Semantic and Lexical Universals: Theory and Empirical Findings PDF
Preview Semantic and Lexical Universals: Theory and Empirical Findings
SEMANTIC AND LEXICAL UNIVERSALS STUDIES IN LANGUAGE COMPANION SERIES (SLCS) The SLCS series has been established as a companion series to STUDIES IN LANGUAGE, International Journal, sponsored by the Foundation "Foundations of Language". Series Editors: Werner Abraham Michael Noonan University of Groningen University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee The Netherlands USA Editorial Board: Joan Bybee (University of New Mexico) Ulrike Claudi (University of Cologne) Bernard Comrie (University of Southern California) William Croft (University of Manchester) Östen Dahl (University of Stockholm) Gerrit Dimmendaal (University of Leiden) Martin Haspelmath (Free University of Berlin) Ekkehard König (Free University of Berlin) Christian Lehmann (University of Bielefeld) Robert Longacre (University of Texas, Arlington) Brian MacWhinney (Carnegie-Mellon University) Marianne Mithun (University of California, Santa Barbara) Edith Moravcsik (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) Masayoshi Shibatani (Kobe University) Russell Tomlin (University of Oregon) John Verhaar (The Hague) Volume 25 Cliff Goddard and Anna Wierzbicka (eds) Semantic and Lexical Universals SEMANTIC AND LEXICAL UNIVERSALS THEORY AND EMPIRICAL FINDINGS Edited by CLIFF GODDARD University of New England ANNA WIERZBICKA Australian National University JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Semantic and lexical universals : theory and empirical findings / edited by Cliff God dard, Anna Wierzbicka. p. cm. -- (Studies in language companion series (SLCS), ISSN 0165-7763; v. 25) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Semantics. 2. Universals (Linguistics) I. Goddard, Cliff. II. Wierzbicka, Anna. III. Series: Studies in language companion series ; v. 25. P325.5.U54S46 1994 401'. 43-dc20 94-4253 ISBN 90 272 3028 5 (Eur.)/l-55619-377-7 (US) (alk. paper) CIP © Copyright 1994 - John Benjamins B.V. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. John Benjamins Publishing Co. • P.O. Box 75577 • 1070 AN Amsterdam • The Netherlands John Benjamins North America • 821 Bethlehem Pike • Philadelphia, PA 19118 • USA Contents Acknowledgements vii Opening Statement 1 Anna Wierzbicka Part 1: General 1 Semantic Theory and Semantic Universals 7 Cliff Goddard 2 Introducing Lexical Primitives 31 CUff Goddard and Anna Wierzbicka Part 2: Individual Language Studies 3 Ewe 57 Felix Ameka 4 The Exponents of Semantic Primitives in Mangap-Mbula 87 Robert D. Bugenhagen 5 Mandarin Semantic Primitives 109 Hilary Chappell 6 Thai 149 Anthony Diller 1 Acehnese 171 Mark Durie, Bukhari Daud and Mawardi Hasan vi CONTENTS 8 Kayardild 203 Nicholas Evans 9 Lexical Primitives in Yankunytjatjara 229 Cliff Goddard 10 Preliminary Observations on Lexical and Semantic Primitives 263 in the Misumalpan Languages of Nicaragua Ken Hale 11 Mparntwe Arrernte and the Search for Lexical Universals 285 Jean Harkins and David P. Wilkins 12 Longgu 311 Deborah Hill 13 Samoan 331 Ulrike Mosel 14 Semantic Primitives in Japanese 361 Masayuki Onishi 15 Kalam Exponents of Lexical and Semantic Primitives 387 Andrew Pawley 16 Semantic and Lexical Universals in French 423 Bert Peeters Part 3: Review 17 Semantic Primitives Across Languages: A Critical Review 445 Anna Wierzbicka Notes on Contributors 501 Index 505 Acknowledgements Our thanks to the contributors who prepared the individual language studies which make up the bulk of this book. To explore and report on the translatability of three dozen postulated primitives within the relatively brief space available was an arduous task, but one which they discharged with insight, care and tenacity. We would like to thank Igor Mel'cuk, Nicholas Evans, Jean Harkins and Andrzej Bogusiawski, for detailed comments on the opening or concluding chapters. Above all, we are indebted to Timothy Jowan Curnow, who worked tirelessly to prepare the final version of the book for publication. Aside from ourselves, he was the only person who had a comprehensive overview of the entire project. The volume as a whole has benefitted greatly from his many keen observations and insightful criticisms. Cliff Goddard, University of New England Anna Wierzbicka, Australian National University Opening Statement Anna Wierzbicka Australian National University, Canberra This set of papers represents a unique collection: it is the first attempt ever to empiri cally test a hypothetical set of semantic and lexical universals across a number of genetically and typologically diverse languages. In fact the word 'collection' is not fully appropriate in this case, since the papers report research undertaken specifically for the present volume, and shaped by the same guidelines; and because they consti tute parallel and strictly comparable answers to the same set of questions. Those questions all boil down to the following: Do all the peoples of the world have a shared set of concepts, forming the common conceptual foundation of all cultures? This question has a long history; but this is the first time an answer has been sought to it on a broad empirical basis. In the seventeeth century, Leibniz advanced the idea of a universal 'alphabet of human thoughts' (1903 [MS]:435); and similar ideas were widespread among other seventeeth- and eighteenth-century philosophers. For example, in the entry on 'Dictionary' of the great French Encyclopédie (1754:959), d'Alembert put forward the idea of a 'philosophical dictionary' based on the philosophical roots of language, that is, on universal semantic primitives ("mots originaux et primitifs"). In the nineteeth century, however, this idea faded from philosophical discourse. Although it was never totally abandoned, by the early twentieth century the opposite view had become increasingly popular, culminating in the writings of the influential French sociologist Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, author of Les fonctions mentales dans les sociétés inférieures (1928) and La mentalité primitive (1925). As the titles of these books suggest, Lévy-Bruhl placed a strong emphasis on the (allegedly) fundamental differences between 'logical' (Western) thought and 'primitive' (non-Western) thought. Naturally, there was no place in this world-view for any notion of a shared conceptual foundation for all cultures. At roughly the same time, however, the universalist position asserted itself again, notably in the writings of Franz Boas and his associates, and in the doctrine of the 'psychic unity of mankind' (Boas 1938). For a long time this doctrine overshadowed the theories of 'primitive thought', encouraging belief in universals, while recognis-
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