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Stollznow, Karen (2017). The language of discrimination. München: Lincom.

Abstract:

This book presents and justifies semantic explications for a field of words pertaining to the language of abuse, hatred and the processes of discrimination. Semantic representations adopt the principles of the NSM approach. The discussion is categorized into four sections, commencing with an examination of the speech act verbs insult, abuse, denigrate, vilify and offend. Then follows an analysis of words that describe the social acts of discrimination, including dehumanize, demonize, marginalize, stigmatize and discriminate. Next is an analysis of words that describe the cognitive elements of discrimination, including stereotype, intolerance, prejudice, xenophobia, racism and sexism. The final section is a treatise on overt and covert discrimination, and discusses perspectives and directions in this area of research.

The data is sourced from naturally occurring examples and corpora, including Collins Word Bank and the British National Corpus. Where applicable, the work engages in a comparative discussion of lexicographical and lexicological methodology. The explications are supported by pragmatic and syntactic evidence, extracted from speech media, corpora and other textual sources. The findings of this research have practical applications for many diverse fields, including law, public policy, education and conflict resolution. This work also endeavours to enhance the contribution of lexical semantics to lexicography.

More information:

The 2017 version is a facsimile edition of the author’s PhD thesis, University of New England (2007). Open access

Rating:

Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners