Anna Wierzbicka (born 10 March 1938 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

who is Emeritus Professor at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. Brought up in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, she graduated from

Warsaw University The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

and emigrated to Australia in 1972, where she has lived since. With over twenty published books, many of which have been translated into foreign languages, she is a prolific writer. Wierzbicka is known for her work in

semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy Philosophy (f ...

pragmatics In linguistics and related fields, pragmatics is the study of how context contributes to meaning. The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship between the interpreter and the int ...

and cross-cultural linguistics, especially for the

natural semantic metalanguage The natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) is a linguistic theory that reduces lexicons down to a set of semantic primitives. It is based on the conception of Polish professor Andrzej Bogusławski. The theory was formally developed by Anna Wierzbick ...

and the concept of

semantic primes Semantic primes or semantic primitives are a set of semantic concepts that are argued to be innately understood by all people but impossible to express in simpler terms. They represent words or phrases that are learned through practice but cannot ...

. Her research agenda resembles

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathema ...

's original "alphabet of human thought". Wierzbicka credits her colleague, linguist

Andrzej Bogusławski Andrzej Stanisław Bogusławski (born 1 December 1931) is a Polish philologist, semanticist, semioticist and philosopher of language of international repute. Originally a specialist in Russian language, his interests broadened into the epistem ...

, with reviving it in the late 1960s.

Biography

Wierzbicka was born in 1938, just before the outbreak of World War II. She received her PhD from the Institute of Literary Research,

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...

in 1964 and subsequently her

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

degree five years later. Since 1973 she has been working at

ANU Anu ( akk, , from wikt:𒀭#Sumerian, 𒀭 ''an'' “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An ( sux, ), was the sky father, divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the list of Mesopotamian deities, dei ...

, from 1989 as a professor. 1988 saw her elected fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

. In 1996 she was elected a Fellow of the

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...

. Throughout her career she has collaborated closely with Polish researchers, and was awarded the

Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science The Prize of the Foundation for Polish Science () is the most prestigious scientific award in Poland given every year from 1992 by a non-governmental non-profit Polish organization, Foundation for Polish Science (). The prize is widely regarded a ...

for developing the theory of the natural semantic metalanguage and discovering a set of elementary meanings common to all languages. Her work spans a number of disciplines, including anthropology, psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, and religious studies as well as linguistics.

Natural semantic metalanguage

In her 1972 book ''Semantic Primitives'', she launched a theory of

, a theory of language and meaning.

Awards

* Honorary degree from

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (MCSU) ( pl, Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej w Lublinie, UMCS) was founded October 23, 1944 in Lublin. It is named in honour of Marie Curie-Sklodowska. Currently the number of students is almost 36,000. The ...

(2004) * Honorary degree from

(2006) *

(2010) *

Dobrushin Award Roland Lvovich Dobrushin (russian: Рола́нд Льво́вич Добру́шин) (July 20, 1929 – November 12, 1995) was a mathematician who made important contributions to probability theory, mathematical physics, and information theory ...

(2010)

Bibliography

Books

*(co-authored with Cliff Goddard) ''Words and Meanings: Lexical Semantics Across Domains, Languages, and Cultures.'' Oxford UP (2014). *''Imprisoned in English. The Hazards of English As a Default Language'', Oxford UP 2013. *''Experience, Evidence, and Sense: The Hidden Cultural Legacy of English'' (2010). * ''English: Meaning and culture'' (2006). * ''What Did Jesus Mean? Explaining the Sermon on the Mount and the Parables in simple and universal human concepts'' (2001). * ''Emotions Across Languages and Cultures: Diversity and universals'' (1999). * ''Understanding Cultures Through Their Key Words: English, Russian, Polish, German, Japanese'' (1997). * ''Semantics: Primes and Universals'' (1996). * ''Semantics, Culture and Cognition: Universal human concepts in culture-specific configurations'' (1992). * ''Cross-cultural pragmatics: The semantics of human interaction'' (1991). * ''The Semantics of Grammar'' (1988). * ''English Speech Act Verbs: A semantic dictionary'' (1987). * ''Lexicography and Conceptual Analysis'' (1985). * ''The Case for Surface Case'' (1980). * ''Lingua Mentalis: The semantics of natural language'' (1980). * ''Semantic Primitives'' (1972).

Articles

Anna Wierzbicka has published over 300 articles in journals from the disciplines her work spans, including ''Language'', ''

Current Anthropology, American Anthropologist Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (str ...

'', ''Man'', ''

Anthropological Linguistics Anthropological linguistics is the subfield of linguistics and anthropology which deals with the place of language in its wider social and cultural context, and its role in making and maintaining cultural practices and societal structures. Whil ...

'', ''

Cognition and Emotion ''Cognition and Emotion'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal with a specific focus on the interplay between thinking and feeling, or cognition and emotion. Within Western thought, cognition and emotion have traditionally been conceived as adve ...

'', ''Culture and Psychology'', ''Ethos'', ''Philosophica'', ''

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ''Behavioral and Brain Sciences'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of Open Peer Commentary established in 1978 by Stevan Harnad and published by Cambridge University Press. It is modeled on the journal ''Current Anthropology'' (whi ...

'' and ''

The Journal of Cognition and Culture ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''.

References

External links

Wierzbicka's page
Australian National University
Bibliography from 1990 onward

Wierzbicka's biography
Foundation for Polish Science
Wierzbicka's page

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian s ...

* Zhengdao Ye Introducing Anna Wierzbicka's and Cliff Goddard's Natural Semantics Method, https://webtv.univ-rouen.fr/permalink/v125a8c985c90oj5g30p/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Wierzbicka, Anna 1938 births Living people Linguists from Australia Women linguists Linguists from Poland Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Australian people of Polish descent Semanticists Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Australian National University faculty Polish emigrants to Australia Scientists from Warsaw