All people eat and drink. Does this mean that 'eat' and 'drink' are universal human concepts?
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Anna Wierzbicka
Abstract
Eating and drinking are, one might say, human universals. Or so it may seem to speakers of English, and other European languages. But what would a Kalam, or a Warlpiri linguist say about it, given that Kalam and Warlpiri have no word meaning ‘eat’ and no word meaning ‘drink’? No doubt, he/she would say that ñb- (Kalam, roughly ‘eat/drink’) or ngarni (Warlpiri, roughly ‘eat/drink’) is a human universal. This paper argues that describing languages like Kalam and Warlpiri through the prism of the English words eat and drink is Eurocentric and it proposes to complement such an Eurocentric approach with a more neutral one, based on empirically established conceptual universals such as body, part, do, and inside (cf. Goddard & Wierzbicka eds 2002; Wierzbicka 2007)
Abstract
Eating and drinking are, one might say, human universals. Or so it may seem to speakers of English, and other European languages. But what would a Kalam, or a Warlpiri linguist say about it, given that Kalam and Warlpiri have no word meaning ‘eat’ and no word meaning ‘drink’? No doubt, he/she would say that ñb- (Kalam, roughly ‘eat/drink’) or ngarni (Warlpiri, roughly ‘eat/drink’) is a human universal. This paper argues that describing languages like Kalam and Warlpiri through the prism of the English words eat and drink is Eurocentric and it proposes to complement such an Eurocentric approach with a more neutral one, based on empirically established conceptual universals such as body, part, do, and inside (cf. Goddard & Wierzbicka eds 2002; Wierzbicka 2007)
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- A cross-linguistic overview of 'eat' and 'drink' 1
- How transitive are 'eat' and 'drink' verbs? 27
- Quirky alternations of transitivity: The case of ingestive predicates 45
- All people eat and drink. Does this mean that 'eat' and 'drink' are universal human concepts? 65
- 'Eating', 'drinking' and 'smoking': A generic verb and its semantics in Manambu 91
- Athapaskan eating and drinking verbs and constructions 109
- The semantic evolution of 'eat'-expressions: Ways and byways 153
- Literal and figurative uses of Japanese 'eat' and 'drink' 173
- What (not) to eat or drink: Metaphor and metonymy of eating and drinking in Korean 195
- Metaphorical extensions of 'eat' --> [OVERCOME] and 'drink' --> [UNDERGO] in Hausa 229
- Amharic 'eat' and 'drink' verbs 253
- Author index 273
- Language index 277
- Subject index 279
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- A cross-linguistic overview of 'eat' and 'drink' 1
- How transitive are 'eat' and 'drink' verbs? 27
- Quirky alternations of transitivity: The case of ingestive predicates 45
- All people eat and drink. Does this mean that 'eat' and 'drink' are universal human concepts? 65
- 'Eating', 'drinking' and 'smoking': A generic verb and its semantics in Manambu 91
- Athapaskan eating and drinking verbs and constructions 109
- The semantic evolution of 'eat'-expressions: Ways and byways 153
- Literal and figurative uses of Japanese 'eat' and 'drink' 173
- What (not) to eat or drink: Metaphor and metonymy of eating and drinking in Korean 195
- Metaphorical extensions of 'eat' --> [OVERCOME] and 'drink' --> [UNDERGO] in Hausa 229
- Amharic 'eat' and 'drink' verbs 253
- Author index 273
- Language index 277
- Subject index 279
