Understanding Cultures through Their Key Words: English, Russian, Polish, German, and Japanese

by Anna Wierzbicka

This book develops the dual themes that languages can differ widely in their vocabularies, and are also sensitive indices to the cultures to which they belong. Wierzbicka seeks to demonstrate that every language has "key concepts," expressed in "key words," which reflect the core values of a given culture. She shows that cultures can be revealingly studied, compared, and explained to outsiders through their key concepts, and that the analytical framework necessary for this purpose is provided by the "natural semantic metalanguage," based on lexical universals, that the author and colleagues have developed on the basis of wide-ranging cross-linguistic investigations. Appealing to anthropologists, psychologists, and philosophers as well as linguists, this book demonstrates that cultural patterns can be studied in a verifiable, rigorous, and non-speculative way, on the basis of empirical evidence and in a coherent theoretical framework.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Language, Sociology, Anthropology, Japanese Literature

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Anna Wierzbicka is Professor of Linguistics at Australian National University. Her many books include Semantics: Primes and Universals (OUP 1996), Emotions across Languages and Cultures (CUP 1999), and Experience, Evidence & Sense: The hidden cultural legacy of English (OUP 2010). Professors Goddard and Wierzbicka are co-editors of two collective volumes: Semantic and Lexical Universals and Meaning and Universal Grammar (John Benjamins, 1994 and 2002).

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A surprising and fascinating look at how people in different cultures use words. For example, in Russia, there are six different words for friend, and none is used so casually as the way Americans use the word friend. Seems to support the Whorf hypothesis--that the words we use partly define who we are. A bit dry but pick the chapters or languages that interest you most, and you'll enjoy it.

[Marina Sinelnikova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the idea of semantic primes interesting and helpful, and the comparison of words for key ideas like friend or freedom or fatherland in various languages gave me a lot of food for thought. I guess I would need to reread the Japanese chapter, though, it was a lot less clear in my mind.

[нєνєℓ ¢ανα · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it!

[Tiger Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love this book! A fresh change from the typical monolingual-centric view on linguistics books. I will definitely be looking for more by Wierzbicka.

[MAria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Много интересных умозаключений. Но главное исскуство в том, чтобы на самоочевидных вещах построить полноценный лингвистический/семантический анализ.