House and Home across Cultures

Authors

  • Monika Kavalir University of Ljubljana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/elope.12.1.29-47

Keywords:

language and culture, British culture, American culture, Slovenian culture, collocations

Abstract

Based on the assumption that language and culture are inextricably linked, the paper looks at some characteristics of the domain that can be labelled ‘house and home’ in the British Isles and North America, and contrasts it in particular with the situation in Slovenia(n). It examines the construction materials used, the size of people’s dwellings, the use of light, colour and style, hygiene, class distinctions, and the attitude to house vs. home, showing that like almost any concept in any language, the notions of house and home are culturally determined experiences of time and space – they are not coincidental but have to do with structural traits of the three cultures. In addition, a corpus analysis of expressions to do with house and home is carried out to demonstrate the intimate link between language and culture and to show that mastery of a language goes hand in hand with understanding the target society/societies.

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ELOPE Vol. 12, No. 1: Cultural Encounters with the English-Speaking World

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Published

22.06.2015

How to Cite

Kavalir, M. (2015). House and Home across Cultures. ELOPE: English Language Overseas Perspectives and Enquiries, 12(1), 29–47. https://doi.org/10.4312/elope.12.1.29-47

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 1 (2015): Cultural Encounters with the English-Speaking World

Section

Cross-Cultural Landscapes

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