politically correct language

• miller and swift


  'handbook of non-sexist writing'

  advocated reforms to improve equality

  -pronoun problem

  -job titles

  -non-parallel treatment (brother and sister)
• pejoration


  process where meaning and connotations of a word get worse over time
• determinism 


  sapir-wharf hypothesis language structures and their semantic distinctions completely determine or limit human thought and perception of the world-

  hopi- no concept of past, present and future

  language shapes thought if we dont have a word for something then we cannot think thoughts about it
• evaluation of determinism


  if languages represent different world views, dyribal into english would be impossible

  bilingualism would be impossible

  linguist have backed away from linguistic habits completely determining a persons world view
• linguistic reflectionism theory


  opposite to LD suggests thoughts are reflected in language, and if we change our language, racist/sexist thoughts still continue

  evaluation- dismissing value of changing language through political correctness
• euphemism treadmill


  stephen pinker-

  words are introduced to replace an offensive word and over time become offensive themselves

  ; 'mental retardation' replaced 'moron' and 'idiot;
• fairclough


  changing language is not enough on its own, we must also change society
• deborah cameron


  calls non-sexist language policies 'lip service' and 'cosmetic change' because they fail to reduce womens oppression alone
• david crystal


  'black' - derogations such as 'coloured' and 'blacky'

  white repolaced with caucasian

  areas of prejudice highlighted with -ist and -ism