Power Theories and Concepts Flashcards
Key Concepts and Features of Power Theories
What is prescriptivism?
The belief that there is a standard of language and people should follow specific rules
What is descriptivism?
The belief that language change is natural
Name 1 prescriptivist theory
Humphrey’s erosion of formality
Name one descritivist and a concept they came up with
David Crystal’s wardrobe language theory
What is linguistic determinism? Who created it?
The belief that language we use determines our thoughts
Sapir and Whorf
What is linguistic relativity?
The belief that language influences thought
What is linguistic reflectionism?
The belief that thought infleunces language
What is political correctness?
The altering of language to make it less offensive
Name the 6 bases of power
Referent, expert, legitimate, informational, reward, coersive
Who created the 6 bases of power?
French and Raven
Define the 6 bases of power
Referent - trustworthy or attractive
Expert - Knowledge
Legitimate - Knowledge
Informational - Knowledge
Reward - Ability to give a reward
Coersive - Ability to punish or remove a reward
What is semantic derogation?
A word gaining negative connotations overtime
What is face theory?
The belief that everyone has different versions of themselves linguistically that they present in different situations
Who created face theory?
Goffman
Name 2 concepts/theories that Fairclough created
Power behind discourse/power in discourse
Synthetic personalisation
