Cogent Arts & Humanities (Dec 2024)
An NSM-based contrastive semantic analysis of ‘strolling’ and ‘jogging’ in English and Arabic
Abstract
Conceptualizations of jogging and strolling in English and Arabic may represent a key element in the successful performance of such actions. We aimed to demonstrate similarities and differences between the English verbs ‘jogging’ and ‘strolling’ and their Arabic counterparts ‘yuharwil’and ‘yatanazzah’. As our theoretical framework, we adopted the Natural Semantic Metalanguage Approach to meaning and relied on Arabic and English semantic primes to create a semantic template consisting of Lexicosyntactic Frame, Prototypical scenario, Manner, and Prototypical outcome to explicate these verbs. To facilitate our comparative analysis of the English verbs and their Arabic counterparts, we consulted four English monolingual dictionaries: Merriam-Webster, Macmillan, Oxford learner’s Dictionary, and Cambridge Dictionary, and consulted three Arabic monolingual dictionaries: Mu’jam maqayis al-lughah by Aḥmad Ibn Fāris al-Qazwīnī, Lisān al-ʿArab by ibn Manzūr, and Mu’jam al-lughah al-’arabīyah al-mu’āṣirah by Ahmed Mukhtar Omar. Our analysis revealed that: A) The English and the Arabic verbs relied on similar conceptualization elements including the use of legs and feet, having a starting point, a destination, as well as alternation, and repetition. B) ‘jogging’ was conceptualized as nonurgent and slower in comparison to ‘yuharwil’. C) Duration of contact with the ground in ‘strolling’ and ‘yatanazzah’ was found to be similar. The same was also true for ‘jogging’ and ‘yuharwil’ whose duration of contact was shorter than ‘strolling’ and ‘yatanazzah’. D) As for purpose, ‘jogging’, and ‘strolling’ were found to be motivated by a desire to exercise or relax while ‘yatanazzah’ was found to be motivated by entrainment only, and ‘yuharwil’ did not state a purpose.
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