NSM

This paper provides a brief overview of some of the works by Anna Wierzbicka devoted to the study of kinship terms in different languages and cultures (Wierzbicka 2016a, 2016b, 2017). The paper considers the approach of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), proposed by Wierzbicka for describing the semantics of kinship terms based on the use of lexical universals and shows the advantages of this approach in comparison with other methods of analysis. It demonstrates advantages of this method over other methods of semantic analysis, including overcoming eurocentrism tendencies in the analysis of kinship terms.

Following the seminal work of Wierzbicka (1985, 2013), this paper proposes and discusses a set of semantic analyses of words from three different levels of the English ethnozoological taxonomic hierarchy (Berlin 1992): creature (unique beginner), bird, fish, snake, and animal (life-form level), dog and kangaroo (generic level). The analytical framework is the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach (Wierzbicka 1996, 2014, Goddard and Wierzbicka 2014). Though ultimately resting on the foundational elements of the NSM system, i.e. 65 semantic primes and their inherent grammar of combination, the analysis relies on the analytical concepts of semantic molecules and semantic templates (Goddard 2012, 2016). These provide mechanisms for encapsulating semantic complexity and for modelling relations between successive layers of the hierarchy. Other issues considered include the extent to which cultural components feature in the semantics of ethnozoological categories, and the extent to which semantic knowledge may vary across different speech communities.

Although the Sw-5 gene cluster has been cloned, and Sw-5b has been identified as the functional gene copy that confers resistance to Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), its avirulence (Avr) determinant has not been identified to date. Nicotiana tabacum ‘SR1‘ plants transformed with a copy of the Sw-5b gene are immune without producing a clear visual response on challenge with TSWV, whereas it is shown here that N. benthamiana transformed with Sw-5b gives a rapid and conspicuous hypersensitive response (HR). Using these plants, from all structural and non-structural TSWV proteins tested, the TSWV cell-to-cell movement protein (NSM) was confirmed as the Avr determinant using a Potato virus X (PVX) replicon or a non-replicative pEAQ-HT expression vector system. HR was induced in Sw-5b-transgenic N. benthamiana as well as in resistant near-isogenic tomato lines after agroinfiltration with a functional cell-to-cell movement protein (NSM) from a resistance-inducing (RI) TSWV strain (BR-01), but not with NSM from a Sw-5 resistance-breaking (RB) strain (GRAU). This is the first biological demonstration that Sw-5-mediated resistance is triggered by the TSWV NSM cell-to-cell movement protein.

When teaching English words, teachers and textbooks may place more emphasis on 'content' words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) than on words that contribute to the 'textual' aspect of English, such as logical connectors. A consequence is that even if a student has some mastery of grammar and the use of 'content' words, they may not be able to produce cohesive texts or construct logical relations. Teaching the meanings of logical connectors is not easy, and the traditional use of synonyms and examples of use are not always helpful. Using synonyms in English or supposedly equivalents in the student's first language is not ideal because the student may end up understanding the word from the perspective of another word or, worse, another language. Using examples of use may be helpful to a certain extent but this method does not spell out the invariant meaning of the logical connector in question and the student is expected to draw their own conclusions on the basis of a few examples. To overcome such pedagogic obstacles, some scholars advocate the use of a maximally clear and minimally ethnocentric metalanguage, the natural semantic metalanguage (NSM), to capture word meaning. In this paper, the NSM methodology, founded by Anna Wierzbicka, is used to capture the meaning of three logical connectors, therefore, moreover and in fact for English language teaching purposes. Аннотация В работе над английской лексикой учителя и учебники уделяют больше внимания 'содержательным' словам (существительным, глаголам, прилагательным, наречиям), чем словам, участвующим в создании 'текстового' аспекта английского языка, таким как логические коннекторы. Следствием этого становится то, что, даже если студент имеет определенный уровень владения грамматикой и использования содержательных слов, он может не уметь производить связные тексты и строить логические связи. Объяснить значения логических коннекторов в преподавании нелегко, и традици-онное использование синонимов и примеров употребления здесь не всегда помогает. Исполь