Topic > Prescriptivism vs. Descriptivism - 1559

Language wars have been fought for years in the realm of English literature, language, and linguistics. Both sides firmly believe in their position, but are more than willing to concede points in favor of the other sides. In Bryan A. Garner's essay, "Making Peace in the Language Wars," he describes himself as a "descriptive prescriber" (Garner, Making Peace in the Language Wars 2008, 270) and offers a truce that satisfies both sides of the issue . as the crux of his essay. Although the different sides of the issue are relatively easy to define, it seems that no one sticks to them religiously, and the discussion is between individuals fighting over individual points. The two sides are that of the descriptivist and that of the prescriptivist. David Foster Wallace coined the term SNOOT, which is directly related to what prescriptivism is in its most rigorous form: “SNOOT(n) (highly colloq) is the nickname of this reviewer's household. a key to a truly extreme use fanatic, the kind of person whose idea of ​​Sunday fun is to hunt for errors in the very prose of Safire's column” (Wallace 2005, 69). Garner, on the other hand, gives a very simple definition of prescriptivism: “Prescribers seek to guide users of a language… on how to handle words as effectively as possible” (Garner, Making Peace in the Language Wars 2008, 266 ). Descriptivists are not the "opposite" of prescriptivists, but they are at loggerheads with the ideals of prescriptivism since descriptivists simply seek to describe language as it is used. Garner, once again, is concise in his definition of descriptivists: "Descriptivists try to uncover the facts of how native speakers actually use their language" (Garner, Making Peace in the Language Wars 2008...... mid-2008). paper… ... in this essay, however, it appears that there will never be a truce between prescriptivists and descriptivists because status and self-perception are inflammatory and extremely emotional the Language Wars In Garner." on Language and Writing, by Bryan A. Garner, 266 - 285. Chicago: American Bar Association, 2008.Garner, Bryan A. "Tending to Your Snootitude." In Garner on Language and Writing, by Bryan A. Garner, 211 – 221. Chicago: American Bar Association, 2008. Orwell, George. “Politics and Other Essays.” by David Foster Wallace, 66 - 127. New York City: Little, Brown, and Company., 2005.