Barbarism (linguistics)

A barbarism is a nonstandard word, expression or pronunciation in a language, particularly one regarded as an error in morphology, while a solecism is an error in syntax.[1] The label was originally applied to mixing Ancient Greek or Latin with other languages, but expanded to indicate any inappropriate words or expressions in classical studies and eventually to any language considered unpolished or rude.[2] The term is used mainly for the written language.

With no accepted technical meaning in modern linguistics, the term is little used by contemporary descriptive scientists.[3]

  1. ^ "Livy's Patavinitas," Kurt Latte, Classical Philology, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan., 1940), pp. 56–60
  2. ^ James Murray, ed. (1885). "barbarism, n.". Oxford English Dictionary. London: Clarendon Press.
  3. ^ McArthur, Roshan (2005). R. McArthur & T. McArthur (ed.). Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-280637-6.