Part Ⅰ．Meaning,History and Culture 3
1．English as a Cultural Universe 3
1.1．English—the most widely used language in the world 3
1.2．English and Englishes 5
1.3．An illustration:Words,scripts,and human lives 7
1.4．"Anglo English"as a historical formation 9
1.5．The tendency to mistake"Anglo English"for the human norm 11
1.6．The cultural underpinnings of(Anglo)English 13
1.7．A framework for studying and describing meaning 16
2．Anglo Cultural Scripts Seen through Middle Eastern Eyes 20
2.1．Linguistics and intercultural communication 20
2.2．The theory of cultural scripts 22
2.3．The Anglo ideal of"accuracy"and the practice of"understatement" 25
2.4．"To the best of my knowledge..." 35
2.5．Anglo respect for"facts" 41
2.6．"Cool reason":To think vs.to feel 46
2.7．To compel or not to compel?The value of autonomy 50
2.8．Conclusion 56
Part Ⅱ．English Words:From Philosophy to Everyday Discourse 61
3．The Story of RIGHT and WRONG and Its Cultural Implications 61
3.1．Introduction 61
3.2．"Right"and"wrong":A basis for ethics? 64
3.3．The link between"right"and"reason" 70
3.4．"That's right" 74
3.5．An illustration:English vs.Italian 76
3.6．"Right"as a neutral ground between"good"and"true" 78
3.7．Procedural morality 80
3.8．"Right"and"wrong":Increasingly asymmetrical 82
3.9．The changing frequencies of true,truth,right,and wrong 85
3.10．"Right"as a response in dialogue 87
3.11．"Right"and cultural scripts 92
3.12．Retrospect and conclusion:The Puritans,the Enlightenment,the growth of democracy 95
4．Being REASONABLE:A Key Anglo Value and Its Cultural Roots 103
4.1．Introduction 103
4.2．The pre-Enlightenment uses of"reasonable" 104
4.3．The main themes in the modern meanings of the word reasonable 105
4.4．"A reasonable man" 107
4.5．"It is reasonable to"think(say,do) 112
4.6．"Reasonable doubt" 117
4.7．"Reasonable force"and"reasonable care" 123
4.8．"A reasonable time,""A reasonable amount" 125
4.9．"Reasonable"as"reasonably good" 127
4.10．"Reasonable"and"unreasonable" 128
4.11．An internal reconstruction of the semantic history of"reasonable" 133
4.12．"Reasonable"and Anglo cultural scripts 135
4.13．Is the Anglo value of"reasonable"unique?English vs.French 138
5．Being FAIR:Another Key Anglo Value and Its Cultural Underpinnings 141
5.1．The importance of"fairness"in modern Anglo culture 141
5.2．The meaning of fair and not fair 144
5.3．"Fairness"and Anglo political philosophy 152
5.4．"Fairness"vs."justice" 155
5.5 The illusion of universality 160
5.6．"Fairness"and"fair play":A historical perspective 163
5.7．"Fairness"and"procedural morality" 165
Part Ⅲ．Anglo Culture Reflected in English Grammar 171
6．The English Causatives:Causation and Interpersonal Relations 171
6.1．The cultural elaboration of causation 171
6.2．The English"let"-constructions and the cultural ideal of"noninterference" 183
7．I THINK:The Rise of Epistemic Phrases in Modern English 204
7.1．Introduction 204
7.2．I think 208
7.3．I suppose 208
7.4．I guess 209
7.5．I gather 210
7.6．I presume 212
7.7．I believe 213
7.8．I find 220
7.9．I expect 226
7.10．I take It 230
7.11．I understand 233
7.12．I imagine 235
7.13．I bet 236
7.14．I suspect 237
7.15．I assume 239
7.16．Conclusion 241
8．PROBABLY:English Epistemic Adverbs and Their Cultural Significance 247
8.1．Introduction 247
8.2．Developing a format for the semantic analysis of epistemic adverbs 257
8.3．"Probably"and"likely":The heart of the category of epistemic adverbs 261
8.4．"Confident"adverbs:Evidently,clearly,obviously 270
8.5．"Nonconfident"adverbs:Possibly and conceivably 276
8.6．Hearsay adverbs:Apparently,supposedly,allegedly,and reportedly 278
8.7．The"uncertain"status of certainly 284
8.8．Epistemic adverbs vs.discourse particles 287
8.9．The history of epistemic adverbs in modern english 291
Part Ⅳ．Conclusion 299
9．The"Cultural Baggage"of English and Its Significance in the World at Large 299
9.1．The legacy of history 299
9.2．Living with concepts 300
9.3．Two illustrations:International law and international aviation 301
9.4．Communication and"vibes" 305
9.5．Intercultural communication and cross-cultural education 308
9.6．English in the world today 310
Notes 315
References 325
Index 341