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Study

High school students

Learn about the support available to help you get ready for university.

Postgraduate coursework

Take your career to the next level, or in a new direction.

How to apply

Application information you need for your circumstances and chosen degree.

Non school leavers

Explore the different ways you can get in to Griffith.

Higher degrees by research

Discover the benefits of studying a research degree at Griffith.

Scholarships

Explore our wide range of scholarships, find out what you?re eligible for and apply.

Information about

  • Business and government
  • Criminology and law
  • Education
  • Engineering and IT
  • Environment, planning and architecture
  • Medicine, dentistry and health
  • Humanities and languages
  • Music
  • Science and environment
  • Sport
  • Student entrepreneurship
  • Visual and creative arts

International

Life in Australia

Explore the Australian lifestyle and environment, accommodation, and cost of study.

Life in Australia

Find out more - Life in Australia

Study at Griffith

We offer hundreds of study options across a wide range of areas.

Know your options

Discover your pathway options based on your current qualifications and English levels.

English language programs

Study English language courses to improve your English level to qualify for a Griffith degree, travel or work.

Apply now

Follow our simple process to apply to study at Griffith.

Scholarships and finance

Find out about financing study through your home country's loan program, sponsored student support and scholarships.

Student support

Learn about the wide range of support services available for international students.

Study abroad and exchange

Complete one or two trimesters of study in Australia and earn credit towards your home degree.

Information for

  • Griffith English Language Institute
  • International Business Development Unit
  • International Relations
  • Tourism Confucius Institute
  • Find an international agent
  • Contact us

Research

Research excellence

  • Asian politics, security and development
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Criminology and crime prevention
  • Drug discovery and infectious diseases
  • Education
  • Environmental sciences
  • Health and chronic diseases
  • Music, the arts and the Asia Pacific
  • Nursing
  • Physical sciences
  • Sustainable tourism
  • Water science

Griffith research

Explore the strengths of one of Australia?s leading universities.

Research with impact

Delve into our discoveries and see how our research is making a difference.

Centres and institutes

We have an extensive network of research centres and institutes.

Griffith Graduate Research School

Services, support and resources for candidates and supervisors.

Research services

Grants, development, ethics and integrity, policy and performance.

Griffith Enterprise

Commercialisation and technology transfer office of Griffith University.

PhDs and Research degrees

Collaborative research opportunities at Griffith open doors to greater innovation and discovery for higher degree researchers, who are ready to think globally and discover new world solutions.

PhDs and research degrees

Find out more - PhDs and Research degrees

Industry

Industry partnerships

We foster mutually beneficial partnerships with industry, government and the community that power innovation and drive success.

Industry mega nav image

Find out more - Industry partnerships

Collaborate with us

Collaborating with us can open a world of options.

Research commercialisation

Access our research capabilities and see how our impact across industries.

Professional development

Access our educational resources to upskill in a wide range of areas.

Engage our talent

Engage our students, tap into our alumni network and see our success stories.

Success stories

Explore our partnerships and discover the ways we can make a difference.

Contact us

Develop a collaborative partnership with Griffith.

Information about

  • Access to commercial research
  • Griffith Enterprise
  • Griffith Experts
  • Professional training
  • Professional development (music)
  • Creative short courses
  • International business development
  • Recruitment services
  • Work placements

Advancement

Annual appeal

Please make a gift to the Students’ Future Fund to support students facing financial hardship. Thank you.

Annual Appeal

Find out more - Annual appeal

Alumni

Griffith alumni are making an outstanding impact in their local and global communities.

Events and opportunities

Every year we host alumni events in Australia and overseas. Come and join us.

Stay connected

Stay in touch with Griffith University and fellow alumni. Simply register or update your details.

Giving to Griffith

Giving changes lives. Contribute to a better future for all through education and research.

Donate now

Every gift makes a difference. And it?s so easy.

Gifts in wills

The ultimate act of philanthropy, creating a lasting footprint for the future.

Information for

  • Notable alumni
  • Alumni news
  • Annual awards
  • Staff giving
  • Governance
  • Contact us

About Griffith

First Peoples

We recognise Australia?s First Peoples? place in history and culture, and acknowledge them as the traditional custodians of the land.

Walk and Talk event

Find out more - First Peoples

About the University

Discover more about our history, our vision and what sets us apart from other tertiary institutions.

Our campuses and facilities

Explore our five campuses between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Life at Griffith

Find out all Griffith has to offer aside from study.

Our values

Learn about our mission, values and commitments.

Academic groups

View all the schools and centres that fall within our academic groups.

Jobs at Griffith

Investigate employment opportunities available across our five campuses.

