Barbarism (linguistics)
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Barbarism refers to a non-standard pronunciation, word or expression in a language.[1]
For example, the use of the word nucular instead of the word nuclear is a barbarism. The term is little used by linguists today, because of its pejorative tone, and the fact that it not clearly defined.
The word barbarism was originally used by the Greeks for foreign terms used in their language. ("Barbarism" is related to the word "barbarian"; the ideophone "bar-bar-bar" was the Ancient Greek equivalent of modern English "blah-blah-blah", meant to sound like gibberish—hence the negative connotation of both barbarian and barbarism).[2] As such, Anglicisms in other languages, or Gallicisms (such as using the verb to assist to mean to be present at (cf. the French assister)), Germanisms, Hispanisms and so forth in English can also be construed as examples of barbarisms.
Note that a barbarism is an error of morphology, while a solecism is an error of syntax.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Usage note: the term barbarism is contrasted with barbarity as the two terms have different meaning. Barbarism specifically indicates a misuse of language, but also more generally indicates culturally lacking in refinement or distinction. In contrast, barbarity indicates a severity of cruelty or brutality that is generally unacceptable among a civilized people. (See etymology note infra).
- ^ See Barbarism (etymology) The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
- ^ Livy's Patavinitas Kurt Latte Classical Philology, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1940), pp. 56-60
