    # KEHOME/knowledge/theory/NaturalSemanticMetalanguage/definition.html
    # Oct/18/2003

# NSM definitions

This note summarizes the basic ideas of Natural Semantic Metalanguage, as described by Wierzbicka [1] and Goddard [2].

## Basic Ideas

- Every word has one or more word-senses (concepts), which have different meanings.
- Every concept has a literal meaning, and may have one or more metaphorical meanings. A meaning has an essential core ("semantic invariant"), and context-dependent variations.
- The definition ("explication") of a complex concept is a sequence of paraphrases using simpler concepts. A definition characterizes the complete meaning ("range of use") of a concept.
- Every natural language includes the same set of universal concepts ( "semantic primes" ) which cannot be defined by simpler concepts.
- Matching a prototype is a sufficient, but not necessary, condition for a unit to be subsumed under a concept.

## Examples

NSM definition of loves [2]
  Person-X loves Person-Y =
  X often thinks about Y
  X thinks good things about Y
  X wants to do good things for Y
  X wants good things to happen to Y
  when X thinks about Y, X often wants to be with Y
  when X thinks about Y, X often feels something good
genus-differentia definition of love [3]
  Love is an emotion proceeding from the evaluation of an existent as a positive value and as a source of pleasure.

## References

1. Anna Wierzbicka, "Semantics: Primes and Universals", Oxford University Press, 1996.
2. Cliff Goddard, "Polysemy: A Problem of Definition", pp. 129 - 151 in Yael Ravin and Claudia Leacock, "Polysemy: Theoretical and Computational Approaches", Oxford University Press, 2000.
3. Ayn Rand, "Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology", Expanded Second Edition, Meridian, 1990.

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