Descriptivism
The idea of descriptive linguistics is that a language is defined by what people do with it. It's a non-judgmental approach to language that focuses more on how it has chosen to be spoken or written. Scientifically descriptivism is based more on facts, but also thought to be based more on the idea that the language used doesn't entirely matter as long as it can be communicated.
Famous Descriptivists
Two of the most famous descriptivists are Jean Aichison and David Crystal:
David Crystal.
David Crystal has a metaphor about 'swimming against the tide'. This is where he refers to language change as the sea and says that being prescriptivist and going against what is seen as 'normal' and acceptable, which in this case is language change. He says that going against it is like 'swimming against the tide' because it is too strong and you will never win.
Prescriptivism
Prescriptivism is the opposite to descriptivism, it argues the teaching and practice of 'correct' Standard English
The idea of descriptive linguistics is that a language is defined by what people do with it. It's a non-judgmental approach to language that focuses more on how it has chosen to be spoken or written. Scientifically descriptivism is based more on facts, but also thought to be based more on the idea that the language used doesn't entirely matter as long as it can be communicated.
Famous Descriptivists
Two of the most famous descriptivists are Jean Aichison and David Crystal:
David Crystal.
David Crystal has a metaphor about 'swimming against the tide'. This is where he refers to language change as the sea and says that being prescriptivist and going against what is seen as 'normal' and acceptable, which in this case is language change. He says that going against it is like 'swimming against the tide' because it is too strong and you will never win.
Prescriptivism
Prescriptivism is the opposite to descriptivism, it argues the teaching and practice of 'correct' Standard English
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