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 word '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.

X lied to Y =

X said something to Y

X knew that it was not true

X said it because X wanted Y to think that it was true

people think that it is bad if someone does something like this

The next explication, for the emotion term 'happy', 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. 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); cf. Wierzbicka 1996, 1999).

X feels happy =

X feels something good like people can feel when they think like this:

something good happened to me

I wanted this to happen

I don't want anything else now

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. As

another writer puts it: "He may be your father or your older brother or sister ... But he

may just as well be your section head at the office, the leader of your local political

faction, or simply a fellow struggler down life's byways who happened to be one or two

years ahead of you at school or the university. The amae syndrome is pervasive in

Japanese life" (Gibney 1975: 119).

The following explication is based on Wierzbicka (1998):

X feels amae =

when X thinks about Y, X feels something good like people can feel

when they think like this about someone:

"when this someone thinks about me, this someone feels something good

this someone wants to do good things for me

 this someone can do good things for me

when I am with this someone nothing bad can happen to me

I don't have to do anything because of this"

The first component reflects the need for conscious awareness. The presumption of a

"special relationship" is reflected in the component 'when this someone thinks about me,

this someone feels something good'. The implication of self-indulgence is rooted in the

emotional security of someone who knows that he or she is loved: "it is an emotion that

takes the other person's love for granted" (Doi 1981: 168). This is accounted for by the

combination of components: 'this someone wants to do good things for me', 'this

someone can do good things for me', and 'when I am with this someone nothing bad can

happen to me'. The component 'I don't have to do anything because of this' reflects the

"passive" attitude of an amae junior, who does not need to earn the mother-figure's

goodwill and protection by any special actions.

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