ABSTRACT
The two adjectives ‘normal’ and ‘normative’ are morphologically related. However, ‘normal’ is descriptive whereas ‘normative’ is prescriptive. This chapter discusses the leap from the descriptive to the normative by examining a vast range of language phenomena, including the Latin etymologies of ‘norm’ (a yardstick) and various Hebrew adverbial metaphors from the domain of ‘norms’, such as kashura (lit. in line), beseder (lit. in order), kaya’ut (lit. as fit), and kidva’i (lit. as wanted, desired, or needed). The meaning relations between cognate lexemes in English language thesaurus entries for ‘norm’, such as ‘order’, ‘in order’, ‘average’, ‘usual’, ‘ordinary’, ‘right’, ‘sane’, ‘convention’, etc., help reveal the structure of the semantic frame of ‘norm’, its subdomains, as well as the inter-relations between subdomains. The idea of ‘norms as thresholds’ is then introduced by analyzing tendencies to use the English prefix ‘over-x’, as in ‘overdose’, ‘overbaked’, ‘overdue’, and ‘overdisciplined’. It is shown that models, metaphors, and actual experience in the physical world play a key role in constructing the abstract concept of ‘norm’. Health, sanity, and functional instruments can all lend their structure to abstract concepts of ‘norm’ in such areas as politeness, ethics, law, work relations, and political and social behavior, as well as aesthetics.
