This book examines how people understand utterances that are intended figuratively. Traditionally, figurative language such as metaphors and idioms has been considered derivative from more complex than ostensibly straightforward literal language. Glucksberg argues that figurative language involves the same kinds of linguistic and pragmatic operations that are used for ordinary, literal language.
Linguistic relativism: Logic, grammar, and arithmetic in cultural comparison
Christian Greiffenhagen and Wes Sharrock
Linguistic relativism is the thesis that the grammatical structures of different languages imply different conceptions of reality. In this paper we critically discuss one form of linguistic relativism, which argues that grammatical differences between the English and Yoruba language exhibit differences in how English and Yoruba speakers ‘see’ reality (namely in terms of ‘spatiotemporal particulars’ and ‘sortal particulars’, respectively).
We challenge the idea that linguistic relativism is an empirical thesis, i.e., a thesis that is substantiated through anthropological examples. We show that linguistic relativism is based on two assumptions: firstly, that the purpose of language is to describe the world; secondly, that being able to speak presupposes an ontological theory of the ultimate constituents of the world. We argue that the attempt to extract the outline of that theory from the language inevitably distorts the portrayal of language-using practice itself.
World English: A Study of Its Development
This book integrates a historical and linguistic exploration of world English, documenting the emergence of the language as a contested site of linguistic encounters. It revises the understanding of English spread during the colonial period, emphasizing the agency of non-mother-tongue English speakers.
The fate of languages has been closely linked to political power relationships throughout human history. Political shifts in the international system today continue to affect linguistic patterns, still in a state of flux following the end of the Cold War. This book considers the effects of present-day trends in global politics on the relative status of languages, and the directions in which the linguistic hierarchy might develop in the future. It appeals to researchers and students of sociolinguistics and language planning as well as of international relations.
Linguistic relativism: Logic, grammar, and arithmetic in cultural comparison
