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English
Meaning and Culture
Anna Wierzbicka
362 pages
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234x154mm
978-0-19-517475-5
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Paperback
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25 May 2006
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This item is printed to order. Items which are printed to order are normally despatched and charged within 5-10 days.
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- The author has an international reputation as linguist and founder of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach to semantic analysis
- The first book to connect the English language with "Anglo" culture
- By the same author: Semantics, Culture, and Cognition (OUP, 1992) sold 3,740 in paperback
It is widely accepted that English is the first truly global language and lingua franca. Its dominance has even led to its use and adaptation by local communities for their own purposes and needs. One might see English in this context as being simply a neutral, universal vehicle for the expression of local thoughts and ideas. In fact, English words and phrases have embedded in them a wealth of cultural baggage that is invisible to most native speakers. Anna Wierzbicka, a distinguished linguist known for her theories of semantics, has written the first book that connects the English language with what she terms "Anglo" culture.
Wierzbicka points out that language and culture are not just interconnected, but inseparable. This is evident to non-speakers trying to learn puzzling English expressions. She uses original research to investigate the "universe of meaning" within the English language (both grammar and vocabulary) and places it in historical and geographical perspective. For example, she looks at the history of the terms "right" and "wrong" and how with the influence of the Reformation "right" came to mean "correct." She examines the ideas of "fairness" and "reasonableness" and shows that, far from being cultural universals, they are in fact unique creations of modern English. This engrossing and fascinating work of scholarship should appeal not only to linguists and others concerned with language and
culture, but the large group of scholars studying English and English as a second language.Readership: All linguists, scholars studying English and English as a second language, and higher-level laypersons concerned with language and culture
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Anna Wierzbicka, Professor of Linguistics, Australian National University
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"A great book, one which must be applauded. The strength of the book is to propose a kind of linguistics which takes into account the various, subtle, rich, and extremely interesting interactions between language and cultural scripts. Given that books like this are rare, the author deserves countless words of praise." - Alessandro Capone, Studies in Language "This is a striking contribution to the history of English, and the history of ideas" - Jonathan Hope, TLS "...this is a great book, one which must be applauded. The strength of the book is to propose a kind of linguistics which takes into account the various, subtle, rich, and extremely interesting interactions between language and cultural
scripts. Given that books like this are rare, the author deserves countless words of praise." - Studies in Language
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Part I. Meaning, History and Culture
1: English as a cultural universe
2: Anglo cultural scripts as seen through Middle Eastern eyes
Part II. English words, From Philosophy to everyday discourse
3: The story of RIGHT and WRONG and its cultural implications
4: Being REASONABLE: A key Anglo value and its cultural roots
5: Being FAIR: Another key Anglo value and its cultural underpinnings
Part III. Anglo culture reflected in English Grammar
6: The English Causatives: Causation and interpersonal relations
7: I THINK: The rise of epistemic phrases in modern English
8: PROBABLY: English epistemic adverbs and their cultural significance
Part IV. Conclusion
9: The "cultural baggage" of English and its significance in the world at large
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