Timeline for In a world of descriptivist dictionaries, how is linguistic relativism avoided in discussions?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
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| Oct 2, 2018 at 14:01 | comment | added | Ghoti and Chips |
@KarlG I'm going to assume I'm not sure what you would consider a "descriptive" definition was rhetorical
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| Oct 2, 2018 at 13:57 | comment | added | Ghoti and Chips | @KarlG So how does my simplification not map onto the general thrust of your answer? | |
| Oct 2, 2018 at 11:21 | comment | added | KarlG | @GhotiandChips: That's hardly a simplification, and I'm not sure what you would consider a "descriptive" definition. Say Gina thinks that for weather to be sunny, there has to be a complete absence of clouds. Even that deviation is going to get her into difficulties. | |
| Oct 2, 2018 at 8:31 | comment | added | Ghoti and Chips | @KarlG If I had to simplify your answer, it'd be, "Nothing is stopping Gina from linguistic relativism, but she will pay for deviations from descriptive definitions socially, to a degree that is proportional to the amount of deviation (i.e. a slight variation on a dictionary definition yields less confusion and fewer social consequences than a definition that means the 'polar opposite' of the dictionary definition)". Am I understanding you correctly? | |
| Sep 30, 2018 at 20:45 | comment | added | KarlG | @Spencer: actually, pronunciation offers a more salient example of the speed with which dictionaries respond to recent change if they ascribe to being descriptive. Semantic change is generally slower, say, decimate or begging the question, so the contrast isn’t as sharp. | |
| Sep 30, 2018 at 16:09 | comment | added | Spencer | This is good, but I think you've unnecessarily confused the issue by bringing pronunciation into it. That's a whole other dimension from word meaning, which is what the question was about. | |
| Sep 30, 2018 at 14:35 | history | edited | KarlG | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 50 characters in body
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| Sep 30, 2018 at 14:26 | comment | added | Lawrence | You earned the +1 at “social contract”. | |
| Sep 30, 2018 at 14:20 | history | answered | KarlG | CC BY-SA 4.0 |