The Semantics of Landscape Terms in Chinese: an NSM approach

Abstract

Concepts for describing the physical world, such as 'mountain' and 'river', are often assumed to reflect 'brute fact' (Searle, 1995, pp. 1-4). However, research has revealed that landscape concepts are not only determined by the physical features of the world; rather, they are more often generated by anthropocentric perspectives (Wierzbicka, 1989). Different languages and cultures categorise landscapes in various ways (e.g., Bromhead, 2018; Burenhult, 2008; Mark, 1993; Mark & Turk, 2003; Mark et al., 2007).

To date, there is limited linguistic research on Chinese landscape terms. This study seeks to bridge this gap by conducting a detailed semantic analysis of selected landscape terms in Modern Standard Chinese (MSC), revealing unique aspects of Chinese conceptualisation of the physical world. It also demonstrates how the semantic analysis of landscape terms can offer valuable insights into the distinctive worldview embedded in a particular culture.

This study employs the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach to provide a fine-grained semantic analysis of 27 landscape terms in MSC, resulting in 25 NSM explications. The semantic analysis in this study adopts a 'human-centred perspective' to uncover the 'folk picture' of the physical world as discussed by Apresjan (2000, see also Bromhead, 2018; Wierzbicka, 1996, 1997). The use of the NSM approach helps to avoid both circular explications and conceptual ethnocentrism (see, e.g., Bromhead, 2018; Goddard, 2013; Wierzbicka, 1985; Ye, 2017). Through reductive paraphrase explications (see, e.g., Wierzbicka, 1985, pp. 43-49), this study systematically unpacks the meanings of selected MSC landscape terms.

Through conceptual analysis, this study identifies 29 semantic molecules that serve as 'building blocks' (Goddard, 2018, p. 127) in the meanings of MSC landscape concepts. It further identifies both common and culture-specific component types in the explications of landscape terms, as well as recurring patterns, laying the groundwork for future research on semantic templates, which are 'structured sets of component types shared by words within a particular semantic class' (Goddard, 2012, p. 724).

Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that Chinese conceptualisation of the landscape is shaped by four key factors: physical environment, human interactions with the land, cultural ideas, and the utility of language. A fine-grained semantic approach proves essential for understanding how different factors work together to shape the conceptualisation of the landscape within a specific language and culture.

In conclusion, this thesis delves into the often-overlooked categorisation of landscape features in MSC, uncovering the intricate internal mechanisms underlying Chinese conceptualisation of the landscape. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the semantic and cultural dimensions of landscape concepts in MSC, offering valuable insights into the distinctive Chinese perspective on the physical world and contributing to the broader multidisciplinary study of landscapes. Show more