ABSTRACT
This chapter lays the ground for a more detailed discussion of linguistic worldview by reviewing the crucial notions involved in this line of research, addressed here in terms of relationships between (i) linguistic worldview and linguistic relativity, (ii) linguistic worldview or (just) worldview (without the crucial contribution from language), (iii) linguistic worldview as a notion, and (iv) linguistic worldviews as interpretations of reality that inhere in specific languages. Because language is taken here as a cultural phenomenon, it is claimed that we should embrace the holistic notion of languaculture, which arose from the work of Paul Friedrich and Michael Agar, rather than a relational view of language and culture. This in turn brings us to the idea of cultural cognition and the relevance of data from within and without language. A recognition of the delicate but undeniable connection between culture and cognition has also produced the useful, if controversial, distinction between concepts and cultural concepts. Finally, the role of translation in the emergence and reconstruction of linguistic worldviews is addressed, laying the groundwork for more in-depth discussion and an analytical section in Chapter 4.
