Domains in the Encyclopedic Semantics of some English and Arabic Equivalent Culture-Specific Words

Abstract

The present study aims at finding interpretations for some inquiries in the field of encyclopedic semantics. It is an academic reflection of language exchange between English and Arabic which is one of the most prevalent interests of the recent cognitive linguistic researches. Particularly, it analyzes the way culture-specific words of two different languages can comparatively be understood. The single-method is adopted for the methodological approach of the study. The data collection is conducted according to a content analysis by extracting some CSWs that are referred to in some comparative culture-specific studies of English and Arabic. It is found that (1) there can be more than one domain matrix for equivalent CSWs; (2) the exact comparison between CSWs lies in the profile-base organization (3) the two or multi-dimensional domains are configurational; (4) the culture-specific standards locate the diversity between the domain matrixes of equivalent CSWs. Some key conclusions to draw is that (1) the domain matrix of a CSW depends on to the culture-specific norms; (2) the distinctive point of the tripartite (profile, base and concept) is the profile rather than the base; (3) image-schematic domains indicate the object material domains; (4) culture-specific norms are affected by religious and historical factors which control the inventory knowledge for the CSWs.