Axiological Linguistics - 2023-1-Part 1.2

AXIOLOGICAL
LINGUISTICS
1
PART 1.2
LINGUACULTURAL DIVERSITY AND
CROSS-CULTURAL HETEROGENEITY
OF VALUES
OUTLINE
• When and how values emerge
• Axiological neutrality and intensity
• Language and Consciousness
• Axiological alternatives
• Language functions
• Values by Hofstede
• Values Orientation Theory by Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck
• Human Values by Rokeach
• Basic Human Values by Schwartz
• Values cross-culturally: Values as national paradigms by Hofstede
• Axiological diversity
• Anna Wierzbicka on values as linguacultural concepts
WHEN VALUES EMERGE
Values emerge when an actual

interrelationship is built up
between human needs, attitudes,
and desires on the one hand, and
objects on the other.
HOW VALUES EMERGE
Value is always expressed by means of

imperative feelings and judgements that
designate not what it is, but that what an
individual or a group considers, under given
circumstances, it should be worth desiring,
prizing, seeking for.
THE NUMBER OF VALUES IS INFINITE
As anything can become

a value, the number of
values is infinite.
• e.g. height is not a
value in itself, but…
AXIOLOGICAL NEUTRALITY & INTENSITY
• The height of a man or • The height of a hill may
woman becomes a value establish its value as a
in sports, military obstacle.
in cinematography, • The height of a Gothic
in fashion industry or cathedral determines its
aesthetic value.
in love 
AXIOLOGICAL NEUTRALITY & INTENSITY
In the same line the distinction between

small and big is axiologically neutral, but if we
would rather have a big car (apartment, house,
family, etc.) than a small one,
our choice is value-biased.
AXIOLOGICAL ALTERNATIVES
• A country
Gigantism as a • A city
value vs • A lodging
Minuteness as a • A hotel
• A restaurant
value • A dinner meal
• A piece of jewelry
CONCEPTUALIZATION OF VALUES IS ENDLESS
The list of values can never end as

values are invented all the time
(in all spheres where human mind can
impose a new value).
CONCEPTUALIZING VALUES
CROSS-CULTURALLY
LANGUAGE AND CONSCIOUSNESS
• Perception • Emotions
Sensory & Emotional &

perceptual volitional
abilities abilities
Cognitive & Value-

conceptual semantic
abilities abilities
• Logics • Values
VALUES AND LANGUAGE
• Language is a set of social conventions,

shared by a group of people, about how to
communicate or exchange meanings.
• Value is a type of meaning.
• Language verbalizes values.
LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS
Symbolic
Axiological
Language
Cognitive
Interactive
THE LANGUAGE OF VALUES
• Hierarchy of values is culturally and socially
determined.
• Values are to be interpreted in historical and
cultural contexts.
• “The language of values” may have synchronic
and diachronic aspects.
VALUES BY G. HOFSTEDE
Values
Rituals
Heroes
Symbols
VALUES ORIENTATION THEORY
Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1961) suggest that
• all cultures respond to a limited number of universal
problems
• their solutions are value-based, limited in number and
universally known
• but different cultures have different preferences among
them
VALUES ORIENTATION THEORY
Problems and solutions
include humans' relations with
• time
• nature
• each other
• basic human motives
• human nature
5 BASIC TYPES OF PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY EVERY
CULTURE:
1. What aspect of time should we primarily focus on – past, present or
future?
2. What is the relationship between Humanity and its natural
environment – mastery, submission or harmony?
3. How should individuals relate with others – hierarchically (called
"Lineal"), as equals ("Collateral"), or according to their individual
merit?
4. What is the prime motivation for behaviour – to express one's self
("Being"), to grow ("Being-in-becoming"), or to achieve (“Doing”)?
5. What is the nature of human – good, bad (“evil") or a mixture?
HUMAN VALUES BY M. ROKEACH
(1979)
Value orientations:
• Individual vs.
Societal
• Terminal vs.
Instrumental
• End-states of Being
vs. Modes of
Conduct
SCHWARTZ’S THEORY OF BASIC HUMAN VALUES
Schwartz’s Theory of Basic

Human Values seeks to
identify values that are
universal across all cultural
groupings.
SCHWARTZ SUGGESTS THAT VALUES CAN BE
CHARACTERISED AS SUCH:
Values govern Tolerance, for

generic behaviour example, can
and are not underpin attitudes
related to specific to others in order to
actions or preserve harmony.
situations.
VALUES BY SCHWARTZ
VALUES BY SCHWARTZ
Schwartz identifies ten culturally
universal values,
derived from three basic human needs
classified as
• biological
• social interactive and
• welfare
which can be organized into four
categories presented in a circular format
to demonstrate their interdependence as
a continuum.
VALUES CROSS-CULTURALLY:
VALUES AS NATIONAL PARADIGMS
All national “paradigms” have the

same starting point: “In the
beginning was . . .”
After God had created men, men
made organizations; but what did
they have in mind when making
them?
Here is the list of the paradigms:
In the beginning was . . .
IS WHISTLEBLOWING A UNIVERSAL VALUE?
ETHNOHISTORICAL NAMING MOTIVES
NAMING MOTIVES
Patronymic Occupational Characteristic Toponymic

ETHNOHISTORICAL NAMING MOTIVES
IN RUSSIA
NAMING MOTIVES
Patronymic Occupational Characteristic Toponymic

