emic

Definitions

Of or pertaining to the analysis of a cultural system or its features from the perspective of a participant in that culture.

Equivalents

Examples

“A useful example of the emic-etic distinction may be made by comparing the concept “waves on the ocean or sea” from the perspective of a European American with that of a Truk Islander […] The proposed etics here might be that both cultures understand⟳ the use⟳ of waves as vehicles for surfing and as movement reflecting the transfer⟳ of energy […] certain differences, or emics exist⟳, for European Americans the waves may be sources of beauty — the Truk Islander has learned to use⟳ them […] as a road map.”

“In contemporary Anglophone usage, the term 'dhow' has come⟳ to refer⟳ generically and exonymically to traditional wooden vessels of the western Indian Ocean, whatever their particular forms or emic classification.”

CEFR level