Grammar “Wars”
The conflict, which lies at the heart of the so-called “Usage Wars,” is the epic battle between the “Descriptivists” and the “Prescriptivists.”
To a Descriptivist, there are no such things as correct or incorrect when it comes to how native speakers use their language. They claim that “there is only the multi-faceted spectrum of human communication and the myriad ways in which people convey meaning to one another.” Descriptivists note that “language, like etiquette or fashion, is largely a function of class. In other words, a society’s official rules of grammar and lexicon reflect the attitudes of whoever happens to be in power.“
The Prescriptivists, as its name suggests, prescribe* what it is permissible to say or write. Prescriptive grammarians assume that there is a model of correct English and their rules preclude the use of other (e.g. regional) forms. The rules of prescriptive grammars tend to proscribe* (forbid, condemn) incorrect forms.
In other words, prescriptive grammarians would describe a word or structure as correct or incorrect. Descriptive grammarians make no such value judgments.
The goal of descriptive grammarians is to account for as much of the language variety as possible, while prescriptive grammarians concentrate on areas of the language which are in some way contentious and where a ruling of what is correct or incorrect is necessary.
* be mindful of the meaning of the words: prescribe and proscribe
Who is right? Why?
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