Information about

  • Architecture, construction and planning
  • Business and government
  • Criminology and law
  • Education
  • Engineering, IT and aviation
  • Humanities, languages and social science
  • Medicine, dentistry and health
  • Music and performing arts
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Staff

Annual appeal

Please make a gift to the Students’ Future Fund to support students facing financial hardship. Thank you.

Annual Appeal

Find out more - Annual appeal

Email

Access your Microsoft account for email, calendar and teams.

Staff services and resources

View a list of commonly accessed services and resources.

Staff Portal

Login to Griffith's intranet services.

Library

Access library resources, catalogues, databases, workshops and training.

Learning@Griffith

Interact with students and peers and access or upload learning and teaching materials.

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Investigate employment opportunities available across our five campuses.

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Home > Griffith Intranet > Schools and departments > Natural Semantic Metalanguage > Semantic explications

Semantic explications

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What are semantic explications?

Semantic explications are explanatory paraphrases, framed in the metalanguage of simple and universal semantic primes. They can range in length from two or three words to literally dozens of interrelated clauses. They are essentially "texts" composed in a specified subset of ordinary language.

Though they are composed of discrete elements (i.e. words or bound morphemes), semantic explications can be phrased so as to accommodate the subjectivity and vagueness of many meanings.

For example, the following explication shows a semantic description for the verb 'lie' (Wierzbicka 1990) which is fully compatible with the prototypicality effect described by Coleman and Kay (1981). Notice that the final component is a reference to a social evaluation.

someone X lied to someone Y:

  • someone X said something to someone else Y
  • this someone knew that it was not true
  • this someone said it because he/she wanted this other someone to think that it was true
  • people think that it is bad if someone does something like this

The happy explication

The next explication, for the English emotion term 'happy' (with the verb 'to be'), shows how a prototypical cognitive scenario can be incorporated into an explication. The feeling experienced by X is not described directly; rather it is described as LIKE the good feeling experienced by a person who thinks certain prototypical thoughts, cf. Wierzbicka (1999) Goddard and Wierzbicka (2014).

someone X is happy (at this time):

  • someone X thinks like this at this time:
    • "many good things are happening to me as I want
    • I can do many things now as I want
    • this is good"
  • because of this, this someone feels something good at this time
    • like someone can fgeel when they think like this

This approach to emotion semantics allows a great deal of subtle differentiation between closely related emotions (e.g. 'happy', 'joyful', 'pleased', 'content', 'related', 'jubilant', and so on). To see this, here is a parallel explication for the word 'contented'. Notice that it follws the same overall structure or "semantic template":

someone X is contented (at this time):

  • someone X thinks like this at this time:
    • "something good is happening to me now
    • I want this
    • I don't want anything else now"
  • because of this, this someone feels something good at this time
    • like someone can feel when they think like this

"Amae" a peculiarly Japanese emotion

For an example of an explication of a meaning which will be unfamiliar to most readers, we can take the Japanese word amae. According to Takeo Doi (1974, 1981), amae is a "peculiarly Japanese emotion" which "runs through all the various activities of Japanese society" and represents "the true essence of Japanese psychology". So what exactly is amae? Doi explains that it is the noun form of amaeru, an intransitive verb which means 'to depend and presume upon another's benevolence'. It indicates 'helplessness and the desire to be loved'. Amaeru can also be defined as 'wish to be loved' and 'dependency needs'. Various bilingual dictionaries define amae as 'to lean on a person's good will', 'to depend on another's affection', 'to act lovingly towards (as a much fondled child towards its parents)', 'to presume upon', 'to take advantage of'; 'to behave like a spoilt child', 'be coquettish', 'trespass-on', 'take advantage of', 'behave in a caressing manner towards a man'; 'to speak in a coquettish tone', 'encroach on (one's kindness, good nature, etc.)'; 'presume on another's love', 'coax', and so on.

The prototype on which the amae concept is based is not difficult to guess. As Doi says "the psychological prototype of amae lies in the psychology of the infant in its relationship to its mother"; not a newborn infant, but an infant who has already realised that its mother exists independently of itself ...[A]s its mind develops it gradually realises that itself and its mother are independent existences, and comes to feel the mother as something indispensable to itself, it is the craving for close contact thus developed that constitutes, one might say, amae" (Doi 1981: 74). According to Doi and others, in Japan the kind of relationship based on this prototype provides a model of human relationships in general, especially (though not exclusively) when one person is senior to another.

The following explication is adapted from Wierzbicka (1998):

someone X feels amae (towards Y) at this time:

  • someone X thinks like this at this time (about someone Y):
    • "this someone can do good things for me
    • this someone wants to do good things for me
    • when I am with this someone, nothing bad can happen to me
    • I want to be with this someone"
  • because of this, this someone feels something good at this time
    • like someone can feel when they think like this

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