and BECAUSE, and drawing on the complement-taking properties of KNOW, WANTand THINK. Primes can have two or more exponents(allolexes) in a given language, e.g. otherand elsein English. In some languages certain combinations of primes are expressed by a portmanteau, e.g. in Polish the combination like this is
expressed by a single word tak.
Using NSM in explications
!Whenever possible, compose explications entirely in semantic primes. Dont include any complex English-specific words, no matter how common and seemingly basic; e.g. and, or, make.!Ensure that you use semantic primes only in allowable syntactic frames. Dont resort to non-NSM syntax even if English grammar allows it. For example, avoid do something about it andfeel good/bad about something; semantic primes DOand FEELdo not have any about-valency. Likewise, avoid for a moment; semantic prime MOMENTis incompatible with duration.!Avoid the following non-universal constructions: relative clauses (e.g. someone who I know well), comparative (e.g. better than, more than),indirect speech (e.g. this someone said that ).!Words of a similar semantic type tend to follow a common semantic template. Some explications require use of semantic molecules, in addition to primes. Semantic molecules are a well-defined set of non-primitive meanings that function as units in the meanings of more complex concepts.
Key References
!Wierzbicka, A. 1996. Semantics: Primes and Universals. OUP. !Goddard, C. & Wierzbicka, A. Eds. 2002. Meaning and Universal Grammar. Vols I and II. Benjamins. !Peeters, B. Ed.2006.Semantic Primes and Universal Grammar: Evidence from the Romance Languages. Benjamins.!Goddard, C. Ed. 2008.Cross-Linguistic Semantics. Benjamins. !Goddard, C. 2011.Semantic Analysis[2nd edn]. OUP. !Goddard, C. & Wierzbicka, A. In press. Words & Meanings. OUP. !NSM Homepage: www.une.edu.au/bcss/linguistics/nsm