Verbal explication and the place of NSM semantics in cognitive linguistics

This paper argues that verbal explication has an indispensable role to play in semantic/conceptual representation. Cognitive linguistic diagrams are not semiotically self-contained and cannot be interpreted without overt or covert verbal support. Many also depend on culture-specific iconography. When verbal representation is employed in mainstream cognitive linguistics, as in work on prototypes, cultural models and conceptual metaphor, this is typically done in an under-theorised fashion without adequate attention to the complexity and culture-specificity of the representation. Abstract culture-laden vocabulary also demands a rich propositional style of representation, as shown with contrastive examples from Malay, Japanese and English. As the only stream of cognitive linguistics with a well-theorised and empirically grounded approach to verbal explication, the NSM (natural semantic metalanguage) framework has much to offer cognitive linguistics at large.