[Lexicog] Re: First Lady

[Claire Bowern]

> A more important question is whether such redefinitions of “marriage” (in
> this case “husband”), which I reject from my Christian convictions, will
> ever enter the law (marital law) and the dictionary.

This has come up a lot in the US over the last few years, with laws 
seeking to *define* marriage as between one man and one woman (the 
phrasing is one I'm reproducing from memory, but it's almost always 
framed that way). There was a vote in Texas within the last year that 
wrote this definition of marriage into the Texas constitution. These 
debates have, for the most part, been based on the assumption that the 
legal and lexicographic definitions of marriage are the same, and that 
the issue is simply one of morals (which it isn't, by any means). There 
was a post or two on Language Log (www.languagelog.org) about the 
wording of the legislation and semantics.

Incidentally, I got married in Cambridge, Massachusetts shortly after 
the legislation allowing same sex marriages was passed. Some of the many 
forms we filled out at the council office had "Party A" and "Party B" 
where "husband" and "wife" had been, while at least one had "husband" 
and "wife" crossed out and Party A/B substituted.

Claire


 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:lexicographylist-digest at yahoogroups.com 
    mailto:lexicographylist-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    lexicographylist-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/