The established, institutionalized set of beliefs about language that dominate education, media, and public discourse—the often-unexamined assumptions that some languages (or dialects) are correct while others are corrupt, that grammar rules are fixed rather than evolving, that standard language is superior, that change is decay, that some ways of speaking are "professional" while others are "slang." Linguistic orthodoxy includes commitments: that there is one correct way to speak and write, that prescriptive grammar reflects natural order, that non-standard dialects are mistakes, that accent indicates intelligence or education, that language should be protected from change. Like all orthodoxies, it provides standards for communication, but it functions as social control—enforcing class and regional hierarchies through language, delegitimizing the speech of marginalized groups, making people ashamed of their native dialects. Linguistic orthodoxy determines what speech is considered "educated," what writing is "correct," and who counts as "articulate" versus "inarticulate."
Example: "She was told she couldn't be a journalist because she spoke with a regional accent—linguistic orthodoxy, where way of speaking is treated as measure of intelligence. The orthodoxy's power is making class prejudice feel like linguistic judgment."
by Dumu The Void March 17, 2026
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