1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. International Journal of Language and Culture
  4. Online First Articles
  5. Online First Article
image of “Half of our lives is about ice”
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

In Kalaallit Nunaat [ka la:ɬ ɬit# nu na:t#] (Greenland), people live close to massive ice places, whose continuous melting is driving environmental changes worldwide. To better understand in what ways living with these places shapes how they are perceived and how the shrinking of the ice, accelerated by anthropogenic climate change, is experienced locally, this paper explores the semantics of ice place words in Arctic Danish. The postcolonial semantic study is carried out within the framework of the natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) approach and informed by text corpora and semantic consultations with speakers. To lay the foundation, the paper provides a detailed contrastive study of two meanings of the conceptual building block (‘ice’); one for its meaning in Arctic Danish and one for its meaning in Denmark-Danish. The analysis suggests that Arctic Danish’s linguistically encoded worldviews have been shaped by being in the physical environment of Kalaallit Nunaat and in contact with Kalaallisut [ka la:ɬ ɬi sut#] (Greenlandic). Semantic explications of the ice place words (lit. ‘the inland ice’) and (‘the sea ice’) are then proposed, together with a related climate change script that addresses concerns about the melting of ice. The semantic explications reveal how practices central to Inuit livelihoods are closely tied to the ice places, and the script exposes how not only the places but also these cultural anchors of how people engage with the land are perceived as threatened.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.00076.mas
2026-03-31
2026-04-21

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.00076.mas
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Bromhead, H.
    (2011a) The Bush in Australian English. Australian Journal of Linguistics, (), –. 10.1080/07268602.2011.625600
     https://doi.org/10.1080/07268602.2011.625600 [Google Scholar]
  2. (2011b) Ethnogeographical categories in English and Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara. Language Sciences, (), –. 10.1016/j.langsci.2010.07.004
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2010.07.004 [Google Scholar]
  3. (2017) The semantics of standing-water places in English, French, and Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara. InThe Semantics of Nouns (pp.–). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/oso/9780198736721.003.0007
     https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198736721.003.0007 [Google Scholar]
  4. (2018) Landscape and culture: Cross-linguistic perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1878468. 10.1075/clscc.9
     https://doi.org/10.1075/clscc.9 [Google Scholar]
  5. (2021) Disaster linguistics, climate change semantics and public discourse studies: a semantically-enhanced discourse study of 2011 Queensland Floods. Language Sciences, , –. 10.1016/j.langsci.2021.101381
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2021.101381 [Google Scholar]
  6. (2022) The semantics of islands and peninsulas. Some Islands: A journal of linguistics and art, , –. hdl.handle.net/10072/419924
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Bromhead, H., & Goddard, C.
    (2023) Applied semantics and climate communication. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, –. 10.1075/aral.22028.bro
     https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.22028.bro [Google Scholar]
  8. Fortescue, M., & Kleivan, I.
    (1997) Greenlandic-Danish. InH. Goebl, P. H. Nelde, Z. Stary, & W. Wölck (Eds.), Contact Linguistics: An International Handbook of Contemporary Research (Vol., pp.–). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110151541.2
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110151541.2 [Google Scholar]
  9. Gearheard, S. F., Holm, L. K., Huntington, H., Mahoney, A. R., & Leavitt, J. M.
    (2013) The Meaning of Ice: People and Sea Ice in Three Arctic Communities. International Polar Institute Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Goddard, C.
    (2016) Semantic molecules and their role in NSM lexical definitions. Cahiers de lexicologie, , –. 10.15122/isbn.978‑2‑406‑06861‑7.p.0013
     https://doi.org/10.15122/isbn.978-2-406-06861-7.p.0013 [Google Scholar]
  11. (2020) ‘Country’, ‘land’, ‘nation’: Key Anglo English words for talking and thinking about people in places. Journal of Postcolonial Linguistics, , –. https://iacpl.net/jopol/issues/journal-of-postcolonial-linguistics-22020/
     [Google Scholar]
  12. (2024) ‘Long’, ‘flat’, ‘round’, ‘hard’, ‘heavy’, ‘sharp’. Cognitive Linguistic Studies, (), –. 10.1075/cogls.00121.god
     https://doi.org/10.1075/cogls.00121.god [Google Scholar]
  13. 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, (), –. 10.1075/sl.31.4.03god
     https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.31.4.03god [Google Scholar]
  14. (2021) “We”: conceptual semantics, linguistic typology and social cognition. Language Sciences, , –. 10.1016/j.langsci.2020.101327
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2020.101327 [Google Scholar]
  15. Greenlandic-English Dictionary
    Greenlandic-English Dictionary (2018) The University of Chicago and Oqaasileriffik. https://ordbog.gl/2018-kal-eng/
