Have you ever felt inundated by the number of new words (or changes in old definitions) that you come across? Have you ever wondered why we consent to live in a descriptive world of vocabulary? It seems our world of words is expanding as dramatically as the universe, but I’m not so sure this is for the betterment of our language.
First, let me mention (generally) the terms prescriptive and descriptive. These are terms that define a particular linguistic mindset. A descriptivist is someone who believes that language is ever-changing. It is fluid and should be described without judgement. A prescriptivist is someone who believes language should have rules and order.
An example of prescriptivism might be L’Académie Française. This is an organization responsible for setting standards/judgements that govern the vocabulary and grammar of the French language. There is no such organization for the English language. There is, however, a multitude of publications that keep record of its expansion and change, descriptive examples. The Oxford English Dictionary is one of these examples.
I am a native English speaker, and lately I’ve been having a hard time with words that are loosing their fundamental meaning. Not long ago the word bad was an adjective. Now, it is used commonly as a noun. “I’m sorry, that was my bad.”
All languages expand and grow. New words come to be like: blog, vlog, wovel, and bala. Old words grow in meaning like: bad, gay, bitch, and player. There are also assimilated words from other languages like: fiesta, esprit, manga, and gulag. For these reasons, one may argue that all languages are descriptive by nature and that attempts at prescriptivism are pointless.
I believe there should be fundamental words (and rules) that remain immutable with any language; road signs and markers that mark new routes and directions; expanding the map of our language but unchanging in their directional natures.
Maybe, I’m becoming more conservative in my old age and all of my feelings about a more prescriptivist language is a sign that I refuse to change with the times. (I certainly didn’t care about this ten years ago.) Or perhaps I’m confusing expansion with the laws that govern expansion; after all, age can make you more conservative, less willing to change. Maybe there shouldn’t be any laws at all. Maybe . . .
Bah! Of course there should.
Copyright © Tyler Gant 2009
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