Ethnolinguistics 3202-S1WE21o-OG

The course focuses on the field of linguistics research that deals with interrelations between language, thinking, behaviour of a person, and the reality, that is, between the commonly used formal language structure and the rest of culture that uses a given language.
Ethnolinguistics deals with language as a source of knowledge about human and the world. The language – especially its vocabulary – consolidates the way in which its users perceive the reality and that poses various scientific questions:
1. What is linguistically marked?
2. What qualities of the real objects become important for a language and its users? What qualities of objects became illustrated in their names?
3. What can be said about the way people think and the value system they follow?

The range of topics:
1. The subject and the range of ethnolinguistics. The place of ethnolinguistics in the general classification of sciences. The ties with related disciplines (linguistics, semiotics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, ethnology, ethnography, archaeology).
2. Language and culture. Cultural functions of a language.
3. Language and science: the differences between the linguistic (colloquial) and the scientific view on the world. Linguistic taxonomies  scientific taxonomies; categorization of a language.
4. The beginnings of ethnolinguistics: Wilhelm von Humboldt, E. Sapir, B. L. Whorf, B. Malinowski, L. Weisgerber.
5. The linguistic and cultural relativism (the hypothesis of E. Sapir and B. Whorf). The present-day ethnolinguistics – the main directions in the research of the relativism and universalism current.
6. Anthropocentrism (anthropomorphism, anthropometrics), egocentrism, ethnocentrism.
7. Categorization (conceptualisation) in language.
8. The lingual view on the world. Connotations (lexical and encyclopaedic).
9. Language universals. Elementary semantic units as a key to intercultural comparisons (the research of A. Wierzbicka).
10. The culture-influenced vocabulary (keywords).
11. Selected cultural systems and their reflection in a language (names of colours, family relation, parts of the body, plants, and animals, among other things).
12. Culture’s influence on grammar. The sex and the grammatical gender.
13. The cultural norms of communication – conventional patterns of expression for Russians in comparison to other nations. Cultural scripts.

seminar = 30 hours
independent preparation for each class: 15 x 1h = 15 hours
preparation for the oral exam: 5 hours
preparation for the final exam: 5 hours
TOTAL: about 55 hours

Type of course

general courses

Prerequisites (description)

Knowledge of essential grammar and basic linguistic terminology

Learning outcomes

After having completed the course the student:
KNOWLEDGE
1. Has a sound knowledge of the complex nature of human languages, especially Russian.
2. Knows and comprehends the relation between the inner form of a word and Russian culture and mentality.
3. Knows the essential ethnolinguistic terminology.
4. Has a basic knowledge concerning the contemporary trends in the development of the ethnolinguistic research.
SKILLS
1. Is able to explain and apply the essential ethnolinguistic terminology.
2. Is able to give direct examples of reality’s impact on the language and language’s on reality.
3. Identifies lexical connotations established in the transitive sense of a word.
4. Recognizes specific elements of a given language and views on the world that the language contains.
5. Is able to point out and explain the relation between the inner form of a word and Russian culture and mentality.
ATTITUDES
1. Sees language as an important element of the culture of a given community.
2. Understands that a language does not only consist of grammatical rules that govern the words but, before everything else, it is the way of receiving and describing the reality.
3. Accepts diverse cultures.
4. Is able to identify the ethnocentric attitude in the intercultural relations and strives to overcome it.

Assessment criteria

1. Continuous evaluation (preparation and participation) – 20%
2. Attendance monitoring – 20%
3. Written test – 30%
4. Oral examination – 30%

Practical placement

not applicable

Bibliography

Apresjan J. D., 1995, Obraz čeloveka po dannym jazyka, «Voprosy jazykoznanija”, № 1.
Bartmiński 2001 (red.) – Współczesny język polski, Lublin (lub: Bartmiński 1993 (red.) – Encyklopedia kultury polskiej XX wieku, t. 2: Współczesny język polski, (red.) J. Bartmiński, Wrocław).
Bartmiński 1986 – Czym zajmuje się etnolingwistyka? „Akcent” 1986, nr 4 (26), s. 16-22.
Bulygina T. V., Šmelev A., D., 1997, Jazykovaja konceptualizacja mira, Moskva.
Lakoff G., Johnson M., 1988, Metafory w naszym życiu, Warszawa.
Sapir E., 1978, Kultura, język, osobowość, Warszawa.
Šmelev A. D., 2002, Russkaja jazykovaja model’ mira, Moskva.
Tolstoj N. I., 1995, Jazyk i narodnaja kul’tura, Moskva.
Wierzbicka A., 1991, Uniwersalne pojęcia ludzkie i ich konfiguracje w różnych kulturach, (w:) Etnolingwistyka 4, Lublin.
Wierzbicka A., 1999, Język – umysł – kultura, Warszawa.
Wierzbicka A., 2006, Semantyka. Jednostki elementarne i uniwersalne, Lublin.
Wierzbicka A., 2007, Słowa klucze. Różne języki – różne kultury, Warszawa.
Zalizjak A. A. i in. 2005, Ključevye idei russkoj jazykovoj kartiny mira, Moskva.

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

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Description of 3202-S1WE21o-OG in USOSweb