Dictionaries Recognise Same-Sex Marriage
April 7, 2009 by ithinkthereforeib
Language as It Is Changing: An example of how language evolves over time, reflecting changes within society and culture. It is also quite striking that in this case a “date” (a year, which is approximate, but still) can be identified for the change in some dictionaries.
One related aspect you might think about is that some linguistic changes are ‘quick’, whereas others are relatively ’slow’. Usually, for grammatically changes to occur a lengthy period of time (a century, more) is needed, but vocabulary-based changes can even be instantaneous (additions particularly, omissions less so, and ‘extending the meaning’ perhaps falling somewhere in between). Changes in spelling often require official regulation from higher authorities (i.e. the official ‘guardians’ of the language – such as the Real Academia de la Lengua Española – will decide to adjust a language’s orthography but even then are often met with resistance and require younger generations to validate those changes).
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Wow, interesting article. Yea, I remember in our presentation (same-sex marriage) we had problems identifying the definition of marriage and that of same-sex marriage (love the fact that this comes up AFTER our presentation). I think its an “advancement” for our society, that it is finally beginning to incorporate these terms and at the same time accept different ideas/viewpoints (however you would like to call it). Also interesting that the fact that because it is incorporated into the dictionaries some see it as a form of acceptance.
One can see the role of the language w/ the mention of its role in cases such as same-sex marriage. Despite the fact that some judges, such as Justice Antonin Scalia, ignore newer versions, attorneys will now have access to these definitions. They will have something else to relay on.
It definitely reflects a change in society – whether it’s yet acceptance or not is hard to say, but clearly you cannot talk about “marriage” anymore without, in one way or another, bringing up the issue of gay marriage. In other words, the “exclusiveness” of the term has been broken at least on a linguistic level.
I would say many people will not be happy about this definition, but if you consider history this is a matter of time. It’s an issue of Civil Rights. Consider racial segregation 50, 60 years ago and you can only shake your head… and I’m fairly certain we will be doing that in 50, 60 years from now on as well. I’m reminded of this as I watched a film (”The Express”) on my flight back from NY today, which tells the (true) story of a black football player, who at the height of his career, when playing a game in Texas, had to stay in a storage room in a hotel because blacks weren’t allowed in the hotel….