Scholarlink

This chapter presents a contrastive semantic analysis of two similar-yet-different terms in French and Persian—marrant and bāmaze—both near equivalents to the English adjective funny. Using the NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) approach to semantic analysis (Peeters, 2006, Goddard & Wierzbicka, 2014a, and other works), we demonstrate that while some elements of their meanings overlap (both involve ‘laughing’ and ‘good feelings’), these semantically complex terms are far from exact equivalents. The subtle polysemies of both words will be explored by using corpus examples and providing parallel explications. Hence, we examine two ‘funny’ words from two languages without relying on the meanings of the English word funny or English as the neutral metalanguage.

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Having Fun is a Matter of Taste: ‘Funny’ Words in French and Persian

  • 章节

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

查看全文
  • Reza Arab,
  • Kerry Mullan

摘要

This chapter presents a contrastive semantic analysis of two similar-yet-different terms in French and Persian—marrant and bāmaze—both near equivalents to the English adjective funny. Using the NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) approach to semantic analysis (Peeters, 2006, Goddard & Wierzbicka, 2014a, and other works), we demonstrate that while some elements of their meanings overlap (both involve ‘laughing’ and ‘good feelings’), these semantically complex terms are far from exact equivalents. The subtle polysemies of both words will be explored by using corpus examples and providing parallel explications. Hence, we examine two ‘funny’ words from two languages without relying on the meanings of the English word funny or English as the neutral metalanguage.