@book{WolfCummings2011, author = {Wolf, Hans-Georg and Cummings, Patrick}, title = {A dictionary of Hong Kong English : words from the fragrant harbor}, publisher = {Univ. of Hong Kong}, address = {Hong Kong}, isbn = {988-808330-9}, pages = {275 S.}, year = {2011}, language = {en} } @article{LatićWolfPolzenhagenetal.2024, author = {Latić, Denisa and Wolf, Hans-Georg and Polzenhagen, Frank and Peters, Arne}, title = {A research bibliography for world Englishes and Cultural Linguistics}, series = {World Englishes : journal of English as an international and intranational language}, volume = {43}, journal = {World Englishes : journal of English as an international and intranational language}, number = {3}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {1467-971X}, doi = {10.1111/weng.12654}, pages = {523 -- 531}, year = {2024}, abstract = {This research bibliography lists some of the hallmark works in the field of Cultural Linguistics and has an exclusive thematic focus on cultural-linguistic approaches to world Englishes. Therefore, other important and congenial works that have been published under the umbrella of, for example, Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) or deal with langauges other than English are excluded but can be found in the respective references of the individual contributions of this special issue. The research bibliography offers reference works for research strands of the world Englishes framework, such as English language teaching and language use in multicultural and multilingual contexts, as well as language use in the public space. Furthermore, with a collection of publications ranging from the 1980s to most recent state-of-the-art works from the year 2024, the authors identify trends and topical developments in the synthesized research of Cultural Linguistics and world Englishes and offer an outlook on new frontiers in this realm.}, language = {en} } @article{WolfXia2010, author = {Wolf, Hans-Georg and Xia, Xiaoyan}, title = {Basic-level salience in second language acquisition : a study of English vocabulary learning and use by Chinese adults}, isbn = {978-3-11-024582-0}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Basic-level salience is a fundamental concept in Cognitive Psychology and related disciplines. It captures the phenomenon that the basic level of categorization is psychologically more salient than other levels (Rosch et al. 1976). However, findings showing that basic-level words possess a superior status in human communication and vocabulary learning (Rosch et al. 1976; Koevecses 2006) so far pertained only to individuals' L1. In this paper, we argue that Rosch et al's insights are highly relevant in L2 contexts as well. To test the hypothesis that basic-level salience can be evidenced in L2 vocabulary learning, an experiment was conducted among 69 Chinese adult learners of English. On a series of slides, participants were simultaneously presented with different pictures and three English words at the superordinate, basic, and subordinate level. This presentation was followed by a picture naming task, in which participants were expected to write down the first English names that came to their mind. The main results of this experiment are as follows: 1) L2 basic-level words are the most readily given responses in the picture naming task, suggesting the existence of the basic-level salience in L2 vocabulary learning; 2) the presence of the basic-level salience is a matter of degree, influenced by factors such as concept familiarity and, what we call, the "first- encountered-first-retrieved" effect. The mapping of the L1-based categorical organization onto the L2 vocabulary learning process has theoretical and practical (i.e., pedagogical) implications, which are addressed at the end of this chapter.}, language = {en} } @incollection{WolfPeters2021, author = {Wolf, Hans-Georg and Peters, Arne}, title = {Cognitive sociolinguistic studies of African English}, series = {Cognitive sociolinguistics revisited (Applications of Cognitive Linguistics (ACL))}, volume = {48}, booktitle = {Cognitive sociolinguistics revisited (Applications of Cognitive Linguistics (ACL))}, publisher = {De Gruyter Mouton}, address = {Berlin}, isbn = {978-3-11073-394-5}, doi = {10.1515/9783110733945-036}, pages = {457 -- 466}, year = {2021}, abstract = {This chapter presents an overview of Cognitive Sociolinguistic studies of African English. We discuss early applications of Conceptual Metaphor Theory to the study of English in Cameroon (Wolf 1999, 2001; Wolf and Simo Bobda 2001) as well as the extensive and methodologically diverse body of Cognitive Sociolinguistic research on the cultural model of COMMUNITY expressed in West and East African English (e.g., Wolf 2006, 2008; Wolf and Polzenhagen 2007; Polzenhagen and Wolf 2007; Polzenhagen 2007). Moreover, the chapter illustrates how studies such as Finzel and Wolf (2017), Peters (2021), Finzel (forthcoming) and Peters and Polzenhagen (2021) extend the Cognitive Sociolinguistic approach to further sociocultural issues, such as gender identities and culture-specific strategies of advertising in different anglophone parts of Africa. Finally, we point out possible future applications of the paradigm to socio-pragmatic aspects of African English.