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Abstract

Abstract

This article explicates the cultural conceptualizations of the word for salt () in Persian. The concept of reveals an important aspect of Persian sociality, hospitality, mutual respect, and playfulness. For instance, a person’s face or words can be perceived to ‘have salt’, or one’s hand is declared to ‘not have salt’ in the Persian language. To examine the conceptualization of , this article makes use of corpus data as well as the metalanguage proposed by Natural Semantic Metalanguage to spell out the nuances of salt-related cultural concepts in Persian. Three senses are identified for from a historical perspective: for the substance of salt; the cornerstone of Iranian sociality and hospitality; and the pleasantness, which has changed its semantic content from referring to being pleasant and eloquent to being amusing and playful.

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2022-06-14
2023-03-29

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Cultural semantics of the ‘salt’ word in Persian
International Journal of Language and Culture 9, 119 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.21038.ara
/content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.21038.ara
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): cultural semantics; namak; Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM); Persian; salt

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