4 ms·

Surely meaning is foremost dictated by context? English does not have a context free grammar. I can say the actual n-word without meaning to enflame or diminis

by lldbg 6y ago

Surely meaning is foremost dictated by context? English does not have a context free grammar. I can say the actual n-word without meaning to enflame or diminish - it is very easy in fact: take a sentence where I would have used the literal n-word, and replace it with the actual n-word.

foldr 6y ago
>English does not have a context free grammar. Pedantic note: the 'context' in context free grammar has no relation to the kind of context you're talking about here. It's a very technical notion.
- DarkWiiPlayer 6y ago
  We're talking about the linguistic concept of grammar, not the mathematical one, which makes a huge difference here.
  - foldr 6y ago
    As a linguist, I can assure you that there is no 'linguistic' concept of a context-free grammar as distinct from the mathematical concept. A language being non-context-free just means that the string language doesn't fall within a certain class. It in fact took quite a while to show conclusively that English was not context-free; it's far from obvious. None of this has anything to do with 'context' in the sense we're talking about here.
kenjackson 6y ago
But the existence of the “n-word” as the less inflammatory alternative always draws into question why you’d use the actual word. In most cases with the example you give, the use of the actual word is probably much more offensive. That said I think there are a few places where the use is acceptable, but it’s not common and those uses almost never get called out anyways (so it is generally understood).
- lldbg 6y ago
  I don't think the word n-word is an alternative to the n-word. Which is kinda the point I made in the original post - a lady of the night is a prostitute is a whore, it's the same thing, the same meaning, if used in the same context. Your last paragraph hints at this but: What someone is really saying when they say the n-word is the word nigger. That's what I understand it as. And, if the n-word is so offensive it mustn't be said at all, in any context, then the word n-word mustn't be used either. For other sorts of words that can be used in a not-so-nice context, usually we deal with this fact by simply saying that it was "insulting language" or "offensive" or that it "bears not being repeated". That's the sensitive way to deal with slurs, I think.

by lldbg 6y ago

foldr 6y ago

>English does not have a context free grammar. Pedantic note: the 'context' in context free grammar has no relation to the kind of context you're talking about here. It's a very technical notion.

DarkWiiPlayer 6y ago
We're talking about the linguistic concept of grammar, not the mathematical one, which makes a huge difference here.
- foldr 6y ago
  As a linguist, I can assure you that there is no 'linguistic' concept of a context-free grammar as distinct from the mathematical concept. A language being non-context-free just means that the string language doesn't fall within a certain class. It in fact took quite a while to show conclusively that English was not context-free; it's far from obvious. None of this has anything to do with 'context' in the sense we're talking about here.

kenjackson 6y ago

But the existence of the “n-word” as the less inflammatory alternative always draws into question why you’d use the actual word. In most cases with the example you give, the use of the actual word is probably much more offensive. That said I think there are a few places where the use is acceptable, but it’s not common and those uses almost never get called out anyways (so it is generally understood).

lldbg 6y ago
I don't think the word n-word is an alternative to the n-word. Which is kinda the point I made in the original post - a lady of the night is a prostitute is a whore, it's the same thing, the same meaning, if used in the same context. Your last paragraph hints at this but: What someone is really saying when they say the n-word is the word nigger. That's what I understand it as. And, if the n-word is so offensive it mustn't be said at all, in any context, then the word n-word mustn't be used either. For other sorts of words that can be used in a not-so-nice context, usually we deal with this fact by simply saying that it was "insulting language" or "offensive" or that it "bears not being repeated". That's the sensitive way to deal with slurs, I think.