The conceptual semantics of “money” and “money verbs”

Abstract

The central purpose of this study is to apply the NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) method of semantic-conceptual analysis to the word money and to related economic transaction verbs, such as buy, sell and pay, as used in everyday English. It proposes semantic explications for these words on the basis of conceptual analysis and a range of linguistic evidence and taking account of lexical polysemy. Even in its basic meaning (in a sentence like there was some money on the table), money-1 is shown to be surprisingly complex, comprising about 35 lines of semantic text and drawing on a number of semantic molecules (such as country, number, and hands), as well as a rich assortment of semantic primes. This money-1 meaning turns out to be a crucial semantic molecule in the composition of the verbs buy, sell, pay, and (it) costs. Each of these is treated in some detail, thereby bringing to light the complex semantic relationships between them and clarifying how this bears on their grammatical properties, such as argument structure. The concluding section considers how NSM semantic-conceptual analysis can help illuminate everyday economic thinking and also how it connects with Humanonics, an interdisciplinary project which aims to re-humanise economics.