Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The practice or application of descriptive linguistics, especially in the analysis of grammar.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun linguistics
describing realisticforms , as opposed toprescribing idealisticnorms , of linguistic usage.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (linguistics) a doctrine supporting or promoting descriptive linguistics
- noun (ethics) a doctrine holding that moral statements have a truth value
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Or was someone indicating in a subtle way that descriptivism is replacing prescriptivism in the “On Language” column?
The Volokh Conspiracy » From Language Log to the New York Times Magazine 2010
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Or was someone indicating in a subtle way that descriptivism is replacing prescriptivism in the “On Language” column?
The Volokh Conspiracy » From Language Log to the New York Times Magazine 2010
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One problem that I have with descriptivism is that it gives us no idea as to what extent we should be tolerant of grammatical error.
None is, none are: Grammar according to Clarkson « Motivated Grammar 2009
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The trouble with descriptivism—the idea that the grammarian's job is to describe the language, not to issue judgments about propriety—isn't that it's theoretically unsound.
Grappling Grammarians Barton Swaim 2011
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The trouble with descriptivism is that it's inhuman.
Grappling Grammarians Barton Swaim 2011
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Or has the descriptivism trickled all the way down?
The Volokh Conspiracy » Kobach on Arizona’s Immigration Law 2010
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In other words, descriptivism does literally give us an “idea as to what extent we should be tolerant of grammatical error:” specifically, it says that this extent is limited by the evidence.
None is, none are: Grammar according to Clarkson « Motivated Grammar 2009
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It is not pure descriptivism, or anything that anybody says or writes would be equally acceptable.
None is, none are: Grammar according to Clarkson « Motivated Grammar 2009
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Or has the descriptivism trickled all the way down?
The Volokh Conspiracy » Kobach on Arizona’s Immigration Law 2010
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Or was someone indicating in a subtle way that descriptivism is replacing prescriptivism in the “On Language” column?
The Volokh Conspiracy » From Language Log to the New York Times Magazine 2010
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