8/14/2019 _nsm-chart-01-2011

1/1

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