Ghosts, Fairies, Elves, and Nymphs: Towards a Semantic Template for Non-Human Being Concepts

Abstract

The aim of this study was to devise a semantic template for non-human being terms. To achieve this objective, four non-human being concepts were analysed, and an explication for each concept was built. Comparing the explications yielded a nine-part semantic template. The usefulness of this semantic template is threefold: first, it eases the task of explicating non-human being concepts because the parts of the template can serve as guidelines to be followed while constructing the explications. Second, it eases the comparison between related non-human being concepts from different languages. Third, it reveals the devices embodied in the structure of non-human being concepts which enable people to use these complex concepts without difficulty.

Keywords:

• Non-Human Being Concepts
• Semantic Template
• NSM

Notes

¹It can be claimed that, if a person (which is a someone) consists of two parts (i.e. body and soul), each of which is considered a ‘something’, then where would the ‘someone’ come from? I argue that it is only when the two parts (i.e. the ‘somethings’) are combined do we have a someone. A body without a soul or a soul without a body ceases to be a human being (i.e. someone).

²It might be objected that relying on Shakespeare's literary works can be misleading because these works were composed hundreds of years ago, and thus, do not reflect how native English speakers think nowadays. I would argue, however, that Shakespeare's works are still read and taught at schools, have been translated into modern English, and have been adapted into stories and movies. Therefore, there is good reason to believe that native English speakers are familiar with these works, and that these works may influence the native English speakers’ perception of certain matters, such as supernatural beings.

³The text and its translation are taken from: http://nfs.sparknotes.com/hamlet/page_6.html.

⁴Quoted from: http://nfs.sparknotes.com/msnd/page_32.html.

⁵Available at: http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/english/story_telling/cinderella/cinderella6.htm.

⁶These contexts come from five different books published between 1989 and 2003. Although these books have been published only recently, the term elfland is not a recent invention. The word can be traced back to the fourteenth-century expression eluene lond (see The Oxford English Dictionary: Simpson & Wiener 1989).

⁷Available at: http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-39.html.