Political correctness

Question 1

What is political correctness

Answer 1

-Describes ways that language can be adapted to minimise social inequality
-Seeks to avoid language that insults people

Question 2

Harvey and Shalom- Language and desire

Answer 2

Observed that a problem area is often indicated by the large number of alternative words for something
-Technical= Sexual
-Euphemistic= Sleep with
-Dysphemistic= Screw

Question 3

Deborah Cameron- Verbal hygiene

Answer 3

Collection of discourses through which people attempt to ‘clean up’ language

Question 4

Sapir- Whorf hypothesis

Answer 4

Native American tribe who didn’t use tenses in their language so therefore had little perception of time
-Methodology was based off of one person so lacks validity

Question 5

Linguistic determinism

Answer 5

Language shapes thought, therefore if we don’t have the word for a concept we can’t think about it

Question 6

Linguistic reflectionalism

Answer 6

Thoughts are reflected through the use of language rather than language controlling thoughts

Question 7

Wilhelm von Humboldt and Franz Boas

Answer 7

Supported linguistic reflectionalism and suggested that language represents the spirit of the nation

Question 8

Steven Pinker- Treadmill 2003

Answer 8

Explains how words that are used to replace offensive terms over time become offensive
- Pinker’s euphemism of a treadmill serves as a prediction of possible offensive terms in the future