Cross-Cultural Semantics 3301-JF2634
The purpose of this course is to introduce the participants to the basic assumptions, scope, and methodology of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) project, focusing on the empirical search for semantic primes and universals in natural human languages. The Natural Semantic Metalanguage research framework has clear implications for language teaching, cross-cultural communication and education.
1. Basic theoretical assumptions of the NSM approach to cross-linguistic semantics. An overview of the NSM primes & universals research to date. Languages studied so far.
2. Identifying semantic primes and their exponents. The expanding set of NSM primes & universals: some history.
3. Cross-linguistic testing for semantic primes: the ''canonical contexts''. Examples of morphosyntactic, semantic, and pragmatic problems encountered in research.
4. Contrasting three parallel NSM texts: English, Mandarin Chinese, and Polish.
5. Semantic primes and their grammar: the essential elements. Semantic explications and cultural scripts as NSM texts.
6. NSM view of the mental lexicon: beyond semantic primes.
Course coordinators
Type of course
Mode
Learning outcomes
A student will acquire advanced information about cross-cultural semantics within the Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory and will develop his/her analytical skills. English language instruction at the B2+ level.
In class discussions students acquire skills of expressing their thoughts in a clear, coherent, logical and precise manner, with the use of language which is correct grammatically, lexically and phonetically.
Assessment criteria
Two midterm assignments
Semester paper
Bibliography
Goddard, C. 2002. The Search for the Shared Semantic Core of All Languages. In: C.Goddard, A. Wierzbicka (eds.), Meaning and Universal Grammar, Vol.1. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 5-40.
Goddard, C., A. Wierzbicka. 2002. Semantic Primes and Universal Grammar. In: C.Goddard and A. Wierzbicka (eds.), Meaning and Universal Grammar, Vol.1. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 41-85.
Goddard, C., A.Wierzbicka. 2016. Words and Meanings. Lexical Semantics Across Domains, Languages and Cultures. Oxford University Press.
Wierzbicka, A. 1996. Semantics: Primes and Universals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.