Tuesday, 6 October 2015

Steven Pinker - What our language habits reveal

https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_language_and_thought


  • language change:
    • descriptive attitudes - you can't discriminate against words, all language is vital
    • prescriptive attitudes - only one way, standard English is the only thing that should be used
    • descriptivism/prescriptivism
  • language is a window onto human nature:
    • language emerges from human minds interacting with one another
    • visible in unstoppable language changes
      • slang&jargon, historical change, dialect divergence, language formation
  • communication model:
    • sender - message - receiver
  • euphemistic language to talk about topics that are hard to discuss
  • social, historical and cultural context

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