}, language = {en} } @article{WolfPolzenhagen2012, author = {Wolf, Hans-Georg and Polzenhagen, Frank}, title = {Cognitive sociolinguistics in L2-variety dictionaries of English}, year = {2012}, language = {en} } @article{WolfPolzenhagen2012, author = {Wolf, Hans-Georg and Polzenhagen, Frank}, title = {Cognitive sociolinguistics in L2-variety dictionaries of english}, series = {Review of cognitive linguistics}, volume = {10}, journal = {Review of cognitive linguistics}, number = {2}, publisher = {Benjamins}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {1877-9751}, doi = {10.1075/rcl.10.2.06wol}, pages = {373 -- 400}, year = {2012}, abstract = {The recent decades have witnessed the incorporation of new linguistic trends into lexicography. One of these trends is a usage-based approach, with the first major application of computer-corpus data in the Collins COBUILD English dictionary (1995) and successive adaptation in other L1-dictionaries. Another, concurrent innovation-inspired by Conceptual Metaphor Theory-is the provision of conceptual information in monolingual dictionaries of English. So far, however, only the Macmillan English dictionary for advanced learners (1st and 2nd edition) has paid tribute to the fact that understanding culturespecific metaphors and being aware of metaphoric usage are crucial for learning a foreign language. Given that most of the English as lingua franca interactions take place between L2-speakers of English (see Kachru, 1994), providing conceptual information is not only a desideratum for L1- and learner dictionaries, but especially for (L2-) variety dictionaries of English. In our paper, we follow earlier tentative proposals by Polzenhagen (2007) and Wolf (2012) and present examples from A dictionary of Hong Kong English (Cummings \& Wolf, 2011), showing how culturally salient conceptual information can be made explicit and conceptual links between lexical items retrievable. The examples demonstrate that fixed expressions and idioms -a perennial problem for lexicographers are explicable by means of the proposed lexicographic design, too. Our approach is cognitive-sociolinguistic in that the Conceptual Metaphor approach is coupled with the study of regional varieties of English, more specifically Hong Kong English. Our analysis is empirically backed up by corpus-linguistic insights into this L2 variety.}, language = {en} } @incollection{WolfFinzel2021, author = {Wolf, Hans-Georg and Finzel, Anna}, title = {Colonial cultural conceptualizations and world Englishes}, series = {Research developments in world englishes}, booktitle = {Research developments in world englishes}, publisher = {Bloomsbury Academic}, address = {London}, isbn = {978-1-3501-6708-7}, doi = {10.5040/9781350167087.ch-010}, pages = {199 -- 230}, year = {2021}, abstract = {In this paper, we take a cognitive-sociolinguistic perspective on texts from the colonial period. The texts stem from various agents in the colonial enterprise and include documents from missionaries, administrators and politicians, as well as legal and scientific texts. What we find and trace in these texts is a recurrent set of dominant systems of conceptualizations that are characteristic of the colonial mindset and the corresponding discourse at large. However, these conceptualizations were spelled out in quite different ways in discourse, depending on the ideological background and objectives of the authors and on the specific colonial setting they deal with. We will focus on two contexts, India and sub-Saharan Africa, and we will highlight conceptualizations related to the framing of the constellation between colonizers and colonial subjects in terms of, inter alia, a parent-child, an adult-child and a teacher-pupil relationship. We will then look into some examples of cultural practices among the colonized that were "disturbing" to the colonizers. The fact that they were betrays value systems as well as preoccupations and fears on the side of the colonizers. These practices triggered efforts at cultural engineering in the colonies which had lasting effects on the local culture in these settings. However, this impact was far from being one-directional. The experience with the "otherness" of the colonial subjects fueled debates on latent societal issues in the culture of the colonizers. We will consider this impact for the case of the discourse on homosexuality. The empire stroke back also in linguistic terms, most notably by a host of loan words that entered the lexicon of English. The way these loan words were "integrated" into the English language provides ample evidence of a cultural appropriation also in this direction, i.e., the process known as "contextualization" in traditional Kachruvian sociolinguistics is bi-directional as well.