The complex, language-specific semantics of “surprise”
File version
Accepted Manuscript (AM)
Author(s)
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract
This study is conducted using the NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) methodology, which seeks to explicate complex language-specific concepts into configurations of simple universal concepts (Goddard 2011; Goddard & Wierzbicka 2014; cf. Ye 2013). The study has three main dimensions. It begins by turning the lens of NSM semantic analysis onto a set of words that are central to the "discourse of the unexpected" in English: surprised, shocked, amazed and astonished. By elucidating their precise meanings, we can gain an improved picture of the English folk model in this domain. Brief comparison with Malay (Bahasa Melayu) shows that these English words lack precise equivalents in other languages (Goddard 1997). The second dimension involves grammatical semantics, seeking to identify the semantic relationships between agnate word-sets such as: surprised, surprising, to surprise; amazed, amazing, to amaze. The third dimension is a theoretical one, concerned with the goal of developing a typology of "surprise-like" concepts. It is argued that adopting English-specific words, such as surprise, as descriptive categories inevitably leads to conceptual Anglocentrism (Wierzbicka 2014). The alternative, non-Anglocentric strategy relies on components phrased in terms of universal semantic primes, such as 'something happened' and 'this someone didn't know that it will happen', and the like.
Journal Title
Review of Cognitive Linguistics
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
13
Issue
2
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
DOI
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
© 2015 John Benjamins Publishing Co. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal website for access to the definitive, published version.
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
Linguistic Structures (incl. Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics)
Cognitive Sciences
Linguistics