American Speech Patterns and Cultural Values

'The Size of Texas'
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-3-032-24595-3
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 162 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 319 g

This book examines American cultural values and their expressions in everyday speech, particularly an American discourse strategy which the author coins as a metaphoric comparison'. The book argues that culture not only conditions perceptions of reality but also shapes language patterns. Through comparisons with Polish, it shows how idiosyncratic and culture-bound American English is and how, in view of its global popularity, adopting it as mode of communication can alter the lens through which we see the world in both clearly discernible and subtle ways. This book will be of interest to a broad audience including linguists, American Studies scholars, non-native speakers of English, and Slavists.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dziwirek, Katarzyna

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Semantik & Pragmatik
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Sprachwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1 Introduction.- 2 American individualism or what do we call the children.- 3 American cheerfulness and tact versus Polish sincerity and warmth.- 4 American autonomy versus Polish swojskosc.- 5 American accuracy/non-exaggeration versus Polish spontaneity.- 6 Metaphoric comparisons in America: similes and ‘splaining.- 7 Metaphoric comparisons in America: sizes and amounts.- 8 Metaphoric comparisons in America: Uncertainty and flair.- 9 Conclusions.

Über Autor(innen)

Katarzyna Dziwirek  is a Professor Emerita in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Washington, USA.