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dc.contributor.authorGoddard, Cliff
dc.contributor.authorWierzbicka, Anna
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-03T12:06:13Z
dc.date.available2017-05-03T12:06:13Z
dc.date.issued2010
dc.date.modified2014-07-14T05:55:14Z
dc.identifier.issn0378-4177
dc.identifier.doi10.1075/sl.34.1.04god
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/61306
dc.description.abstractThe question of whether or not all languages have a word for 'want' (as in 'I know what you want, I want the same') is far more important than many linguists appear to realize. Having studied and debated this question for many years, we welcome Olesya Khanina's (2008) paper "How universal is 'wanting'?", which, we believe, addresses a question of fundamental importance. Our own view - which we have sought to substantiate in a large number of publications, over many years (cf. Wierzbicka 1972, 1996; Goddard 1991, 2001; Goddard and Wierzbicka eds. 1994, 2002; Peeters ed. 2006) - is that WANT is a universal semantic prime, i.e. an indivisible unit of meaning with a lexical exponent in all languages. In the present article, we argue that although Khanina has produced valuable results about cross-linguistic patterns in the polysemy of exponents of WANT, she has failed to demonstrate her concluding point, namely, "that 'want' is not a universal semantic prime in the sense of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage 堛and] that the inclusion of WANT in this list [of semantic primes] is indeed false" (p. 848). Briefly, we will argue that Khanina's conclusion depends, first, on an a priori decision not to recognise the existence of polysemy; and second, on a misunderstanding of the NSM position on what it means to be a lexical exponent of a semantic prime. We will also argue that 'wanting' constitutes an indispensable conceptual building block in human communication and cognition, and in linguistic and psychological theorizing about communication and cognition.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.description.publicationstatusYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Co.
dc.publisher.placeNetherlands
dc.relation.ispartofstudentpublicationN
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom108
dc.relation.ispartofpageto123
dc.relation.ispartofissue1
dc.relation.ispartofjournalStudies in Language
dc.relation.ispartofvolume34
dc.rights.retentionY
dc.subject.fieldofresearchLinguistics
dc.subject.fieldofresearchLinguistic structures (incl. phonology, morphology and syntax)
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode4704
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode470409
dc.title'Want' is a lexical and conceptual universal: Reply to Khanina
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
gro.hasfulltextNo Full Text
gro.griffith.authorGoddard, Cliff W.


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