Slurs, Definitions, and the Varieties of Emotive Meaning

This paper investigates the nature of the emotive meaning (or expressive force) of words commonly referred to as “thick” or “emotive,” which include slurs, derogative or pejorative words, and ethical terms. The inclusion of an expressive component in the semantic representation of a slur is assessed by considering the notion of definition and the related inferential tests developed in the dialectical tradition. The failure of such tests shows how the expressive force cannot be accounted for in terms of lexical meaning. Emotive meaning is analyzed by distinguishing the evaluative component from the emotive one, which results from the former. The negative evaluation is explained as a stable but defeasible inference resulting from different types of triggers, which can be classified into three categories: a specific definitional component (often revealed through its etymology), the denotation, or the “expression” level of a word (connotation). In this sense, instead of considering emotive meaning as a unique concept, it is more adequate to refer to distinct emotive meanings, which vary according to their triggers. At the same time, this approach can account for the characteristics of stability, force variability, historical variability, and cancellability in specific contexts of use.