Innate concepts, universal concepts, NSM, Semitic languages
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to shed light on the universality of four concepts realized in English through the words good, bad, big, and small. It is argued that the universality of these concepts is attested by their having equivalents in all languages. Their having exact equivalents in all languages is demonstrated by previous research that identified these equivalents in 22 languages and by the current paper which investigates them in three more languages; Modern Standard Arabic, Jish Arabic, and Hebrew. This study indirectly contributes to the fields of intercultural communication, ethics, and foreign language learning.
