prescriptivism
- noun
- /prɪˈskrɪptɪˌvɪzəm/
- Specialized
:
prescriptivismo
- In debates about grammar, prescriptivism often clashes with more open-minded approaches to language.
Examples
-
In addition to the "50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice" article that Zed links, Language Log is a great source if you want to learn more about the problems with prescriptivism and Strunk and White in particular.
Blog text (12) -
Without this intrapsychic base for responsibility for human rights, Lonergan would have launched a diatribe similar to those he aired in other places against all forms of prescriptivism, objectivism, and conceptualism, and all for the same reason: they are too easily reified and, in that form, too easily imposed on diminished subjects.
Academic text (2002) -
Many linguists argue that prescriptivism limits the natural evolution of language.
-
He wrote an article criticizing the prescriptivism prevalent in formal education systems.
Synonyms
A way of making strict rules about how people should do things
A set of rules saying how people should use a language rather than how they actually speak
A study of language that tells people how to use it correctly
Antonyms
- Specialized
Describing how people actually use language instead of telling them how they should use it
How Prescriptive
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
prescriptivism = prescriptive (transparent) = prescript + ive + ism
Formed by adding '-ism' to the adjective 'prescriptive' to name a doctrine; this is a regular and transparent derivation for learners.
Etymology
Prescriptivism comes from the verb prescribe, which has the parts pre- 'before' and script 'write', so it originally meant to 'write before' or to give an order. So, in language, prescriptivism 'prescribes' rules like a doctor who gives a prescription — it tells people how they should use words.
