The Semantics of Emotions
PS R.Hickey “Language and
Culture”
Florian Peter
Grundstudium LN
The Semantics of Emotions

Introduction

Theories of the emotions

Comparison between some English emotions

“Happiness” in an European perspective

Culture- related emotions
Semantics of EmotionsIntroduction


a field of semantics
emotions and colours as well highlight and
sharpen the theoretical and methodological
conflicts in semantics

==> they illustrate how the study of linguistic
semantics is influenced by other human
science disciplines

e.g.. psychology, anthropology, semantics
Introduction

Why should we study semantics of emotions?

Emotions are a subject in which nearly
everybody is interested in

==> 1. interested in our own feelings
==> 2. interested in the feelings of others

Introduction

in the last decade, there has been much
controversial discussion about:

the nature of emotions
the meaning of emotions



==> human science disciplines which deal
with such questions are:
anthropology, psychology, semantics
W. Jamesian “Physicalism”






Founder of the “Physicalist Theory of
Emotion”
he asked himself the question if emotions are
essentially physical in nature
fear for example depend on
1. bodily symptoms like trembling, excitement
2. our awareness of them
==> when we fear sth. we can also see it on
our body

But, there are some emotions, as happiness
which do not have any prototypical body
signs


even so, there are some basic emotions like
anger, fear, surprise, sadness, joy which all
have typical body signs
other emotions are declared as amalgams:

delight= joy+ surprise





Proponents of this theory say that each
feeling can be seen in the mimic of people
(facial expressions)
these facial expressions match up all over the
world
across language and culture barriers
But, psychologists and anthropologists found
out, that there is much diversity and variation
Briggs Inuit, Lutz Ifauk, Rosaldo Hongot

two main rivals in the basic emotion theory

cognitive approach / social constructivism
first one depends on mental processes
ex. proud = there is a good reason for people
to think well of one
ex. angry = on has been wronged and feeling
an urge to retaliate






second one takes emphasis on the cultural
aspect
therefore emotions are shaped by social
judgements, cultural values etc.
in connection to that Geerts(1975) says that
“emotions are cultural artifacts”





to tackle emotions across language and
culture barriers, one cannot use complex,
specific terms
terms are not universal
Ifaluk for example have no word for anger
What do we have to do now?
==> we have to find words which have a
counterpart, like to think, to feel, good, bad....

Linguists are not really interested if the
emotion are real,

but as semantics is the study of meaning,

it is about “the meaning of the words by which
people discuss and describe emotions”




Iordanskajas’s work on emotions
important points she highlighted:
firstly: emotion terms of different cultures
really do not match up
secondly: the task of linguists is about
analysing the meaning in such a clear way so
that a cultural outsider is able to understand it





Definition of an emotion term should have two
components
internal description of the emotional state
(good feeling/ bad feeling; active/ passive)
reason for its occurrence
she classified Russian emotions into six
groups
joy, anger, grief, fear, hope, surprise,

main features for this division is the
experiencer’s assessment

if s.o. likes or dislikes the event

if s.o. wants do to anything in relation to the
event




Wierzbicka on emotion concepts
founder of the prototypical scenario
inspired by the author Tolstroy who wrote
Anna Karenina,
a book which describes a wide range of
possible scenarios and linked to that a wide
range of emotions

It is important to note, that emotions differ due
to subjective reasons for its occurrence

Moreover it is important that one can feel sth.
without knowing the cause
sth good is happening now
not everybody feels joy, but when s.o. feels
joy s.th. good happened


Comparison between some
English emotions





Differences between happy, joyful and
pleased depend on the use of it
happy= self oriented or personal
x feels happy/ s.th. good has happened to
me/ i wanted this/ i don’t want other things
now
so beside self oriented it is past perfective
and also implies further desires
ex.:Are you thinking of applying for atransfer?
No I am quite happy where I am



joy= could apply to other people/ not self
oriented/ has also a present perspective
x feels joy/ s.th. very good is happening now/
I want this
ex.: To his mother’s joy, he won the first price
Difference between sad and unhappy




sad: contains components like resignation
and acceptance
ex.: “If my cat dies, I will be sad not unhappy!”
unhappy: suggests a more active frame of
mind/ an unaccepting, active response
ex.: “I am unhappy about it”
==> could imply that s.o. intends to do s.th.
about it (like changing the situation)
Happiness in an European perspective




happy is a common and everyday word in
English
joy is more stylistically marked
but in other European languages words with
a meaning close to joy are used more often
ex.: in German “sich freuen” and “Freude” are
used on a daily basis


In contrast “glücklich” and “Glück” are not
used on a daily basis
beside the difference in frequency, it is
important to note that there is only a rough
meaning correspondence between “glücklich
and happy”





happy: a less intense emotion than “glücklich”
German “Glück”: leaving no room for any
further wishes or desires
happy has a more limited character
ex.: I am happy with this answer
---> “glücklich” does not fit in here
so one has to use less intense words; in this
case words like “zufrieden”
Culture-related emotions

emotion terms are culture related

every culture has a folk psychology

in connection to that emotion terms are
directly related to the values and priorities of
a culture



Japanese amae
Takeo Doi: “[Amae] is a key concept for the
understanding not only of the psychological
makeup of the individual Japanese but of the
structure of Japanese society as a whole.”
it is hard for the Japanese to believe that
there no word in English for amae
==>”Why, even a puppy does it” (=colleague
of Doi)




Amae is a good feeling
something like “to presume upon another’s
love” and “to take advantage of another’s
kindness”
indicates that there is someone powerful and
well intentioned (x can do things for me/ x
wants to do good things)
and because of this you are completely
protected (nothing bad can happen to me)

Moreover you do not have to do anything
==> it is the responsibility of X to do s.th.

Amae can exist in adult relationships like
husband and wife, doctor and patient,
but also in other relationships like mother and
child
 Thank
you for paying attention