Pejorative
A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something.[1] It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a term is regarded as pejorative in some social or ethnic groups but not in others or may be originally pejorative but later adopt a non-pejorative sense (or vice versa) in some or all contexts.
Etymology
The word pejorative is derived from a Late Latin past participle stem of peiorare, meaning "to make worse", from peior "worse".[2]
Pejoration and melioration
In historical linguistics, the process of an inoffensive word becoming pejorative is a form of semantic drift known as pejoration. An example of pejoration is the shift in meaning of the word silly from meaning that a person was happy and fortunate to meaning that they are foolish and unsophisticated.[3] The process of pejoration can repeat itself around a single concept, leaping from word to word in a phenomenon known as the euphemism treadmill, for example as in the successive pejoration of the terms bog-house, privy-house, latrine, water closet, toilet, bathroom, and restroom (US English).[4][5]
See also
References
- ↑ "Pejorative". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on Mar 21, 2016. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
- ↑ "Pejorative (adj.)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- ↑ Horobin, Simon (March 31, 2021). "Five words that don't mean what you think they do". The Conversation. Archived from the original on April 5, 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
- ↑ Stollznow, Karen (2020-08-11). "Ableist Language and the Euphemism Treadmill". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ Bell, Vicars Walker (1953). On Learning the English Tongue. Faber & Faber. p. 19.
The Honest Jakes or Privy has graduated via Offices to the final horror of Toilet.
Further reading
- Croom, Adam M. (2011). "Slurs". Language Sciences. 33 (3): 343–358. doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2010.11.005.
- Croom, Adam M. (2014). "Remarks on 'The Semantics of Racial Slurs'". Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations. Vol. 13, no. 1. pp. 11–32.
- Croom, Adam M. (January 2014). "The Semantics of Slurs: A Refutation of Pure Expressivism". Language Sciences. 41, Part B: 227–242. doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2013.07.003.
- Henderson, Anita (Spring 2003). "What's in a Slur?". American Speech. Vol. 78, no. 1. Project MUSE. pp. 52–74.
External links
- File:Commons-logo.svg Media related to Pejoratives at Wikimedia Commons
- "Pejorative Language". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
