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<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>There
are several areas of the lexicon where we would expect cultural scripts or
cultural activities to vary. Someone has already mentioned that technologies
vary. In English we need a domain for 'Space travel'. NASA, scientists, and
science fiction writers have a large vocabulary in this domain, including
'astronaut' and 'warp drive'.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Work
related domains are culture specific. For instance some lexicographers working
in Thailand requested that I include a semantic domain for 'Working with
domesticated elephants'. Some languages in southeast Asia will require such a
domain, but it will be missing from every other part of the world. In places
where water is delivered in pipes, you would need a domain for 'Plumbing', but
in other places you would need a domain for 'Drawing/fetching
water'.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Another area is cultural activities such as ceremonies and games/sports.
We do not initiate young men into our tribe. But in many places this ceremony
has specific components that are lexicalized. So many languages need a domain,
'Initiation'. There are other cultural practices like 'Circumcision' 'Tatoo' and
'Tribal scarring' that won't exist in some cultures. We have 'Birthday party'
mostly filled with lexical phrases such as 'Happy birthday' and 'birthday cake'.
We have a huge vocabulary for 'Baseball'. Other cultures have other games. A
person who had used the DDP word collection method reported that all the words
for games and sports could be put into a single small domain. We need a domain
for each (major) sport and lots of games. 'Poker' has its own
vocabulary.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>There
are also small language groups that will not have any words for large scale
activities such as 'War'. Some African tribes had no tribal organization
corresponding to our 'Government', but might have borrowed words in recent times
to deal with modern national governments. I would imagine that some nomadic
groups have a domain for 'migrate' and other settled
groups don't.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Some
languages won't have a domain 'School' or 'Disciple'. In the Lunyole word
collection workshop, no words were collected in the domains 'Drama' or
'Playing [e.g. toy]'.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I've
heard from several languages that some groups have a domain 'Condiments' and
others don't. The larger domain of 'Food' seems to be divided up quite
differently from language to language.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>There
are financial domains such as 'Bank' and 'Insurance' that will be lacking in
some cultures. Some may lack money and finances altogether.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I wish
I could give specific names of languages that lack these domains, but I can't.
Sorry. I've come across these examples in the literature but I don't have a
photographic memory.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=243335322-28032006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Ron
Moe</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com]<B>On Behalf Of </B>David
williams<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 23, 2006 11:50 AM<BR><B>To:</B>
lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: [Lexicog] Re: Words
that are absent in particular languages<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><TT>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Thanks Ron, Could you
suggest some of the languages which have such missing
domains.<O></O></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Best
wishes,<O></O></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">David<O></O></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><O></O></SPAN></FONT></P>
<DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN lang=EN-US style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<HR tabIndex=-1 align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">From:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com] <B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">On Behalf Of </SPAN></B>Ron Moe<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> 23 March 2006 17:18<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B>
lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> RE: [Lexicog] Re: Words that are
absent in particular languages</SPAN></FONT><SPAN
lang=EN-US><O></O></SPAN></P></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><O></O></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><TT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Ken has made an important observation about lexical
gaps. If we look at all</SPAN></FONT></TT><FONT face="Courier New"
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">the words in a language that are used to talk about a
domain, we may find a</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">plethora of
words and phrases that cover the domain quite nicely. But if
we</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">look for an exact match between
a complex concept in one language and the</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">same identical concept in another language, we will usually
be disappointed.</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">What may be of
more relevance to David is when an entire domain is
missing.</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">For instance in English
we have a large domain 'thank, thankful,</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">thanksgiving, say thanks, gratitude, grateful, appreciate,
show your</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">appreciation, You're
welcome, ingratitude, (and many others)'. These all</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">refer to various aspects of a cultural script. I've heard
of languages where</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">this cultural
script is missing, and therefore all the words refering to
it.</FONT></TT><BR><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">Ron
Moe</FONT></TT><BR><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">-----Original
Message-----</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">From:
lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">[mailto:lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of
Kenneth C. Hill</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">Sent: Wednesday,
March 22, 2006 6:02 PM</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">To:
lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">Subject: Re: [Lexicog] Re: Words that are absent in
particular languages</FONT></TT><BR><BR><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">One
has to be careful with quick assessments as to whether a language
has</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">a term for a given concept.
Hopi has long been famous for the wrong claim</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">(by Benjamin Lee Whorf) that it has no word for time. In
fact Hopi has</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">many words for
'time'; two that translate as English 'time' are taawa
and</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">qeni:</FONT></TT><BR><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">taawa
(which also means 'sun' or 'day') refers to time as some sort
of</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">entity, as in Taawa a'ni
hòyta. [time very be.moving] 'Time is really</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">moving fast.'</FONT></TT><BR><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">qeni (which also means 'space') means 'time' in the sense
of time to do or</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">for doing
something, as in Pay naat itamungem a'ni qeni. [well
still</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">for.us very time] 'There is
still plenty of time for us [to do it].'</FONT></TT><BR><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">Hopi also has various expressions things like 'at that
point in time', 'an</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">occasion',
'have time for'.</FONT></TT><BR><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">Of similar
interest along with the question of lexical gaps is the
fact</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">that sometimes quite distinct
concepts are conflated under the same term.</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">An example is the usage in English of 'hot' to refer to
temperature and to</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">certain kinds
of spiciness, the sensory effect of chile peppers and
of</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">mustard (which in turn are very
different sensory experiences). In Spanish</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">these concepts of temperature and of spiciness are clearly
distinct:</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">caliente has to do with
temperature and picante has to do with the</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">spiciness. The confusion in English is such that some
people refer to the</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">property of
chile as 'heat' and commercial packages of foods
containing</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">chile often have little
thermometer icons on them telling how 'hot' the</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">contents are. I suspect such icons would not work very well
in <ST1><ST1>Mexico</ST1></ST1>.</FONT></TT><BR><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">--Ken Hill</FONT></TT><BR><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">--- David Williams <david@dwdw1.com>
wrote:</FONT></TT><BR><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">> --- In
lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com, "David Williams"
<david@...></FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">>
wrote:</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">>
></FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">> > HI I'm researching
words which some languages omit. I'm trying to</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">> > build up some examples. I believe, for instance,
that in Swedish</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">>
there</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">> > is no direct
counterpart for 'mind'.</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">> >
If anyone has any examples I'd be delighted to hear
them.</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">> >
cheers</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">> >
DW</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">>
></FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">> Many thanks to those who
have offered suggestions. Just to clarify,</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">> I'm particularly interested in the abscence of words
which by their</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">> omisision
might reflect the culture of the language group. I
remeMber</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">> reading many yers
ago of a tribe who saw the ability to deceive as a</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">> virtue and their language refelcted this. This might
well have been an</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT face="Courier New">> apocryphal
tale, but it's this avenue I'm looking at.</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">> best wishes to all,</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">> DavidW</FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">></FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">></FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">></FONT></TT><BR><TT><FONT
face="Courier New">></FONT></TT><BR><BR><BR><TT><FONT
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