Cultural semantics of the ‘salt’ word in Persian
This article explicates the cultural conceptualizations of the word for salt (namak) in Persian.
The concept of namak reveals an important aspect of Persian sociality, hospitality, mutual respect, and
playfulness. For instance, a person’s face or words can be perceived to ‘have salt’, or one’s hand is declared to ‘not have salt’
in the Persian language. To examine the conceptualization of namak, this article makes use of corpus data as well
as the metalanguage proposed by Natural Semantic Metalanguage to spell out the nuances of salt-related cultural concepts in
Persian. Three senses are identified for namak from a historical perspective: namak
0
for the substance of salt; namak
1 the cornerstone of Iranian sociality and hospitality; and
namak
2 the pleasantness, which has changed its semantic content from referring to being pleasant
and eloquent to being amusing and playful.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Cultural semantics
- 3.Corpus data
- 4.Hospitality: Namak0 and Namak1
- 5.Pleasantness: Namak2
- 6.With salt
- 7.Without salt
- 8.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
References (85)
References
Ameka, F. (1994). Ewe. In C. Goddard & A. Wierzbicka (Eds.), Semantic
and lexical universals: Theory and empirical
findings (pp. 57–86). Amsterdam, NL: John Benjamins. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Amouzadeh, M., & Tavangar, M. (2005). Sociolinguistic
transfer: The case of Persian speakers in Australia. International Journal of Applied
Linguistics,
147
1, 63–77. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Apresjan, J. D. (1974). Regular
polysemy. Linguistics,
14
(2), 5–32. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Arab, R. (2020). Ethnopragmatics
of hāzer javābi, a valued speech practice in Persian. In K. Mullan, B. Peeters, & L. Sadow (Eds.), Studies
in ethnopragmatics, cultural semantics, and intercultural
communication (pp. 75–94). Singapore, SG: Springer. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Arab, R. (2021). To
be with salt, to speak with taste: Metapragmatics of playful speech practices in
Persian (unpublished PhD thesis), Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
Arab, R. (forthcoming). Metapragmatics
of maze (taste) in Persian. In A. Korangy (Ed.), Persian
cultural linguistics and pragmatics. Singapore, SG: Springer.
Asdjodi, M. (2001). A
comparison between ta’arof in Persian and limao in Chinese. International Journal of Sociology
of
Language,
148
1, 71–92.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Atoofi, S. (2011). Poetics
of repetition in ordinary talk: A case among Persian heritage language teachers and their
students. Journal of
Pragmatics,
43
(14), 3362–3373. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Beeman, W. O. (1976). Status,
style and strategy in Iranian interaction. Anthropological
Linguistics,
18
1, 305–322.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Beeman, W. O. (1986). Language,
status, and power in Iran. Bloomington, US: Indiana University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Beeman, W. O. (2001). Sincerity
and emotion in Persian discourse: Accomplishing the representations of inner
states. International Journal of Sociology of
Language,
148
1, 31–57. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bell, N. (2009). Responses
to Failed Humor. Journal of
Pragmatics, 411, 1825–1836. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Boas, F. (1911). Introduction
[to the] handbook of American Indian languages. Washington, DC, US: Bureau of American Ethnology.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Carbaugh, D. (2007). Cultural
discourse analysis: Communication practices and intercultural encounters. Journal of
Intercultural Communication
Research,
36
(3), 167–182. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Carbaugh, D. (Ed.). (2016). The
handbook of communication in cross-cultural perspective. London, UK & New York, US: Taylor and Francis. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Conway, T. (2009). From
tolerance to hospitality: problematic limits of a negative virtue. Philosophy in the
contemporary
world,
16
1, 1–13. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cook, R. T. (2009). Extension. In A
dictionary of philosophical logic. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Dynel, M. (2017). Academics
vs. American scriptwriters vs. academics: A battle over the etic and emic “sarcasm” and “irony”
Labels. Language and
Communication,
55
1, 69–87. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Eelen, G. (2001). A
critique of politeness theories. Manchester, UK: St Jerome Publishing.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Enfield, N. J. (2011). Taste
in two tongues: A southeast Asian study of semantic convergence. The Senses and
Society,
6
(1), 30–37. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Eslami, Z. R. (2005). Invitations
in Persian and English: Ostensible or genuine? Intercultural
Pragmatics,
2
(4), 453–480. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Geeraerts, D. (1994). Polysemy. In R. E. Asher & J. M. L. Simpson (Eds.), The
encyclopedia of language and
linguistics (pp. 3227–3228). New York, US: Pergamon Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gladkova, A. (2010). “Sympathy,”
