A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative 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.
Definition and etymology
The word pejorative is derived from a Late Latin past participle stem of peiorare, meaning "to make worse", from peior "worse".[2]
Melioration
When a term begins as pejorative and eventually is adopted in a non-pejorative sense, this is called "melioration" in historical linguistics. It may also be called amelioration, reclaiming,[3] or semantic change. An example is queer, which was reclaimed by activists and academics starting in the early 1990s.[4]
See also
- Approbative
- Defamation
- Dysphemism
- Fighting words
- Graphic pejoratives in written Chinese
- Insult
- Judgmental language
- List of ethnic slurs
- List of religious slurs
- Profanity
References
- ^ "Pejorative | Define Pejorative at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
- ^ "Pejorative (adj.)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- ^ Brontsema, Robin (2004-06-01). "A Queer Revolution: Reconceptualizing the Debate Over Linguistic Reclamation". Colorado Research in Linguistics. 17 (1). doi:10.25810/dky3-zq57. ISSN 1937-7029.
Linguistic reclamation, also known as linguistic resignification or reappropriation, refers to the appropriation of a pejorative epithet by its target(s).
- ^ "Power grab: reclaiming words can be such a bitch". the Guardian. 2015-10-30. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
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. 13 (1). pp. 11–32.
- Croom, Adam M. (January 2014). "The Semantics of Slurs: A Refutation of Pure Expressivism". Language Sciences. 41, Part B. pp. 227–242. doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2013.07.003.
- Henderson, Anita (Spring 2003). "What's in a Slur?". American Speech. 78 (1). Project MUSE. pp. 52–74.
External links
Media related to Pejoratives at Wikimedia Commons- "Pejorative Language". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
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