Kulturowe podejście do kontaktów językowych
A cultural approach to language contact

Summary/Abstract: The subject dealt with in this article draws on the causes, mechanisms, and effects resulting from language and cultural contacts. The author adopts a definition derived from Oswald Ducrot, that language is‘the collection of roles which the interlocutors impose mutually on each other through discourse itself.’ The author spends equal time examining the view of Bronisław Malinowski, namely: that linguistics-devoid of cultural fundamentals and bases-is always nothing more than a house of cards. Equally useful for the author’s purpose was an application of Roger Caillois’ theory of games, as he, too, has employed Joseph Nye’s concept of smart power. As an example of negative Western cultural impact, the author examines attempts to objectify first names in languages and cultures in which they had previoulsy been treated subjectively. The question-What’s your name?-once had, in a literal translation into English, the traditional form: Who’s your name?

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