10/02/16 7:29 AM
TABLES OF NSM SEMANTIC PRIMES, IN THREE FORMATS
This is the classic format, updated to current thinking (e.g. positioning TOUCH
with the Space grouping, using (BE) MINE for “possession”)
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Table: Semantic primes (English exponents) (Goddard & Wierzbicka 2014).
I, YOU, SOMEONE, SOMETHING~THING, PEOPLE, BODY
KIND, PART
THIS, THE SAME, OTHER~ELSE
ONE, TWO, MUCH~MANY, LITTLE~FEW, SOME, ALL
Substantives
Relational substantives
Determiners
Quantifiers
GOOD, BAD
Evaluators
BIG, SMALL
Descriptors
THINK, KNOW, WANT, DON’T WANT, FEEL, SEE, HEAR
SAY, WORDS, TRUE
DO, HAPPEN, MOVE
BE (SOMEWHERE), THERE IS, BE (SOMEONE/SOMETHING)
(BE) MINE
LIVE, DIE
WHEN~TIME, NOW, BEFORE, AFTER, A LONG TIME, A
Mental predicates
Speech
Actions, events, movement
Location, existence, specification
Possession
Life and death
Time
SHORT TIME, FOR SOME TIME, MOMENT
WHERE~PLACE, HERE, ABOVE, BELOW, FAR, NEAR, SIDE,
Space
INSIDE, TOUCH
NOT, MAYBE, CAN, BECAUSE, IF
VERY, MORE
LIKE
Logical concepts
Augmentor, intensifier
Similarity
Notes:  Primes exist as the meanings of lexical units (not at the level of lexemes) 
Exponents of primes may be words, bound morphemes, or phrasemes  They can be
formally, i.e., morphologically, complex  They can have combinatorial variants or
allolexes (indicated with ~)  Each prime has well-specified syntactic (combinatorial)
properties.
This format is less technical, especially if the right hand column is omitted. Anna
Wierzbicka used it for the first time in her 2014 book Imprisoned in English.
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Table: Semantic primes (English exponents) (after Goddard & Wierzbicka
2014; Wierzbicka 2014).
I~ME, YOU, SOMEONE, SOMETHING, PEOPLE, BODY
KIND, PARTS
THIS, THE SAME, OTHER~ELSE
ONE, TWO, MUCH~MANY, LITTLE~FEW, SOME, ALL
GOOD, BAD, BIG, SMALL
THINK, KNOW, WANT, DON’T WANT, FEEL, SEE, HEAR
SAY, WORDS, TRUE
DO, HAPPEN, MOVE
BE (SOMEWHERE), THERE IS, BE (SOMEONE/SOMETHING),
(BE) MINE
LIVE, DIE
WHEN~TIME, NOW, BEFORE, AFTER, A LONG TIME, A
SHORT TIME, FOR SOME TIME, MOMENT
Substantives
Relational substantives
Determiners
Quantifiers
Evaluators, descriptors
Mental predicates
Speech
Actions, events, movement
Location, existence, specification,
possession
Life and death
Time
WHERE~PLACE, HERE, ABOVE, BELOW, FAR, NEAR, SIDE,
INSIDE, TOUCH
NOT, MAYBE, CAN, BECAUSE, IF, VERY, MORE, LIKE~AS
Space
Logical concepts
Primes exist as the meanings of lexical units (not at the level of lexemes)  Exponents
of primes may be words, bound morphemes, or phrasemes  They can be formally, i.e.,
morphologically, complex  They can have combinatorial variants or allolexes (indicated
with ~)  Each prime has well-specified syntactic (combinatorial) properties.

I~ME, YOU, SOMEONE, SOMETHING, PEOPLE, BODY
KIND, PARTS
THIS, THE SAME, OTHER~ELSE
ONE, TWO, MUCH~MANY, LITTLE~FEW, SOME, ALL
GOOD, BAD, BIG, SMALL
THINK, KNOW, WANT, DON’T WANT, FEEL, SEE, HEAR
SAY, WORDS, TRUE
DO, HAPPEN, MOVE
BE (SOMEWHERE), THERE IS, BE (SOMEONE/SOMETHING), (BE) MINE
LIVE, DIE
WHEN~TIME, NOW, BEFORE, AFTER, A LONG TIME, A SHORT TIME, FOR SOME TIME, MOMENT
WHERE~PLACE, HERE, ABOVE, BELOW, FAR, NEAR, SIDE, INSIDE, TOUCH
NOT, MAYBE, CAN, BECAUSE, IF, VERY, MORE, LIKE~AS
The next two tables are in a dual-language format. Each language has its own
column or row, which can be presented in either order. The idea is to avoid any
subliminal impression that one language (English) is primary or prior with
respect to the other.
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Table: Semantic primes (English and Spanish), grouped into related
categories (after Goddard & Wierzbicka (2014), Travis (2002)).
