As you move through your study of English Language, you're likely to come across the terms 'descriptivism' and 'prescriptivism'. In this article, we'll be exploring the meaning of prescriptivism, or the prescriptivist attitude.
Fig. 1 - Prescriptivism and
descriptivism are antithetical approaches to the same topic.
What is the definition of prescriptivism?
Linguistic prescriptivism refers to the belief that a particular form of language is superior to another and should be treated as such. It imposes rules on the use of language, asserting the 'correctness' of certain words, phrases, grammar, and the 'incorrectness' of others.
Standard English (or standard versions of other languages) tends to be the preferred language variety amongst prescriptivist institutions.
Fun fact: Prescriptivism prescribes how language should be used.
What is the meaning of prescriptivism?
To build upon the definition of prescriptivism in the above section, we'll now look at some features of prescriptivism to give prescriptivism more meaning:
Prescriptivism |
Concerned with establishing a correct/ incorrect use of language and with following rules. |
Enforces adherence to language rules. |
Most frequently applied in education, publishing, style guides, 'professional' environments. |
Only focuses on enforcing the standard form of language. |
Those who practise and promote prescriptivism are referred to as having a prescriptivist attitude, or referred to simply as prescriptivists. Prescriptivists focus on how language should be used rather than on how it is used.
In England, a linguistic prescriptivist promotes Standard English and (possibly) Received Pronunciation (the accent associated with the English home counties). This is the 'standard' form of English.
Prescriptivism is the opposite of descriptivism. Descriptivism is a non-judgmental, evidence-based approach to analysing language use.
Linguists with a prescriptivist attitude focus on enforcing the pre-established grammar rules.
Linguists with a descriptivist attitude focus on analysing language as it is used in everyday communication.
Fig. 2 - The prescriptivist approach is quite strict.
Prescriptivism examples
There are many different examples of prescriptivism you have come across in your day to day.
| Example | Prescriptivism Meaning Explanation |
| 'My friend and me went swimming.' | Prescriptivists would demand the use of 'my friend and I met for coffee' rather than 'my friend and me went swimming', citing the grammatical incorrectness of the latter despite its frequent use. |
| 'Fewer than' vs 'Less than' | A prescriptivist might compare the grammatical rules and conventions of both phrases to see which is appropriate to use. |
| 'I didn't see nothing!' | The condemnation of double negatives is another example of a prescriptivist attitude. |
Linguistic prescriptivism use
Prescriptivism is typically used in fields where standard practice is maintained across the country. Here are some examples:
In each of these fields, there is a need for 'correct' language.
The English Language and prescriptivism
When looking at prescriptivism in the context of the English language, it's important to think about the pros and cons of this approach to language. We'll discuss these benefits and shortfalls now:
Benefits of prescriptivism
Wherever there is a need to enforce grammatical or linguistic regulations, a prescriptivist approach is preferable to a descriptivist approach.
Prescriptivism establishes a standard of language that is consistent:
Prescriptivism can be seen as a necessary feature of education, publishing and other fields that require standard English.
This can be useful for education in particular, as students need to be taught the same curriculum across the country in order to sit the same exams and acquire the same qualifications.
Is useful for those learning a language for the first time.
Those hoping to learn a language like English can benefit from understanding how language is used in daily life (descriptive approach) and how language should be used depending on the situation (prescriptivist approach).
Prescriptivism might be the preferred approach as this new learner would need to be aware of the rules of the language they are learning.
Problems with prescriptivism
Prescriptivism is not sociological:
The belief that language is either right or wrong stigmatises the varieties of language used within communities and limits the understanding of, or even an interest in understanding, certain uses of English (in our case).
Prescriptivists see language as right or wrong and rarely consider the contexts in which languages arise and evolve. A prescriptive approach can in some cases be used to debase other, legitimate but non-standard, forms of English. This can lead to negative associations.
Prescriptivism is neutral, but may give rise to prejudices. For instance, AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) is viewed as the language of the 'ghetto', or the dialects of the North of England are viewed as 'lower class'.
Can be superficial in its application:
Prescriptivists often hyper-fixate on established grammatical rules to critique the use of language, rather than attempting to understand the intended message in context. As an approach, it fails to study the (essential) role of language as a social phenomenon.
Offers a less accurate assessment of language use across the world than the descriptivist approach:
This is because descriptivism focuses on studying language, varieties, and dialects used in daily life, while prescriptivism focuses on enforcing linguistic correctness.
Fig. 3 - Prescriptivism might be helpful when it comes to teaching, but it is limiting when considering global language use.
Prescriptivism - Key takeaways
Linguistic prescriptivism refers to the belief that a particular form of language is superior to another and should be treated as such. It imposes rules on the use of language, establishing the 'correctness' of certain words, phrases, grammar and the 'incorrectness' of others.
Those who practise and promote prescriptivism are referred to as having a prescriptivist attitude, or referred to simply as prescriptivists. Prescriptivists focus on how language should be used.
Prescriptivism is most frequently applied in education, publishing, style guides, 'professional' environments.
The benefits of prescriptivism are that it establishes a standard practice in these fields that is consistent, and it is useful for those learning a language for the first time.
The problems with prescriptivism are that it rarely considers the contexts in which languages arise and evolve, can be superficial in its application, and is probably a less accurate reflection of language use across the world than the descriptivist approach.
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