Transcriptivism: An ethical framework for modern linguistics

Tyler Kibbey

doi:10.3765/plsa.v4i1.4535

Abstract

Descriptivism is a methodologically efficacious framework in the discipline of linguistics. However, it categorically fails to explicitly account for the moral responsibilities of linguists, as moral agents. In so doing, descriptivism has been used as a justification for indifference to instances and systems of linguistic violence, among other moral shortcomings. Specifically, many guidelines for descriptive ethics stipulate that a linguist “do no harm” but do not necessarily require the linguist to prevent harm or mitigate systems of violence. In this paper, I delineate an ethical framework, transcriptivism, which is distinct from research ethics and covers the line of philosophical inquiry related to questions of the moral agency of linguists and their moral responsibility. The potential for this new framework is demonstrated through a case study of conflicting Tennessee language ideologies regarding gender-neutral pronoun usage as well as an analysis of misgendering as an act of linguistic violence.

Highlights

Transcriptivism is a framework within which linguists take moral stances in relation to the object of their research and its academic products
Do linguists have a moral obligation to exercise linguistic expertise on language-related social issues that extend beyond a pure description of how linguistic agents operate? If linguists are moral agents within society and not undertaking an academic exercise in truth-making, it must be said, adamantly and without reservation, that linguistics as a discipline must reconcile the moral responsibility of linguists with its commitment to empirical research
In this paper, I want to explore one area of language usage that descriptivism categorically fails to account for morally and with which I base the foundations of an argument for transcriptivism: Linguistic Violence, by which I mean, instances of language, language usage, or language ideology that enact some form of violence on an individual or group

Summary

Introduction

Transcriptivism is a framework within which linguists take moral stances in relation to the object of their research and its academic products. In this paper, I want to explore one area of language usage that descriptivism categorically fails to account for morally and with which I base the foundations of an argument for transcriptivism: Linguistic Violence, by which I mean, instances of language, language usage, or language ideology that enact some form of violence (e.g. psychological, physical, social, etc.) on an individual or group.

Results

Conclusion