TULIS VS. SURAT: A NATURAL SEMANTIC METALANGUAGE APPROACH

Shindu Gitananda, W. A. ( Universitas Hindu Indonesia)

LINGUAL: Journal of Language and Culture
Vol 2, No 3 (2014)

Synonymous words are very interesting to investigate. Balinese verbs base tulis and surat, which are nasalized into nulis and nyurat in their agentive voice usage, are examples of synonyms, both meaning ‘to write’. Semantically, these verbs seem to show no difference if its dictionary meaning is concernced, but differ only in their speech level (sor-singgih) category. By utilizing the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach, in this case, the subtle differences between the two verbs can be explicated. The result of the analysis showed that the verbs are prominently distinguished by the mental predicates and influenced by who is doing what and to whom it is said.