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Wierzbicka, Anna (2006). English: Meaning and culture. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195174748.001.0001

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.

Table of contents

PART I MEANING, HISTORY, AND CULTURE

1. English as a cultural universe
2. Anglo cultural scripts seen through Middle Eastern eyes

PART II ENGLISH WORDS

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

Chapter 3 builds on: Right and wrong: From philosophy to everyday discourse” (2002)
Chapter 6 builds on: English causative constructions in an ethnosyntactic perspective: Focusing on LET (2002)

Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

Tags listed below are in addition to those listed at the end of the entries for the earlier work on which this book builds.