PRESCRIPTIVE

LINGUISTICS

DEFINITIONS An account of how a language should

be used instead of how it is actually used; a prescription for the correct phonology and morphology and syntax and semantics.

A set of norms or rules governing how a language should or should not be used rather than describing the ways in which a language is actually used.

Is the act of taking the official models of a language, and treating them as sacred perfect representations of the language, and enforcing them on people.

The practice of championing one variety or manner of speaking of a language against another. Normative practices may prescribe on such aspects of language use as spelling, grammar, pronunciation and syntax.

• Linguistic prescription specify standard language forms either generally or for specific purposes.

IMPORTANCE

• Standardized languages are useful for interregional communication: speakers of divergent dialects may understand a standard languages used in broadcasting more readily than they would understand each other's dialects.

• It aims to draw workable guidelines for language users seeking advice in such matters.

• Writers or communicators who wish to use words clearly, powerfully, or effectively often use prescriptive rules.

• Its aims may be to establish a standard language, to teach what is perceived within a particular society to be correct forms of language, or to advise on effective communication.

ADVOCATES

Richard Mervyn Hare

was an English moral philosopher best known for his development of prescriptivism as a meta-ethical theory. He first advocated prescriptivism in his book The Language of Morals.

Accademia della Crusca

The Accademia della Crusca is an Italian society for scholars and Italian linguists and philologists established in Florence.

Samuel Johnson

English critic, biographer, essayist, poet, and lexicographer, regarded as one of the greatest figures of 18th-century life and letters.

Robert Lowth

Church of England bishop of London and literary scholar. His writings include Life of William of Wykeham (1758); A Short Introduction to English Grammar(1762); and Sermons and Other Remains (1834).

John Dryden

English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.

SUBFIELDS

SEMANTICS Linguistic semantics is the study of

meaning that is used for understanding human expression through language

The study of meaning that focuses on the relation between signifiers, like words, phrases, signs, and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata.

SYNTAX The study of the rules that govern the

ways in which words combine to form, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Syntax is one of the major components of grammar.

The study of the principles and processes by which sentences are constructed in particular languages. The syntax of a language is described in terms of a Taxonomy.

GRAMMAR Rules of a language governing the

sounds, words, sentences, and other elements, as well as their combination and interpretation.

Prescriptive grammar presents authoritative norms for a particular language, and tends to deprecate non-standard constructions.

CORPUS LINGUISTICS Corpus linguistics adherents believe that

reliable language analysis best occurs on field-collected samples, in natural contexts and with minimal experimental interference.

It refers to large collections of texts which represent a sample of a particular variety or use of language(s) that are presented in machine readable form.

HYPERCORRECTION A non-standard usage that results from

the over-application of a perceived rule of grammar or a usage prescription.

It occurs when a real or imagined grammatical rule is applied in an inappropriate context, so that an attempt to be "correct" leads to an incorrect result.

LANGUAGE POLICY Designed to favour or discourage the use

of a particular language or set of languages.

It is what a government does either officially through legislation, court decisions or policy to determine how languages are used, cultivate language skills needed to meet national priorities or to establish the rights of individuals or groups to use and maintain languages

LANGUAGE PURISM The practice of defining one variety of

a language as being purer than other varieties.

Linguistic purism was institutionalized through Language academies (of which the 1572 Accademia della Crusca set a model example in Europe), and their decisions have often the force of law. It is a form of prescriptive linguistic.

PLEONISM Pleonasm the use of

more words or word-parts than is necessary for clear expression: examples are black darkness, or burning fire.

It commonly understood to mean a word or phrase which is useless or repetitive.

PREPARED BY: GROUP 2

PRESCRIPTIVE LINGUISTICS

• JOVI B. LOPEZ• DYANNE MANGAHAS• RAYMOND INDUCIL• KIMBERLY PAYNADO• CHERRILYN MENDOZA