Semantics

This monograph provides a synthesis of the author's theory of meaning, which is based on conceptual primitives and semantic universals, using empirical findings to form a wide range of languages. While addressed primarily at linguists, the book deals with highly topical and controversial issues of central importance to several other disciplines, including anthropology, psychology and philosophy.

a selective reading of the chapters based on need and interest is well worth it, especially if the need and interest are comparative semantic data, where Wierzbicka is at her best...This is a good and interesting book, it is well worth reading./William Frawley/Journal of Linguistics., One cannot help but be impressed by the range of language-related topics Wierzbicka's work encompasses and by the thorough control commanded by her of the relevant literature pertaining to these diverse areas. Equally impressive are the insights that Wierzbicka's analyses provide., SCC is a welcome addition to Wierzbicka's inexhaustible semantic explications, revealing as it does a general theory and application that can be challenged, tested, and modified. The wide range of topics is typical of those that anyone involved in a cross-cultural work would need to explore, explain and translate ... such detailed analysis can help the native speakers of a language to become more aware of the semantic implications of the words and expressions that they use.