STUDIU INTERCULTURAL AL CONCEPTELOR „RUȘINE” ȘI „VINOVĂȚIE” ÎN LIMBILE ENGLEZĂ ȘI ROMÂNĂ
Cross-cultural Study of the Concepts of "Shame" and "Guilt" in English and Romanian

Summary/Abstract: The study of concepts has become a necessity in the context of globalization and intercultural communication. At the time when specialists in Cultural linguistics identified the fact that apparently similar words in at least two languages are associated with different mental models there appeared a need to clarify this issue so as to avoid miscommunication on the intercultural level as well as leave behind intercultural conflicts. “Embarrassment” and “guilt” are of special interest for the researchers as often these concepts are confused or considered synonyms in some languages and cultures, letting alone the different types of societies; here we refer to the individualistic, collectivistic or mixed types of societies. This research is an attempt to conduct an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural study based on the English and Romanian Languages. We use the method of definition, that of cognitive prototipic scenario and the Natural Semantic Metalanguage to investigate the mentioned concepts in two cultures and to avoid ethocentrism. The results of the study show that what matter most in an individualistic type of society are the conventions and less the moral values, thus “shame” and “guilt” were gradually transformed into “embarrassment”, while in the mixed types of societies or collectivistic ones “shame” is gradually substituted by “guilt”.

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