To the #linguistics community:

Can you recommend a few good academic journal articles on the history and current state of the prescriptivism v. descriptivism debate in English language usage? 🐦🐦

What is the key semantic difference between “consistent with” and “not inconsistent with” in this example? #linguistics

Below is a url to a Federation of American Scientists paper setting forth a summary of the commonly cited & applied canons of statutory interpretation. For those interested in the tools judges & attorneys use to interpret language, you may enjoy this read. #linguistics

sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/97-...

The word "heresy" comes from the ancient Greek word “hairesis”, meaning a choice, a legal or philosophical or jurisprudential school of thought, a sect, or a party, which was itself derived from the verb “haireō”, which meant to choose or prefer one thing over another. #linguistics

“ejusdem generis.” A canon of construction holding that when a general word or phrase follows a list of specifics, the general word or phrase will be interpreted to include only items of the same class as those listed.

“noscitur a sociis.” A canon of construction holding that the meaning of an unclear word or phrase, esp. one in a list, should be determined by the words immediately surrounding it.

“expressio unius est exclusio alterius.” A canon of construction holding that to express or include one thing implies the exclusion of the other, or of the alternative. • For example, the rule that “each citizen is entitled to vote” implies that noncitizens are not entitled to vote.