IVANOV KUZNETSOV SMIRNOV ROSHCHIN
CHARACTERISTIC-BASED NAMING
Characteristic-based e.g., the most common family
name in Russia is Smirnov /
naming reflects values Смирнов (in Russian
and anti-values in “compliant”= passive) while
cultures and the most common family
name in Ukraine is Boyko /
societies. Бойко (in Ukranian “glib”,
“pert” = active)
THE LINGUACULTURAL CONCEPT OF SHARING
• Sharing is a social activity having its
human basics and value in the need
to care.
• Sharing is learnt through language
socialization.
THE CASE OF KALULI CHILDREN:
THE VALUE OF SHARING
• The Kaluli are the indigenous people in Papua
New Guinea.
• The title of the book reflects the Kaluli use of the
verbs
dimina (“give”) and dima (“take”) to jointly mean
“sharing”.
• As in many traditional societies, reciprocity /
sharing is a major linguacultural value underlying
the Kaluli social life, everyday talk and action.
e.g., Food sharing is a major means by which
relationships are mediated and validated.
THE CASE OF KALULI CHILDREN:
THE VALUE OF BEING ‘HARD’
For the Kaluli infants are “soft”, while adults
are “hard”.
There is no ‘baby talk’ with the Kaluli children
in the classical sense.
Adult mode of talking plays a key role in
“hardening”, the goal of a Kaluli child’s
socialization.
The Kaluli kids learn to use the adult language
that “makes them hard”.
SECONDARY BABY TALK AS VALUE-BASED REGISTER
Secondary BT is used in relation to the subjects other than
infants, toddlers, and young children, including *the elderly,
*the intellectually disabled, *lovers, *foreigners, *family pets,
*plants, *cars, *gadgets, other things.
VALUES OF COLOURS CROSS-CULTURALLY:
UNIVERSALITY AND DIFFERENCES
• GREEN
• RED
• BROWN
• BLUE
• WHITE
• BLACK
VALUES (ANTI-VALUES) OF NUMBERS
CROSS-CULTURALLY
•3
•4
•7
•8
• 12
• 13
AXIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
Different languages verbalize
different values.
ANNA WIERZBICKA ON VALUES
Every language is a repository of unique

ways of thinking about human existence
and a unique cultural “take” on human
existence, and in particular, on human
values.
A. Wierzbicka
VALUE CONCEPTS BY ANNA WIERZBICKA
VALUES (BY ANNA WIERZBICKA)
Being reasonable Being fair

A Key Anglo Value Another Key
and Its Cultural Anglo Value and
Roots Its Cultural
Underpinnings
LIES VS WHITE LIES (BY WIERZBICKA)
• From the point of view of many cultures that do strongly
condemn “lying,” some forms of “lying” are excused, even
justified.
• This is in keeping with the English expression white lies ,
which presents some forms of “lying” as harmless, perhaps
even desirable.
• Contemporary Anglo cultural scripts, reflected in the
expression white lies, contrast in this respect with the scripts
of some other cultures (for example, Polish and Jewish).
VALUES CROSS-CULTURALLY
• Опыт (Russ.) • Experience • Erfahrung
• Erlebnis (Germ.)
• испытание / • experiment
• moving through
trial
• living through
• пытка / torture
EXPERIENCE (BY WIERZBICKA)
Experience: An English Keyword and a Key Cultural Theme
1. The Uniqueness of the English Concept of ‘Experience’
2. Experience as the Mother of Wisdom: Shakespeare’s Sapiential Perspective
3. “A Frightening Experience”: From a Retrospective to an Introspective Perspective
4. Sensory Experience as a Basis for Empirical Knowledge: A Lockean Perspective
5. The Verb to Experience: Evidence for the Semantic Shift
6. Experiences in Anglophone Philosophy: John Searle’s Perspective
7. Experience in Religion: William James’s Perspective
8. “Bearing Witness”: Shared Experience in Anglophone Art and History
9. I Know from Experience . . .
10. English Experience Compared with German Erfahrung and Erlebnis
11. Concluding Remarks: The History of Ideas and the Meaning of Words
THE RUSSIAN SUD’BA (BY ANNA WIERZBICKA)
Sud’ba is a key concept in Fate has a closer counterpart in

Russian culture. the Russian word Rok (with the
It has no equivalent in English adjective fateful as a counterpart
(neither a linguistic nor a cultural in the Russian adjective rokovoj ).
one). In addition to the semantic
Dictionaries offer Fate as the difference there is a huge cultural
closest English word, but the difference. In English, Fate is not
meaning of Fate differs a particularly salient concept and
considerably from that of Sud’ba. it is not often mentioned in
talking about people’s lives.
HOME ASSIGNMENT
(1) Explore works by Anna Wierzbicka and

briefly comment on the concepts analyzed
by the author
(2) Pick up examples to illustrate
universality and cross-cultural differences of
values verbalized in different languages

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AXIOLOGICAL

Values emerge when an actual

Value is always expressed by means of

As anything can become

In the same line the distinction between

The list of values can never end as

Sensory & Emotional &

Cognitive & Value-

• Language is a set of social conventions,

Schwartz’s Theory of Basic

Values govern Tolerance, for

All national “paradigms” have the

Patronymic Occupational Characteristic Toponymic

Patronymic Occupational Characteristic Toponymic

Every language is a repository of unique

Being reasonable Being fair

Sud’ba is a key concept in Fate has a closer counterpart in

(1) Explore works by Anna Wierzbicka and

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