}, language = {en} } @incollection{Wolf2021, author = {Wolf, Hans-Georg}, title = {Cultural conceptualizations of magical practices related to menstrual blood in a transhistorical and transcontinental perspective}, series = {Cultural-Linguistic Explorations into Spirituality, Emotionality, and Society (Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts (CLSCC)}, volume = {14}, booktitle = {Cultural-Linguistic Explorations into Spirituality, Emotionality, and Society (Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts (CLSCC)}, publisher = {John Benjamins Publishing Company}, address = {Amsterdam}, isbn = {978-9-02725-970-7}, doi = {10.1075/clscc.14.04wol}, pages = {41 -- 76}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Most, if not all, of the studies in Cultural Linguistics have (a) taken a synchronic perspective or (b) focused on specific, intracultural conceptualizations. In my chapter, I will look at a cluster of conceptualizations that have been found to exist in different historical periods, in different languages and varieties, and on different continents. The case in point is conceptualizations of magical practices based on menstrual blood. The existence of these conceptualizations across time and space raises the challenging questions of their motivation, and, more generally, the "flow of conceptualizations." While these questions will be pursued in my chapter, the main focus will be on an elaboration of the conceptual network of conceptualizations pertaining to menstrual blood magic.}, language = {en} } @incollection{WolfPolzenhagen2024, author = {Wolf, Hans-Georg and Polzenhagen, Frank}, title = {Cultural Linguistics}, series = {The Handbook of Cultural Linguistics (Springer Handbooks in Languages and Linguistics (SHLL))}, booktitle = {The Handbook of Cultural Linguistics (Springer Handbooks in Languages and Linguistics (SHLL))}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Singapore}, isbn = {978-981-99-3799-8}, doi = {10.1007/978-981-99-3800-1_7}, pages = {109 -- 134}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Without a doubt, not only through numerous landmark publications (e.g., Sharifian 2003, 2011, 2015, 2017a, b), Farzad Sharifian has shaped the field of Cultural Linguistics like no one has. The success of Cultural Linguistics has been due, to a considerable extent, to the integration of previous theoretical concepts, methods, and terminologies into a unified theoretical approach. However, this process of integration, to our minds, has not been completed. In fact, the first author of this chapter, in a couple of his publications (Wolf et al. 2021; K{\"u}hmstedt and Wolf 2022) was about to enter into a terminological debate with Farzad Sharifian, when he left us too early. In this chapter, we would like to take up and systematize this debate. Primarily, as regards theory, we will focus on the relation of Cultural Linguistics to Cognitive Sociolinguistics, and as regards terminology, on the central concept of "cultural conceptualization." By doing so, it is our hope to solidify the paradigm of Cultural Linguistics even more and to provide a further terminological refinement for "cultural conceptualization."}, language = {en} } @incollection{Wolf2020, author = {Wolf, Hans-Georg}, title = {East and West African Englishes}, series = {The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes}, booktitle = {The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes}, edition = {2}, publisher = {Routledge}, address = {London}, isbn = {978-1-003-12875-5}, doi = {10.4324/9781003128755}, pages = {216 -- 232}, year = {2020}, abstract = {This chapter compares East and West African English as two distinct regional varieties of African English. First, the historical development of English in these two regions is briefly considered. It is argued that British colonial policy contributed significantly to the sociolinguistic and, indirectly, even structural differences these varieties exhibit. Then, the discussion moves on to give a short overview of the national sub-varieties. It is found that, although united by common linguistic features, West African English is far more heterogeneous than East African English, and some explanation is provided for this phenomenon. Focusing specifically on phonetic features, the chapter summarizes and contrasts the main diagnostic and distinctive features of each regional variety, with special reference to the peculiarities of the national varieties of West African English. However, despite their structural differences, West African, East African English and, for that matter, Southern African English are rooted in a shared "African culture." Recent findings are introduced, in which common conceptual and linguistic patterns pertaining to witchcraft, expressed in the regional varieties in question, are highlighted.}, language = {en} }