NSM Analysis of the Conceptualization of Pain-related Words in Bahasa Indonesia

Abstract

A growing body of medical literature recognizes ‘pain’ as a global issue. However, cross-cultural studies reveal that the perception of ‘pain’ varies across different regions. This variation is notably evident in Bahasa Indonesia, where concepts akin to ‘pain’ can be conveyed using several distinct words. While most medical literature employs nyeri as the equivalent of pain in Bahasa Indonesia, the parallel corpus of BPPT-PAN Indonesian reveals an overlap in usage between nyeri and sakit. Nevertheless, the nuanced differences between these pain-related concepts in Bahasa Indonesia are not clearly articulated by dictionary definitions, which often suffer from vagueness and circularity. The present study seeks to address these definitional challenges by proposing alternative definitions through the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach (Goddard & Ye, 2016; Ye, 2019). Additionally, this study aims to compare these pain-related concepts in Bahasa Indonesia with the concept of pain in the English language. This study delves into four pain-related words: sakit, nyeri, pedih, and perih. The data were sourced from two corpora: IndonesianWAC, accessible via Sketch Engine, and LCC Indonesian 2023, available through CQPweb. Additional data were extracted from the Alodokter website and Indonesian pop song lyrics. Analysis of each lexeme was conducted by examining its significant collocates to discern differences between physical and emotional sensations. These significant collocates served as the starting point for analysing the components of physical and emotional pain-related concepts in Bahasa Indonesia. The study meticulously examined contexts of use from concordances, patient-doctor interactions, and song lyrics before proposing NSM explications for these concepts. The analysis results reveal distinctions in body locus, intensity, and duration among sakit, nyeri, pedih, and perih, demonstrating how these concepts differ from the English notion of pain. In terms of physical sensation, sakit encompasses a whole-body effect, setting it apart from other pain-related words that are localized either internally, externally, or both. Additionally, the duration shows that sakit and perih are experienced over a period of time, while pedih is a short-time sensation. In contrast, nyeri is experienced based on the frequency of occurrence due to its unavoidable nature. When considering intensity, sakit in the context of rasa sakit and nyeri are perceived as very intense sensations, while the other pain-like concepts are associated with severe bodily sensations. In terms of emotion, sakit, pedih, and perih involve hati 'liver' as the locus, which is not present in nyeri, signifying its association as a physical sensation. While all emotional pain-like concepts relate to social relationships and share the component of intensity, they differ in terms of triggers, duration, and reactions. The clear distinction between physical and emotional sensations in Bahasa Indonesia highlights that the pain-related concepts in this language differ from the unified concept of pain in English, emphasizing cross-linguistic distinction of this concept between Bahasa Indonesia and English. Show more