“compassion,” and “empathy” in English and Russian: A linguistic and cultural analysis. Culture
and
Psychology,
16
(2), 267–285. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C. (2002). On
and on: Verbal explications for a polysemic network. Cognitive
Linguistics,
13
(3), 277–294. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C. (2004). The
ethnopragmatics and semantics of “active metaphors”. Journal of
Pragmatics,
36
(7), 1211–1230. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C. (Ed.). (2006). Ethnopragmatics:
Understanding discourse in cultural context. Berlin, DE: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C. (2007a). Semantic
primes and conceptual ontology. In A. C. Schalley & D. Zaefferer (Eds.), Ontolinguistics:
How ontological status shapes the linguistic coding of
concepts (pp. 145–174). Berlin, DE: Mouton de Gruyter.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C. (2007b). Semantic
molecules. In I. Mushin & M. Laughern (Eds.), Selected
papers of the 2006 annual meeting of the Australian linguistic society. [URL]
Goddard, C. (2011). Semantic
analysis: A practical introduction (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C. (2015). Words
as carriers of cultural meaning. In J. R. Taylor (Ed.), The
Oxford handbook of the
word (pp. 380–398). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C. (2018). Ten
lectures on natural semantic metalanguage: Exploring language, thought and culture using simple, translatable
words. Leiden, NL: Brill. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C., & Wierzbicka, A. (2007). NSM
analyses of the semantics of physical qualities: Sweet, hot, hard, heavy, rough, sharp in cross-linguistic
perspective. Studies in
Language,
31
(4), 765–800. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C., & Wierzbicka, A. (2009). Contrastive
semantics of physical activity verbs: “Cutting” and ‘chopping’ in English, Polish, and
Japanese. Language
Sciences,
31
(1), 60–96. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C., & Wierzbicka, A. (2014). Words
and meanings: Lexical semantics across domains, languages and cultures. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goddard, C., & Ye, Z. (2014). Ethnopragmatics. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), The
Routledge handbook of language and
culture (pp. 66–84). London, UK & New York, US: Routledge.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Haugh, M. (2012). Epilogue:
The first-order distinction in face and politeness research. Journal of Politeness
Research,
8
(1), 111–134. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hill, D., & Goddard, C. (1997). Spatial
terms, polysemy and possession in Longgu (Solomon Islands). Language
Sciences,
19
(3), 263–275. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hillmann, M. C. (1978). Language
and social distinctions in Iran. In M. E. Bonine & N. R. Keddie (Eds.), Modem
Iran: The dialectics of continuity and
change (pp. 327–340). Albany, US: State University of New York Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hodge, C. T. (1957). Some
aspects of Persian
style. Language,
33
1, 355–369. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Houston, C. (2009). “Thou
glorious kingdome, thou chiefe of empires”: Persia in early seventeenth-century travel
literature. Studies in Travel
Writing,
13
1, 141–152. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Howes, D., & Classen, C. (1991). Sounding
sensory profiles. In D. Howes (Ed.), The
varieties of sensory experience: A sourcebook in the anthropology of the
senses (pp. 257–288). Toronto, CA: University of Toronto Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Izadi, A. (2015). Persian
honorifics and im/politeness as social practice. Journal of
Pragmatics,
85
1, 81–91. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Killgarriff, A., Baisa, V., Bušta, J., Jakubíček, M., Kovář, V., Michelfeit, J., Rychlý, P., & Suchomel, V. (2014). The
sketch engine: Ten years
on. Lexicography,
1
1, 7–36. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Koutlaki, S. (2002). Offers
and expressions of thanks as face enhancing acts: Ta’arof in Persian. Journal of
Pragmatics,
34
(12), 1733–1756. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kwon, D. Y. (2017). Ethnic
foods and their taste: Salt and sugar. Journal of Ethnic
Foods,
3
(4), 133–134. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Leavitt, J. (2015). Ethnosemantics. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), The
Routledge handbook of language and
culture (pp. 51–65). London, UK & New York, US: Routledge.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Levisen, C. (2012). Cultural
semantics and social cognition: A case study on the Danish universe of meaning. Berlin, DE: De Gruyter Mouton. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Majid, A., & Levinson, S. C. (2011). The
senses in language and culture. The Senses and
Society,
6
(1), 5–18. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matthee, R. (2009). The
Safavids under western eyes: Seventeenth-century European travellers to Iran. Journal of Early
Modern
History,
13
1, 137–171. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mehran, J. (2019). The
meaning of hospitality in Iran. In A. Correia, M. Kozak, & A. I. Rodrigues (Eds.), Experiencing
Persian heritage, Vol.
