The journal was launched in 1988 as a forum for discussion of the problems of cultural and cognitive linguistics, the linguistic worldview, stereotypes and value terms – these were new and topical problems at the time. Since 2004, Etnolingwistyka has been the official journal of two ethnolinguistic commissions: domestic (within the Linguistic Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences) and international (affiliated with the International Slavic Committee). It publishes contributions in the relationship between language and culture (see Aims and scope). The authors and readership includes researchers, faculty members, and students in language, cultural studies, philology, and anthropology.