  16. Grenoble, L. A., McMahan, H., & Petrussen, A. K.
    (2019) An Ontology of Landscape and Seascape in Greenland: The Linguistic Encoding of Land in Kalaallisut. International Journal of American Linguistics, (), –. 10.1086/700317
     https://doi.org/10.1086/700317 [Google Scholar]
  17. Hansen, S. L.
    (2017) Isen hvor mennesket lever og bor. [The ice where humans live]. Kunst.gl. https://kunst.gl/isen-hvor-mennesket-lever-og-bor/
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Hein, E. J.
    (2020) Words, meanings, and discourse in Argentina: An ethnopragmatic study of Porteño Spanish [PhD Thesis, Griffith University]. Brisbane. 10.25904/1912/3968
     https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/3968 [Google Scholar]
  19. Jacobsen, B.
    (2003) Colonial Danish. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, , –. 10.1515/ijsl.2003.004
     https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2003.004 [Google Scholar]
  20. (2021) Grønland [Greenland]. InE. Hjorth, H. Galberg Jacobsen, B. Jørgensen, B. Jacobsen, M. Korvenius Jørgensen, & L. Kristian Fahl (Eds.), Dansk sproghistorie [History of the Danish Language] (Vol.: Dansk i samspil [Danish in Interplay], pp.–). Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab, Aarhus University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. (2022) Noget om dansk i Grønland. [Some notes on Danish in Greenland]. Lingoblog. https://www.lingoblog.dk/13132-2/
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Kilgarriff, A., Baisa, V. t., Bušta, J., Jakubíček, M., Kovář, V. c., Michelfeit, J., Rychlý, P., & Suchomel, V. t.
    (2014) The Sketch Engine: Ten years on. Lexicography, (), –. 10.1007/s40607‑014‑0009‑9
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s40607-014-0009-9 [Google Scholar]
  23. KorpusDK
    KorpusDK (n.d.). Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab. https://ordnet.dk/korpusdk
  24. Krupnik, I., Aporta, C., Gearheard, S., Laidler, G. J., & Holm, L. K.
    (Eds.) (2010) SIKU: Knowing our ice — Documenting Inuit sea ice knowledge and use. Springer. 10.1007/978‑90‑481‑8587‑0
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8587-0 [Google Scholar]
  25. Laugrand, F. d. r., & Oosten, J. G.
    (2015) Hunters, predators and prey: Inuit perceptions of animals. Berghahn Books. site.ebrary.com/id/10941682
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Levisen, C.
    (2019) ‘Brightness’ in color linguistics: New light from Danish visual semantics. InI. Raffaelli, D. Katunar, & B. Kerovec (Eds.), Lexicalization patterns in color naming: A cross-linguistic perspective (pp.–). Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 10.1075/sfsl.78.05lev
     https://doi.org/10.1075/sfsl.78.05lev [Google Scholar]
  27. (2022) Postcolonial Semantics. Scandinavian Studies in Language, (Cognitive Cultural Semantics--A Nordic Guide to Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM)), –. 10.7146/sss.v13i1.135072
     https://doi.org/10.7146/sss.v13i1.135072 [Google Scholar]
  28. (2024) Postcolonial ssemantics: Meaning and metalanguage in a multipolar world. Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783111337432
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111337432 [Google Scholar]
  29. Lidegaard, M.
    (1988) Efterretninger om Grønland — uddragne af en journal holden fra 1721 til 1788 af Paul Egede [Accounts of Greenland — extracts from a journal kept from 1721 to 1788 by Paul Egede] (Vol.). Det Grønlandske Selskab [The Greenlandic Society].
