Language regulation
A linguistic regulation is an instruction or agreement on how to designate certain things if the language in itself allows various possibilities.
meaning
Language regulations can determine how and when and in what context individual words and explanations are to be used, which words and explanations are to be avoided and which expressions are to be used instead. Language regulations come from the usual procedures in politics and authorities . They are now common in most larger organizations as well. They ensure that statements made by different parts of the organization do not sound contradictory even though they say the same thing or the same thing is meant . They also ensure (if followed) that only what the management of the organization in question wants to convey is said. A language regulation often contains a euphemism .
In the political arena, language regulations primarily serve to anchor a certain point of view of things or conditions in the public consciousness. A term is used like a brand name ; with him you occupy a political issue. Often two or three general language terms are firmly put together, for example:
- Cooperative Comprehensive School
- 35-hour week with full wages
The use as a euphemistic synonym for the declaratory formula compromise (a formula compromise is a lazy compromise because it is not established by consensus ) is also increasingly widespread in the political field .
A well-known example of informal language regulation is the use of the prefixes "atom-" and "core-":
- Proponents have been talking about nuclear power , nuclear power station, etc; since the late 1950s ;
- Opponents used the term " atom -"
Almost everyone interested was familiar with this convention; the choice of words made it immediately clear which side someone was on.
Similarly, some supporters of the political left and many left-wing extremists spoke of " FRG " instead of "Germany" in the 1970s , to signal their political sentiments and to use a limiting term instead of a common but presumptuous one. For all other politically interested people it was downright taboo to use the word "BRD". In the phase of professional bans , it was enough for the bureaucracy to check their attitudes if the respondent spoke of the FRG or West Berlin instead of Berlin or West Berlin.
Examples
- In the GDR , East Berlin had to be referred to in official statements as "Berlin, the capital of the GDR".
- For a long time in the Federal Republic of Germany , official statements were not allowed to speak of the GDR as a state. Instead, “Soviet Occupation Zone” or similar terms were still used.
- Many authorities and other organizations in industrialized countries use gender-neutral spelling for official pronouncements .
- In the language of National Socialism , the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda under Joseph Goebbels stipulated language regulations for many areas within the scope of the conformity in the Nazi state , for example " Kinderlandverschickung " for evacuation from bombed cities, "Special construction" for camp brothel and " Final solution of the Jewish question ”for the arrest, deportation, killing and elimination of Jews under National Socialist rule ( Holocaust ).
- A computer manufacturer specifies that only " plastic " and not "plastic" may be written in manuals for the PCs sold . ("Plastic" has the connotation "cheap and not particularly durable".)
- Because of the rejection of Anglicisms , the following language regulations have become commonplace in the language-conservative scene: World network = Internet; Home page = homepage; Reference = link.
- “ 35-hour week with full wage compensation” is a euphemism because of the term wage compensation , which is associated with justice . It could mean: “Those who work more earn more; those who work less earn less. ”However, what is meant is that working hours should be reduced from 40 to 35 hours and wages should remain the same. This is an increase in hourly wages of around 14.3%.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany , most government agencies avoided the politically charged term of curfew and referred to corresponding measures as "exit restrictions " .
literature
- Dirk Deissler: The Denazified Language Language policy and language regulation during the occupation . Frankfurt: Lang 2006. ISBN 3-63154764-1
- Knut Thielsen: The language policy of the French Revolution and the Catholic Church. Investigations into the relationship between state language regulation and ecclesiastical language use at the end of the French 18th century . Dissertation Tübingen 1987.
- Siegfried Bork: abuse of language. Tendencies of National Socialist language regulation . Bern: Franke 1970.
- Gerd Hecht: Language regulation in the Soviet occupation zone. Technology, requirements and control of the daily press and radio in the Soviet Zone . Dissertation FU Berlin 1961.
See also
- Gendering
- LTI - a philologist's notebook
- Newspeak
- Political correctness ( political correctness , PC )
- Self-censorship
- Spin Doctor
- Voice manipulation
