World Knowledge/
Extralinguistic Knowledge

Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, University of Applied Sciences in Konin, Poland
barbara.lewandowska-tomaszczyk@konin.edu.pl

In linguistics world knowledge is the non-linguistic information that helps a reader or listener interpret the meanings of words and sentences. The linguistic knowledge, referred to also as word knowledge, semantic knowledge by Dascal, or language knowledge by Dudschig et al, is juxtaposed to world knowledge by Dudschig et al., Martin et al., and Gile, called also encyclopedic knowledge by Setton, non-linguistic knowledge by Dudschig et al. as well as Setton or extralinguistic knowledge, which is used to refer to people, animals, objects, their properties, or events, which form the language user’s experience with the phenomena of the outside world.

The knowledge of the world is indispensible to properly produce language and interpret it in varying contexts. It is also a vital factor in translation and interpreting, which decides about the semantic and pragmatic interpretation of the language used. The concept of knowledge in these definitions corresponds to the traditional (‘tripartite’) analysis of knowledge understood as justified, true belief treated as a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for its definition state Jenkins and Steup. World knowledge is closely linked to the concept of Worldview.

Keywords: knowledge, language, outside world, pragmatic interpretation, semantic interpretation

Related Entries: Context, Semantics, Worldview

References:
Dudschig, C., Maienborn, C., & Kaup, B. (2016). Is there a difference between stripy journeys and stripy ladybirds? Brain and Cognition, 103, 38–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2015.12.006
Gile, D. (1995). Basic concepts and models for interpreter and translator training. John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://www.thoughtco.com/world-knowledge-language-studies-1692508
Jenkins, I. J., & Steup, M. (2024). The analysis of knowledge. In E. N. Zalta & U. Nodelman (Eds.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Stanford University. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2024/entries/knowledge-analysis/
Martin, C. D., Garcia, H., Breton, A., Thierry, G., & Costa, A. (2016). World knowledge integration during second language comprehension. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31(2), 206–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2015.1101142
Setton, R. (1999). Simultaneous interpretation: A cognitive-pragmatic analysis. John Benjamins Publishing Company.