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Lynch, A. H., Norchi, C. H., & Li, X.
    (2022) The interaction of ice and law in Arctic marine accessibility. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (), –. 10.1073/pnas.2202720119
     https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2202720119 [Google Scholar]
  31. Lynch, D. K., & Livingston, W.
    (2001) Color and light in nature (2 ed.). Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Mašková, S.
    (2022) A Semantic Analysis of Snow-related Words in Danish and Kalaallisut (West Greenlandic). Scandinavian Studies in Language, (), –. 10.7146/sss.v13i1.135079
     https://doi.org/10.7146/sss.v13i1.135079 [Google Scholar]
  33. (Forthcoming). The postcolonial semantics of Arctic Danish in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland): Places and place-based engagements. PhD thesis, Griffith University.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Nuttall, M.
    (2017) Climate, society and subsurface politics in Greenland: Under the great ice. London: Taylor & Francis Group. ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/griffith/detail.action?docID=4909399. 10.4324/9781315743844
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315743844 [Google Scholar]
  35. Petersen, R.
    (1976) Dansk i Grønland [Danish in Greenland]. Mål & Mæle [Language and Speech], , –.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Petersen, R., & Jones, K. G.
    (2003) Ordbogen: dansk-grønlandsk, qallunaatut-kalaallisut. [Danish–Greenlandic dictionary]. Ilinniusiorfik Undervisningsforlag.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Rao, X.
    (2025) The semantics of landscape terms in Chinese: A natural semantic metalanguage approach. PhD thesis, Australian National University.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Sanguya, J., & Gearheard, S.
    (2010) Preface. InI. Krupnik, C. Aporta, S. Gearheard, G. J. Laidler, & L. K. Holm (Eds.), SIKU: Knowing our ice — Documenting Inuit sea ice knowledge and use. Springer. 10.1007/978‑90‑481‑8587‑0
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8587-0 [Google Scholar]
  39. Schultz-Lorentzen, C. W.
    (1928) Kolonisproget i Grønland [The colonial language in Greenland]. Det Grønlandske Selskabs Årsskrift [Yearbook of the Greenlandic Society], –.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Sills, J., Sonne, C., Langebæk, R., Dietz, R., Andersen-Ranberg, E., Houser, G., Hansen, A. J., Sinding, M.-H. S., Olsen, M. T., Egevang, C., Gilbert, M. T. P., & Meldgaard, M.
    (2018) Greenland sled dogs at risk of extinction. Science, (), –. 10.1126/science.aat9578
     https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat9578 [Google Scholar]
  41. Tersis, N., & Taverniers, P.
    (2010) Two Greenlandic sea ice lists and some considerations regarding Inuit sea ice terms. InI. Krupnik, C. Aporta, S. Gearheard, G. J. Laidler, & L. K. Holm (Eds.), SIKU: Knowing our ice — Documenting Inuit sea ice knowledge and use. Springer. 10.1007/978‑90‑481‑8587‑0
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8587-0 [Google Scholar]
  42. Trondhjem, F.
    (2000) En sprogundersøgelse af en såkaldt halvsproget person [A linguistic study of a so-called semilingual person]. Odense working papers in language and communication. , –.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Vitale, E., Rasmussen, J. A., Grønnow, B., Hansen, A. J., Meldgaard, M., & Feuerborn, T. R.
    (2023) An ethnographic framework for identifying dog sledding in the archaeological record. Journal of Archaeological Science, , –. 10.1016/j.jas.2023.105856
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105856 [Google Scholar]
  44. Zeitz, M., Reese, R., Beckmann, J., Krebs-Kanzow, U., & Winkelmann, R.
    (2021) Impact of the melt-albedo feedback on the future evolution of the Greenland Ice Sheet with PISM-dEBM-simple. The Cryosphere, , –. 10.5194/tc‑15‑5739‑2021
     https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5739-2021 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.00076.mas
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: landscape terms ; Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) ; climate change linguistics ; Natural Semantic Metalanguage (nsm) ; Arctic Danish ; Ice place terms ; Postcolonial Semantics

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error