Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic Reflectionism with an evaluation of it Flashcards
What does Linguistic Determinism say?
Thoughts cannot be made without the words necessary for them
What does Linguistic reflectionism say?
Thoughts we have are expressed through language
What does linguistic reflectionism say about the banning of racist and sexist words?
The racist and sexist thoughts will continue
If racist and sexist thoughts continue after words have been banned, what will happen?
New racist and sexist words will emerge
What form of language has criticised linguistic reflectionism?
Political correctness
Why has political correctness criticised linguistic reflectionism?
They say it ignores that there have been attempts to make less harmful terms
Which linguist created the concept of the Euphemism Treadmill?
Pinker
What does the Euphemism treadmill say?
No matter how many negative words are replaced, they will always be replaced with new negative terms
Name a term used by 19th century doctors
‘mental retardation’
What semantic process did ‘mental retardation’ go through?
Semantic pejoration
Name a term ‘mental retardation’ was replaced with
‘Idiot’
Name a term that has now replaced ‘mental retardation’ and ‘idiot’ in a medical sense by 2025
‘Neurodivergent’
What is the issue with the neurodivergent label?
It is very broad
What class of -nym has been created with the use of the word ‘neurodivergent’
Hypernym
What semantic process is “Neurodivergent” likely to eventually experience?
Semantic pejoration
