Wolfgang Teubert is Professor of Corpus Linguistics at the University of Birmingham. His previous book publications include Corpus Linguistics: A Short Introduction (2007, with Anna Cermakova), Text, Discourse and Corpura (2007, with Michael Hoey, Michael Stubbs and Michaela Mahlberg) and he was co-editor of Corpus Linguistics: Critical Concepts in Linguistics: A Reader (2007) and Text Corpora and Multilingual Lexicography (2007).

'The power of this exciting new book lies simultaneously within the detailed, continental traditions of scholarship that it brings to many readers for the first time; and the internal skepticism that it impliedly expresses towards the empirical instrumentation available to corpus linguists … Teubert offers us an erudite and convincing reason for deep reflection before we contemplate discarding even the bath-water of hermeneutics. This book is a unique product of a tradition that combines philosophy, philology and hermeneutics on the one hand with an understanding of the power of corpora as a potential substitute for the experiences of a community during its lifetime … a compelling read right up to its last paragraph and has my warm recommendation.' Bill Louw, International Journal of Corpus Linguistics

• Introduction; Part I. Meaning, the Mind and the Brain: 1. The cognitive turn; 2. The long history of mind linguistics; 3. What do we know about mental concepts?; 4. Morphing theoretical sémes into 'real' concepts; 5. From mental representations to conceptual ontologies; 6. What is meaning?; 7. Where should we look for meaning?; Part II. Discourse and Society: 8. Language as discourse; 9. Society presupposes language, and language presupposes society; 10. A closer look at oral societies; 11. Differences between oral and literate societies; 12. Empirical linguistics deals only with recorded language; 13. Meaning, knowledge and the construction of reality; 14. The language of the scientific experimental report; 15. Diachronicity, intertextuality and hermeneutics; 16. Meaning and the interpretation of a haiku; Conclusion.

Wolfgang Teubert is Professor of Corpus Linguistics at the University of Birmingham. His previous book publications include Corpus Linguistics: A Short Introduction (2007, with Anna Cermakova), Text, Discourse and Corpura (2007, with Michael Hoey, Michael Stubbs and Michaela Mahlberg) and he was co-editor of Corpus Linguistics: Critical Concepts in Linguistics: A Reader (2007) and Text Corpora and Multilingual Lexicography (2007).

'The power of this exciting new book lies simultaneously within the detailed, continental traditions of scholarship that it brings to many readers for the first time; and the internal skepticism that it impliedly expresses towards the empirical instrumentation available to corpus linguists … Teubert offers us an erudite and convincing reason for deep reflection before we contemplate discarding even the bath-water of hermeneutics. This book is a unique product of a tradition that combines philosophy, philology and hermeneutics on the one hand with an understanding of the power of corpora as a potential substitute for the experiences of a community during its lifetime … a compelling read right up to its last paragraph and has my warm recommendation.' Bill Louw, International Journal of Corpus Linguistics

• Introduction; Part I. Meaning, the Mind and the Brain: 1. The cognitive turn; 2. The long history of mind linguistics; 3. What do we know about mental concepts?; 4. Morphing theoretical sémes into 'real' concepts; 5. From mental representations to conceptual ontologies; 6. What is meaning?; 7. Where should we look for meaning?; Part II. Discourse and Society: 8. Language as discourse; 9. Society presupposes language, and language presupposes society; 10. A closer look at oral societies; 11. Differences between oral and literate societies; 12. Empirical linguistics deals only with recorded language; 13. Meaning, knowledge and the construction of reality; 14. The language of the scientific experimental report; 15. Diachronicity, intertextuality and hermeneutics; 16. Meaning and the interpretation of a haiku; Conclusion.