Język a kultura w programie etnolingwistyki kognitywnej Jerzego Bartmińskiego. Między Sapirem a Malinowskim
Language and culture in Jerzy Bartmiński’s cognitive ethnolinguistics: between Sapir and Malinowski

Summary/Abstract: The article considers the nature and direction of the relationship between language and culture in Jerzy Bartmiński’s cognitive ethnolinguistics. The argumentation is grounded in three positive ways of linking language and culture: (i) a bidirectional influence (symmetry): (ii) a unidirectional influence of language on culture (linguistic dominance); (iii) a unidirectional influence of culture on language (cultural dominance). It is concluded that Bartmiński’s methodology can be calibrated with the latter two options, of which the first (option (ii)) is associated with Sapir (according to Bartmiński, culture is a component of language), and the second (option (iii)) is associated with Malinowski (according to Bartmiński, language is an aspect of culture). The language–culture relationship is for Bartmiński “a paradox of reciprocal dependence”. Ultimately, it is noted that the problem of the directionality of the relationship simplifies with the adoption of the homo loquens approach; however, further research in the area is advocated.

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