American Dialect Society
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox organization The American Dialect Society (ADS), founded in 1889, is a learned society "dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it."<ref name=NYT1985>Template:Cite news</ref> The Society publishes the academic journal American Speech.
Since its foundation, dialectologists in English-speaking North America have affiliated themselves with the American Dialect Society, an association which in its first constitution defined its objective as "the investigation of the spoken English of the United States and Canada" (Constitution, 1890). Over the years, its objective has remained essentially the same, only expanded to encompass "the English language in North America, together with other languages or dialects of other languages influencing it or influenced by it" (Fundamentals, 1991).<ref name=Syl>Template:Cite book</ref>
History
The organization was founded as part of an effort to create a comprehensive American dialect dictionary, a near century-long undertaking that culminated in the publication of the Dictionary of American Regional English.<ref name=NYT1985/> In 1889, when Joseph Wright began editing the English Dialect Dictionary, a group of American philologists founded the American Dialect Society with the ultimate purpose of producing a similar work for the United States.
Members of the Society began to collect material, much of which was published in the Society's journal Dialect Notes, but little was done toward compiling a dictionary recording nationwide usage until Frederic G. Cassidy was appointed Chief Editor in 1963.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The first volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English, covering the letters A-C, was published in 1985.<ref name=NYT1985/> The other major project of the Society is the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada.<ref name=Syl/>
Membership
The Society has never had more than a few hundred active members. With so few scholars advancing the enterprise, the developments in the field came slowly.<ref name=Syl/> Members of the organization include "linguists, lexicographers, etymologists, grammarians, historians, researchers, writers, authors, editors, professors, university students, and independent scholars."<ref name=Word2007>Template:Cite news</ref> Its activities include a mailing list,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which deals chiefly with American English but also carries some discussion of other issues of linguistic interest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Word of the Year
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Since 1991, the American Dialect Society has designated one or more words or terms to be the word of the year. The New York Times stated that the American Dialect Society "probably started" the "word-of-the-year ritual".<ref name=NYT2007 /> However, the "Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache" (GfdS) has announced a word of the year since 1977.
Special votes that they've made:
- Word of the 1990s: web<ref name=2000PR>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Word of the 20th Century: jazz<ref name=2000PR />
- Word of the Past Millennium: she<ref name=2000PR />
- Word of the Decade (2000–2009): Google (verb)<ref name=2009PR>2009 Word of the Year is “tweet”; Word of the Decade is “google” – American Dialect Society. Published 8 January 2010. Retrieved 31 Mar 2019.</ref>
- Word of the Decade (2010–2019): they (singular)<ref name=2019PR>2019 Word of the Year is “(My) Pronouns,” Word of the Decade is Singular “They” – American Dialect Society. Published 3 January 2020. Retrieved 28 Mar 2019.</ref>
The society also selects words in other categories that vary from year to year, such as "most original", "most unnecessary", "most outrageous", or "most likely to succeed" (see: Word of the year).
A number of words chosen by the ADS are also on the lists of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
List of Words of the Year
| Year | Word | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | bushlips | (similar to "bullshit" – stemming from President George H. W. Bush's 1988 "Read my lips: no new taxes" promise) | |
| 1991 | mother of all – | (as in Saddam Hussein's foretold "Mother of all battles") | |
| 1992 | Not! | (meaning "just kidding") | |
| 1993 | information superhighway | ||
| 1994 | Tie: cyber and morph | (to change form) | |
| 1995 | Tie: World Wide Web and newt | (as a verb: to make aggressive changes as a newcomer).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 1996 | mom | (as in "soccer mom").<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 1997 | millennium bug | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 1998 | e- | (as in "e-mail").<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 1999 | Y2K | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=2000PR /> | |
| 2000 | chad | (from the 2000 Presidential Election controversy in Florida).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2001 | 9-11, 9/11 or September 11 | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2002 | weapons of mass destruction or WMD | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2003 | metrosexual | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2004 | red/blue/purple states | (from the 2004 presidential election).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2005 | truthiness | popularized on The Colbert Report.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2006 | to be plutoed, to pluto | (demoted or devalued, as happened to the former planet Pluto).<ref name=NYT2007>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2007 | subprime | (an adjective used to describe a risky or less than ideal loan, mortgage, or investment).<ref name=Word2007b>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2008 | bailout | (a rescue by government of a failing corporation)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2009 | tweet | (a short message sent via the Twitter service)<ref name=Word2009>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2010 | app | <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2011 | occupy | (in reference to the Occupy movement)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | |
| 2012 | #hashtag | <ref>“Hashtag” is the 2012 Word of the Year – American Dialect Society. Published 4 January 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013.</ref> | |
| 2013 | because | (introducing a noun, adjective, or other part of speech: "because reasons," "because awesome") <ref>"Because" is the 2013 Word of the Year – American Dialect Society. Published 3 January 2014. Retrieved 6 Jan 2014.</ref> | |
| 2014 | #blacklivesmatter | <ref>2014 Word of the Year is “#blacklivesmatter” – American Dialect Society. Published 9 January 2015.</ref> | |
| 2015 | they | ("gender-neutral singular pronoun for a known person, particularly as a nonbinary identifier")<ref>2015 Word of the Year is singular “they” - American Dialect Society. Published 8 January 2016.</ref> | |
| 2016 | dumpster fire | an exceedingly disastrous or chaotic situation<ref>“Dumpster fire” is 2016 American Dialect Society word of the year - American Dialect Society. Published on 6 January 2017. Retrieved on 26 January 2017.</ref> | |
| 2017 | fake news | defined by the ADS in two ways: "disinformation or falsehoods presented as real news" and "actual news that is claimed to be untrue"<ref>“Fake news” is 2017 American Dialect Society word of the year - American Dialect Society. Published on 5 January 2018. Retrieved on 5 January 2018.</ref> | |
| 2018 | tender-age shelter | ("government-run detention centers that have housed the children of asylum seekers at the U.S./Mexico border") <ref>“Tender-age shelter” is 2018 American Dialect Society word of the year – American Dialect Society. Published 4 January 2019. Retrieved 28 Mar 2019.</ref> | |
| 2019 | (my) pronouns | "Recognized for its use as an introduction for sharing one's set of personal pronouns (as in 'pronouns: she/her')."<ref name=2019PR /> | |
| 2020 | Covid | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2021 | Insurrection | referring to the January 6 United States Capitol attack.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2022 | -ussy | (suffix from pussy)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2023 | enshittification | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2024 | rawdog | "Defined as 'to undertake without usual protection, preparation, or comfort,'" a generalization of the earlier meaning, 'to have sex without a condom'.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
See also
- American English
- Language planning
- Language Report from Oxford University Press
- Lists of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year
- Neologism
- Word formation
References
Further reading
External links
- Template:Official website
- American Dialect Society, information page at Duke University Press
- Publication of the American Dialect Society, archive articles at Duke University Press
- American Dialect Society, information page at American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)
- American Dialect Society, news page at Dictionary Society of North America
- American Dialect Society Collection, at Library of Congress
- American Dialect Society, publications listed with timeline at WorldCat, from participation in the Online Computer Library Center
- Creator: American Dialect Society, at website of Internet Archive