10 (pp. 155–167). Bingley, UK: Emerald. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mizumoto, M., Ganeri, J., & Goddard, C. (Eds.). (2020). Ethno-epistemology:
New directions for global epistemology. London, UK & New York, US: Routledge. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Moosavie, S. M. (1986). A
sociolinguistic analysis of the Persian system of taarof and its implication for the teaching of
Farsi (Doctoral dissertation), University of Texas at Austin, the USA.
Roberts, J. R., Barjasteh Delforooz, B., & Jahani, C. (2009). A
study of Persian discourse structure. Uppsala, SE: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Senft, G., Majid, A., & Levinson, S. C. (2007). The
language of taste. In A. Majid (Ed.), Field
manual, Vol.
10 (pp. 42–45). Nijmegen, NL: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sharifian, F. (2004). Cultural
schemas and intercultural communication: A study of Persian. In J. Leigh & E. Loo (Eds.), Outer
limits: A reader in communication across
cultures (pp. 119–130). Melbourne, AU: Language Australia.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sharifian, F. (2008). Cultural
schemas in L1 and L2 compliment responses: A study of Persian-speaking learners of
English. Journal of Politeness
Research,
4
(1), 55–80. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sharifian, F. (2015). Cultural
linguistics. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), The
Routledge handbook of language and
culture (pp. 473–492). London, UK & New York, US: Routledge.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Slobin, D. I. (1996). From
“thought and language” to “thinking for speaking.” In J. J. Gumperz & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Rethinking
linguistic
relativity (pp. 70–96). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Taleghani-Nikazm, C. M. (1999). Politeness
in native–nonnative speakers’ interaction: Some manifestations of Persian taarof in the interaction among Iranian speakers of
German with German native speakers (Doctoral
dissertation), University of Texas at Austin, the USA.
Whorf, B. L. (1956). Language,
thought and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf (ed. and intro. J. B. Carroll). Cambridge, US: MIT Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (1972). Semantic
primitives. Frankfurt, DE: Athenäum.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (1987). Speech
act verbs. Sydney, AU: Academic Press Australia.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (1991). Cross-cultural
pragmatics. Berlin, DE: Mouton De Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (1992). Semantics,
culture, and cognition: Universal human concepts in culture-specific configurations. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (1996). Semantics:
Primes and universals. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (1997). Understanding
cultures through their key words: English, Russian, Polish, German, Japanese. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (2006a). Anglo
scripts against “putting pressure” on other people and their linguistic
manifestations. In C. Goddard (Ed.), Ethnopragmatics:
Understanding discourse in cultural
context (pp. 65–98). Berlin, DE: Mouton De Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (2006b). English:
Meaning and culture. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (2007). Bodies
and their parts: An NSM approach to semantic typology. Language
Sciences,
29
(1), 14–65. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (2009). Language
and metalanguage: Key issues in emotion research. Emotion
Review,
1
(1), 3–14. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wierzbicka, A. (2014). Imprisoned
in English: The hazards of English as a default language. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wilson, D., & Sperber, D. (1992). On
verbal
irony. Lingua,
87
(1), 53–76. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wong, J. (2000). The
semantics of Singapore English. Singapore, SG: Centre for Advanced Studies Research, National University of Singapore.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yarbakhsh, E. (2018). Reading
Derrida in Tehran: Between an open door and an empty
sofreh. Humanities,
7
(1), 21. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ye, Z. (Ed.). (2017). The
semantics of nouns. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yu, N. (2009). The
Chinese HEART in a cognitive perspective: Culture, body, and language. Berlin, DE: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zarrinkoub, A. (2006). History of Iranian people: From the end of the Sasanian to the end of the Buyid [Tārixe mardome iran: az pāyāne sāsāniyān tā pāyāne āle buye]. Tehran, IR: Amirkabir.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zonis, M. (1971). Political
elite of Iran. Princeton, US: Princeton University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)