Goddard, Cliff (2002). Overcoming terminological ethnocentrism. IIAS Newsletter, 27, 28. PDF (open access)
Terminological ethnocentrism is an insidious, and often unrecognized, problem in cultural description. It occurs when words of one language/culture, typically English, are uncritically used to describe deeply cultural meanings of another language/culture, with an inevitable distortion of meaning. Scholars often view the so-called “problem of translation” as intractable, but new research in linguistics suggests a way forward. A solution is offered by the programme of semantic research led by the distinguished linguist Anna Wierzbicka. The key idea is that there is a small set of simple, basic meanings (semantic primes) which can be expressed clearly and precisely in all languages. Semantic primes offer a way around terminological ethnocentrism while at the same time allowing culture-specific concepts to be explicated with great detail and clarity.
