Pejorative

A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative connotation, a low opinion, or a
lack of respect toward someone or something.[1] It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard.
Sometimes, a term is regarded as pejorative in some social or ethnic groups but not in others, or may be
originally pejorative but later adopt a non-pejorative sense (or vice versa) in some or all contexts.

Contents
Definition and etymology
Melioration
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Definition and etymology

The word pejorative is derived from a Late Latin past participle stem of peiorare, meaning "to make worse",
from peior "worse".[2]

Melioration
When a term begins as pejorative and eventually is adopted in a non-pejorative sense, this is called
"melioration" in historical linguistics. It may also be called amelioration, reclaiming,[3] or semantic change. An
example is queer, which was reclaimed by activists and academics starting in the early 1990s.[4]

See also
Approbative
Defamation
Dysphemism
Fighting words
Graphic pejoratives in written Chinese
Insult
Judgmental language
List of ethnic slurs
List of religious slurs
Profanity

References
 1. "Pejorative | Define Pejorative at Dictionary.com" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pejora
tive). Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
2. "Pejorative (adj.)" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pejorative). Online Etymology
Dictionary. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
3. Brontsema, Robin (2004-06-01). "A Queer Revolution: Reconceptualizing the Debate Over
Linguistic Reclamation". Colorado Research in Linguistics. 17 (1). doi:10.25810/dky3-zq57 (htt
ps://doi.org/10.25810%2Fdky3-zq57). ISSN 1937-7029 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1937-70
29). "Linguistic reclamation, also known as linguistic resignification or reappropriation, refers to
the appropriation of a pejorative epithet by its target(s)."
4. "Power grab: reclaiming words can be such a bitch" (https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-
your-language/2015/oct/30/power-grab-reclaiming-words-can-be-such-a-bitch). the Guardian.
2015-10-30. Retrieved 2020-06-15.

Further reading
Croom, Adam M. (2011). "Slurs". Language Sciences. 33 (3): 343–358.
doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2010.11.005 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.langsci.2010.11.005).
Croom, Adam M. (2014). "Remarks on 'The Semantics of Racial Slurs' " (http://philpapers.org/re
c/CROROQ). Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations. 13 (1). pp. 11–32.
Croom, Adam M. (January 2014). "The Semantics of Slurs: A Refutation of Pure Expressivism".
Language Sciences. 41, Part B. pp. 227–242. doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2013.07.003 (https://doi.or
g/10.1016%2Fj.langsci.2013.07.003).
Henderson, Anita (Spring 2003). "What's in a Slur?". American Speech. 78 (1). Project MUSE.
pp. 52–74.

External links
Media related to Pejoratives at Wikimedia Commons
"Pejorative Language" (http://www.iep.utm.edu/pejorati). Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

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This page was last edited on 18 February 2021, at 08:51 (UTC).

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