The Exponents of Eleven Simple, Universal Concepts in Three Semitic Languages

Abstract

The Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) theory makes the claim that there are 65 concepts that are simple and universal; these are called semantic primes in NSM. Their simplicity is proven by the fact that they cannot be defined via simpler terms, while their universality is proven by finding their exact equivalents in as many geographically and genetically different languages as possible. In this paper, I identify the exponents of eleven semantic primes in three Semitic languages: Standard Arabic, Jish Arabic, and Hebrew.