Desire in language and thought : a study in crosscultural semantics
Abstract
This thesis is a semantic-typological study of desiderative constructions in
languages of the world. Focussing on both meaning and grammatical
structures, it explores how the properties of desiderative expressions in
languages of the world reflect universal elements and language-specific
configurations of meaning. Chapter One sets out the nature and scope of
the work, explaining the purpose of examining desiderative constructions
across languages, and outlining the theoretical context and orientation of
the study. Chapter Two presents a typological overview of desiderative
expressions in a selection of languages from diverse genetic groups
throughout the world, noting crosslinguistic trends in lexical relations and
syntactic patterns associated with desiderative constructions. Chapter
Three focusses on grammatical properties of desiderative expressions
across languages, exploring how the semantics and grammar of different
construction types interact with the meanings of individuallexemes to
encode a range of desiderative meanings. Chapter Four examines .nultifunctional
grammatical morphemes with desiderative functions, using
the principles of NSM analysis to investigate whether they have a single
meaning or semantic core, or are truly polysemous. A set of procedures is
proposed for specifying how many meanings a grammeme has, and how
these relate to its various grammatical functions. Chapter Five compares
constructions where a desiderative expression takes a complement clause
(as in English I want to dance), and those where a desiderative grammeme
occurs within the same clause that represents the wanted event (as in the
Kayardild equivalent Ngada wirrka-ju), and explores the interpropositional
nature of desiderative meaning. Chapter Six pursues the question of
WANT as a semantic and lexical universal, in view of the diversity of
desiderative constructions across languages. Specific criteria are proposed
for the assessment of semantic equivalence across languages, and for
distinguishing language-specific phenomena from potentially universal
elements and configurations of meaning. This leads to a proposal for a
'universal syntax' of desiderative meaning. The influence of cultural
values and attitudes on the expression of desire is explored with a view to
explaining aspects of the interaction between social and linguistic structure
and its impact on the range and types of desiderative constructions found
in different languages, and how a theory of language universals might
deal with processes of language change.