As you move through your study of English Language, you're likely to come across the terms 'descriptivism' and 'prescriptivism'. In this article, we'll be exploring the meaning of prescriptivism, or the prescriptivist attitude.
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Sign up for freeWhat is the aim of linguistic prescriptivism?
What field is prescriptivism least likely to be used?
Which of these is a shortfall of prescriptivism?:
True or false. Prescriptivism only enforces the standard form of a language.
Which linguistic approach is more likely to support the use of double negatives?
Prescriptivism can lead to negative associations and prejudice. True or false?
One benefit of prescriptivism is that it is consistent. True or false?
According to prescriptivist attitudes, dialects from the North of England may be viewed as:
What is the aim of linguistic prescriptivism?
What field is prescriptivism least likely to be used?
Which of these is a shortfall of prescriptivism?:
True or false. Prescriptivism only enforces the standard form of a language.
Which linguistic approach is more likely to support the use of double negatives?
Prescriptivism can lead to negative associations and prejudice. True or false?
One benefit of prescriptivism is that it is consistent. True or false?
According to prescriptivist attitudes, dialects from the North of England may be viewed as:
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Linguistic prescriptivism refers to the belief that a particular form of language is superior to another and should be treated as such. It imposes rules on the use of language, asserting the 'correctness' of certain words, phrases, grammar, and the 'incorrectness' of others.
Standard English (or standard versions of other languages) tends to be the preferred language variety amongst prescriptivist institutions.
Fun fact: Prescriptivism prescribes how language should be used.
To build upon the definition of prescriptivism in the above section, we'll now look at some features of prescriptivism to give prescriptivism more meaning:
Prescriptivism |
Concerned with establishing a correct/ incorrect use of language and with following rules. |
Enforces adherence to language rules. |
Most frequently applied in education, publishing, style guides, 'professional' environments. |
Only focuses on enforcing the standard form of language. |
Those who practise and promote prescriptivism are referred to as having a prescriptivist attitude, or referred to simply as prescriptivists. Prescriptivists focus on how language should be used rather than on how it is used.
In England, a linguistic prescriptivist promotes Standard English and (possibly) Received Pronunciation (the accent associated with the English home counties). This is the 'standard' form of English.
Prescriptivism is the opposite of descriptivism. Descriptivism is a non-judgmental, evidence-based approach to analysing language use.
Linguists with a prescriptivist attitude focus on enforcing the pre-established grammar rules.
Linguists with a descriptivist attitude focus on analysing language as it is used in everyday communication.
There are many different examples of prescriptivism you have come across in your day to day.
| Example | Prescriptivism Meaning Explanation |
| 'My friend and me went swimming.' | Prescriptivists would demand the use of 'my friend and I met for coffee' rather than 'my friend and me went swimming', citing the grammatical incorrectness of the latter despite its frequent use. |
| 'Fewer than' vs 'Less than' | A prescriptivist might compare the grammatical rules and conventions of both phrases to see which is appropriate to use. |
| 'I didn't see nothing!' | The condemnation of double negatives is another example of a prescriptivist attitude. |
Prescriptivism is typically used in fields where standard practice is maintained across the country. Here are some examples:
Education
Publishing
Style guides
Newspapers, (professional) magazines
In each of these fields, there is a need for 'correct' language.
When looking at prescriptivism in the context of the English language, it's important to think about the pros and cons of this approach to language. We'll discuss these benefits and shortfalls now:
Wherever there is a need to enforce grammatical or linguistic regulations, a prescriptivist approach is preferable to a descriptivist approach.
Prescriptivism establishes a standard of language that is consistent:
Prescriptivism can be seen as a necessary feature of education, publishing and other fields that require standard English.
This can be useful for education in particular, as students need to be taught the same curriculum across the country in order to sit the same exams and acquire the same qualifications.
Is useful for those learning a language for the first time.
Those hoping to learn a language like English can benefit from understanding how language is used in daily life (descriptive approach) and how language should be used depending on the situation (prescriptivist approach).
Prescriptivism might be the preferred approach as this new learner would need to be aware of the rules of the language they are learning.
Prescriptivism is not sociological:
The belief that language is either right or wrong stigmatises the varieties of language used within communities and limits the understanding of, or even an interest in understanding, certain uses of English (in our case).
Prescriptivists see language as right or wrong and rarely consider the contexts in which languages arise and evolve. A prescriptive approach can in some cases be used to debase other, legitimate but non-standard, forms of English. This can lead to negative associations.
Prescriptivism is neutral, but may give rise to prejudices. For instance, AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) is viewed as the language of the 'ghetto', or the dialects of the North of England are viewed as 'lower class'.
Can be superficial in its application:
Prescriptivists often hyper-fixate on established grammatical rules to critique the use of language, rather than attempting to understand the intended message in context. As an approach, it fails to study the (essential) role of language as a social phenomenon.
Offers a less accurate assessment of language use across the world than the descriptivist approach:
This is because descriptivism focuses on studying language, varieties, and dialects used in daily life, while prescriptivism focuses on enforcing linguistic correctness.
Linguistic prescriptivism refers to the belief that a particular form of language is superior to another and should be treated as such. It imposes rules on the use of language, establishing the 'correctness' of certain words, phrases, grammar and the 'incorrectness' of others.
Those who practise and promote prescriptivism are referred to as having a prescriptivist attitude, or referred to simply as prescriptivists. Prescriptivists focus on how language should be used.
Prescriptivism is most frequently applied in education, publishing, style guides, 'professional' environments.
The benefits of prescriptivism are that it establishes a standard practice in these fields that is consistent, and it is useful for those learning a language for the first time.
The problems with prescriptivism are that it rarely considers the contexts in which languages arise and evolve, can be superficial in its application, and is probably a less accurate reflection of language use across the world than the descriptivist approach.
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What is the meaning of prescriptivism?
Linguistic prescriptivism is the belief that a particular form of language is superior to another and should be treated as such.
What is a prescriptive attitude?
A prescriptive attitude is an attitude towards language that believes some varieties of language are superior to others and that there are 'correct' and 'incorrect' ways to use language.
What is the difference between descriptivism and prescriptivism?
Prescriptivism is the belief that a particular form of language is superior to another and should be treated as such. Descriptivism is the analysis of how language is used by its speakers/writers that is a non-judgemental approach to analysing language usage.
How is prescriptivism bad?
The prescriptivist approach to language is not sociologically based and therefore does not value the diversity of language varieties and the significance of these varieties to the communities that use them. Prescriptivism can be used to debase non-standard forms of language which can lead to negative stereotyping and connotations.
How has prescriptivism affected vocabulary?
Prescriptivism believes that slang and colloquialisms are inferior language features and should not be used. This means that in situations where prescriptive attitudes are enforced, the richness and expressiveness of language can be diminished by reducing the vocabulary that is deemed 'appropriate'. Prescriptivism also leads to more standard vocabulary words being more frequently used.
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