Semantic Analysis of Selected Czech Key Words. Theory of Natural Semantic Metalanguage Applied to Czech

Diploma thesis, which is based on Anna Wierzbicka's natural semantic metalanguage theory, discusses certain specific features of Czech language worldview and compares them with specific features of English language worldview. This intercultural comparison is made possible by the cultural neutrality of the natural semantic metalanguage which serves as a language in which explications of analyzed words are formulated and compared to their English counterparts. Analyses of Czech keywords are based mainly on the use of dictionaries (explanatory and etymological dictionaries and dictionaries of phrases and idioms) and Czech corpora. The analysis aims to show differences between Czech and English cultural norms and values as reflected in different semantic structures of analyzed concepts, which presumably indicate deeper differences in perceiving and interpreting reality in both languages