English Meaning and Culture

by Wierzbicka, Anna

• ISBN13: 9780195174755
• ISBN10: 0195174755
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-27
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

As The First truly global language and lingua franca, English is often seen simply- and simplistically-as a neutral, universal vehicle for the expression of thoughts and ideas. In fact, the words, phrases, and grammar of English are heavily loaded with cultural baggage. This engrossing book by one of the world's leading linguists identifies some of the innumerable connections between the English language and "Anglo" culture.

Author Biography

Anna Wierzbicka is Professor of Linguistics at Australian National University. She has an international reputation for her work on semantics, pragmatics, and cross-cultural linguistics. Other published works include What Did Jesus Mean? (OUP, 2001), Semantics, Culture, and Cognition (OUP, 1992), and Semantic Primitives, in which she is credited with establishing the Natural Semantic Metalanguage.

Table of Contents

Meaning, History and Culture
English as a Cultural Universe	p. 3
English-the most widely used language in the world	p. 3
English and Englishes	p. 5
An illustration: Words, scripts, and human lives	p. 7
"Anglo English" as a historical formation	p. 9
The tendency to mistake "Anglo English" for the human norm	p. 11
The cultural underpinnings of (Anglo) English	p. 13
A framework for studying and describing meaning	p. 16
Anglo Cultural Scripts Seen through Middle Eastern Eyes	p. 20
Linguistics and intercultural cCommunication	p. 20
The theory of cultural scripts	p. 22
The Anglo ideal of "accuracy" and the practice of "understatement"	p. 25
"To the best of my knowledge..."	p. 35
Anglo respect for "facts"	p. 41
"Cool reason": to think vs. to feel	p. 46
To compel or not to compel? The value of autonomy	p. 50
Conclusion	p. 56
English Words: From Philosophy to Everyday Discourse
The Story of Right and Wrong and Its Cultural Implications	p. 61
Introduction	p. 61
"Right" and "wrong": A basis for ethics?	p. 64
The link between "right" and "reason"	p. 70
"That's right"	p. 74
An illustration: English vs. Italian	p. 76
"Right" as a neutral ground between "good" and "true"	p. 78
Procedural morality	p. 80
"Right" and "wrong": Increasingly asymmetrical	p. 82
The changing frequencies of true, truth, right, and wrong	p. 85
"Right" as a response in dialogue	p. 87
"Right" and cultural scripts	p. 92
Retrospect and conclusion: The Puritans, the Enlightenment, the growth of democracy	p. 95
Being Reasonable: A Key Anglo Value and Its Cultural Roots	p. 103
Introduction	p. 103
The pre-Enlightenment uses of "reasonable"	p. 104
The main themes in the modern meanings of the word reasonable	p. 105
"A reasonable man"	p. 107
"It is reasonable to" think (say, do) ...	p. 112
"Reasonable doubt"	p. 117
"Reasonable force" and "reasonable care"	p. 123
"A reasonable time," "A reasonable amount"	p. 125
"Reasonable" as "reasonably good"	p. 127
"Reasonable" and "unreasonable"	p. 128
An internal reconstruction of the semantic history of "reasonable"	p. 133
"Reasonable" and Anglo cultural scripts	p. 135
Is the Anglo value of "reasonable" unique? English vs. French	p. 138
Being Fair: Another Key Anglo Value and Its Cultural Underpinnings	p. 141
The importance of "fairness" in modern Anglo culture	p. 141
The meaning of fair and not fair	p. 144
"Fairness" and Anglo political philosophy	p. 152
"Fairness" vs. "justice"	p. 155
The illusion of universality	p. 160
"Fairness" and "fair play": A historical perspective	p. 163
"Fairness" and "procedural morality"	p. 165
Anglo Culture Reflected in English Grammar
The English Causatives: Causation and Interpersonal Relations	p. 171
The cultural elaboration of causation	p. 171
The English "let"-constructions and the cultural ideal of "noninterference"	p. 183
I Think: The Rise of Epistemic Phrases in Modern English	p. 204
Introduction	p. 204
I think	p. 208
I suppose	p. 208
I guess	p. 209
I gather	p. 210
I presume	p. 212
I believe	p. 213
I find	p. 220
I expect	p. 226
I take It	p. 230
I understand	p. 233
I imagine	p. 235
I bet	p. 236
I suspect	p. 237
I assume	p. 239
Conclusion	p. 241
Probably: English Epistemic Adverbs and Their Cultural Significance	p. 247
Introduction	p. 247
Developing a format for the semantic analysis of epistemic adverbs	p. 257
"Probably" and "likely": The heart of the category of epistemic adverbs	p. 261
"Confident" adverbs: Evidently, clearly, obviously	p. 270
"Nonconfident" adverbs: Possibly and conceivably	p. 276
Hearsay adverbs: Apparently, supposedly, allegedly, and reportedly	p. 278
The "uncertain" status of certainly	p. 284
Epistemic adverbs vs. discourse particles	p. 287
The history of epistemic adverbs in modern english	p. 291
Conclusion
The "Cultural Baggage" of English and Its Significance in the World at Large	p. 299
The legacy of history	p. 299
Living with concepts	p. 300
Two illustrations: International law and international aviation	p. 301
Communication and "vibes"	p. 305
Intercultural communication and cross-cultural education	p. 308
English in the world today	p. 310
Notes	p. 315
References	p. 325
Index	p. 341
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