"These lectures, delivered at China International Forum on Cognitive Linguis- tics, December 2016, reflect my conviction that the Natural Semantic Meta- language approach can be rightly seen as a part of the cognitive linguistics movement. I would like to thank Professor Thomas Li for the invitation to par- ticipate. It was a honour to present in a series which has featured so many distinguished cognitive linguists over the years." Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
From Leibniz to Wierzbicka: The history and philosophy of nsm -- Semantic primes and their grammar -- Explicating emotion concepts across languages and cultures -- Wonderful, terrific, fabulous: English evaluational adjectives -- Semantic molecules and semantic complexity -- Words as carriers of cultural meaning -- English verb semantics: verbs of doing and saying -- English verb alternations and constructions -- Applications of NSM: minimal English, cultural scripts and language -- Teaching retrospect: nsm compared with other approaches to semantic analysis.
Summary:
This lively lecture series by a leading expert introduces the theory, practice and application of a versatile, rigorous and well-developed approach to cross-linguistic semantics: the NSM approach originated by Anna Wierzbicka. Topics include: history and philosophy of the study of meaning, semantic primes and molecules, emotions, evaluation, verbs and event structure, cultural key words and scripts. Case studies come from English, Chinese, Danish, and other languages. Applications in language teaching and intercultural education are also covered, along with comparisons between NSM and other leading approaches to linguistic semantics. The book will appeal to students and scholars of linguistics at all levels, communication and translation scholars, and anyone interested in a systematic and non Anglocentric approach to meaning, culture and cognition.
Series:
Distinguished lectures in cognitive linguistics ; 21
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.