I, YOU, SOMEONE, SOMETHING~THING,
YO, TU, ALGUIEN~PERSONA, ALGO~COSA,
PEOPLE, BODY
GENTE, CUERPO
KIND, PART
TIPO, PARTE
THIS, THE SAME, OTHER~ELSE
ESTO, LO MISMO, OTRO
ONE, TWO, MUCH~MANY,
LITTLE~FEW, SOME, ALL
UNO, DOS, MUCHO , POCO, ALGUNOS, TODO
GOOD, BAD
BUENO, MALO
BIG, SMALL
GRANDE, PEQUEÑO
KNOW, THINK, WANT, FEEL, SEE, HEAR
PENSAR, SABER, QUERER, SENTIR, VER, OÍR
SAY, WORDS, TRUE
DECIR, PALABRAS, VERDAD
DO, HAPPEN, MOVE
HACER, PASAR, MOVERSE
BE (SOMEWHERE), THERE IS, BE
ESTAR (EN ALGÚN LUGAR), HAY, SER
(SOMEONE/SOMETHING)
(ALGUIEN/ALGO)
(BE) MINE
(SER) MÍO
LIVE, DIE
VIVIR, MORIR
WHEN~TIME, NOW, BEFORE, AFTER, A
CUÁNDO~TIEMPO, AHORA, ANTES, DESPUÉS,
LONG TIME, A SHORT TIME, FOR SOME
MUCHO TIEMPO, POCO TIEMPO, POR UN
TIME, MOMENT
TIEMPO, MOMENTO
WHERE~PLACE, HERE, ABOVE, BELOW,
DÓNDE~LUGAR, AQUÍ, ARRIBA, DEBAJO,
FAR, NEAR, SIDE, INSIDE, TOUCH
CERCA, LEJOS, LADO, DENTRO , TOCAR
NOT, MAYBE, CAN, BECAUSE, IF
NO, TAL VEZ, PODER, PORQUE, SI
VERY, MORE
MUY, MÁS
LIKE
COMO
substantives
relational substantives
determiners
quantifiers
evaluators
descriptors
mental predicates
speech
actions, events,
movement
location, existence,
specification
possession
life and death
time
space
logical concepts
intensifier, augmentor
similarity
Notes: – Primes exist as the meanings of lexical units (not at the level of lexemes) –
Exponents of primes may be words, bound morphemes, or phrasemes – They can be
formally complex – They can have combinatorial variants or “allolexes” (indicated with ~)
– Each prime has well-specified syntactic (combinatorial) properties.
Table: Semantic primes (English and German exponents), grouped into
related categories.
I, YOU, SOMEONE, SOMETHING~THING, PEOPLE, BODY
substantives
ICH, DU, JEMAND, ETWAS~DING, MENSCHEN~LEUTE, KÖRPER
KIND, PART
relational substantives
ART, TEIL
THIS, THE SAME, OTHER~ELSE
determiners
DIESE(R), DASSELBE, ANDERE(R)
ONE, TWO, SOME, ALL, MUCH~MANY, LITTLE~FEW
quantifiers
EINS, ZWEI, EINIGE, ALLE, VIEL~VIELE, WENIG~WENIGE
GOOD, BAD
evaluators
GUT, SCHLECHT
BIG, SMALL
descriptors
GROß, KLEIN
KNOW, THINK, WANT, FEEL, SEE, HEAR
mental predicates
WISSEN, DENKEN, WOLLEN, FÜHLEN, SEHEN, HÖREN
SAY, WORDS, TRUE
speech
SAGEN, WORT~WÖRTER, WAHR
DO, HAPPEN, MOVE, TOUCH
TUN, PASSIEREN, BEWEGEN, BERÜHREN
BE (SOMEWHERE), THERE IS, BE (SOMEONE/SOMETHING)
SEIN (IRGENDWO), ES GIBT, SEIN (JEMAND/ETWAS)
(BE) MINE
(SEIN) MINE
LIVE, DIE
LEBEN, STERBEN
WHEN~TIME, NOW, BEFORE, AFTER, A LONG TIME, A SHORT TIME, FOR
SOME TIME, MOMENT
WENN~ZEIT, JETZT, VOR, NACH, EINE LANGE ZEIT, EINE KURZE ZEIT,
EINIGE ZEIT, MOMENT
WHERE~PLACE, HERE, ABOVE, BELOW, FAR, NEAR, SIDE, INSIDE
WO~ORT, HIER, ÜBER, UNTER, WEIT, NAH, SEITE, INNEN
NOT, MAYBE, CAN, BECAUSE, IF
NICHT, VIELLEICHT, KÖNNEN, WEIL~WEGEN, WENN
VERY, MORE
SEHR, MEHR
LIKE~AS~WAY
WIE~ALS~WEISE
actions, events, movement,
contact
location, existence,
specification
possession
life and death
time
space
logical concepts
intensifier, augmentor
similarity
Notes: • Primes exist as the meanings of lexical units (not at the level of lexemes)
• Exponents of primes may be words, bound morphemes, or phrasemes • They can be
formally complex • They can have language-specific combinatorial variants (allolexes,
indicated with ~) • Each prime has well-specified syntactic (combinatorial) properties.