> Stevo wrote:
> <<
> On the other hand, "WORD" is one of the 60 or so words in NSM, Anna
> Wierzbicka's Natural Semantic Metalanguage, which is postulated to
> contain only words
> which are found in all languages, and which can't be defined more
> simply in
> terms of other words.
> >>
>
> Do we have any native Chinese speakers on the list? That was
> one of the languages where it seemed that the notion of "word"
> wasn't as relevant as the notion of "character", which is sometimes
> equivalent to the Western notion of "word"; sometimes smaller;
> and sometimes larger. Taking a look at the NSM...
>
>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Semantic_Metalanguage
>
> ...I see it has a hearing bias, which I suppose can be forgiven ("say"
> is primitive, but not "sign". Why shouldn't the primitive simply
> be "express", and whether it's done in writing, with speech, or
> with hands be a manner adverbial?). The primes "HAVE" and
> "WANT" are also not uncomplicated, considering that the English
> word "want" comes from a verb which meant "to lack" (and
> which still can, in certain contexts), and that many languages
> have separate notions of "having". I'm also not impressed with
> her sample: 9 languages, two IE languages, no sign languages,
> no African languages... Curiously Mandarin is there! I wonder
> if she tested how the concepts were realized, or what her criteria
> were?
>
> Anyone want to start a new topic specifically about the NSM
> and semantic primes? This is the first I've heard about it. Is
> John Clifford on the list? I don't believe he talked about the
> NSM in his presentation at the LCC.
>
> -David
> *******************************************************************
> "A male love inevivi i'ala'i oku i ue pokulu'ume o heki a."
> "No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."
>
> -Jim Morrison
>
>
http://dedalvs.free.fr/
>