| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
|
6. Names and Labels: Social, Racial, and Ethnic Terms
|
| § 47. mute |
| Mute as an adjective meaning “incapable of speech” as opposed to “refraining from speaking” is often considered objectionable, primarily for its association with the more clearly offensive deaf-mute. As a noun used of a person who cannot speak, it is even more likely to cause offense. On the other hand, there is no good alternative for mute in this sense, either as an adjective or a noun. A person who has lost the ability to speak due to a pathological condition is best described as aphonic, from the noun aphonia, but this term does not cover a deaf person who is physiologically capable of producing vocal sounds yet who does not or can not speak. For such a person, oral speech is usually both difficult and problematic. In fact, many deaf people today are brought up in a sign-oriented community that rejects the notion that speaking is necessary or, to some, even desirable; they are best referred to simply as deaf, or, if appropriate, Deaf. | 1 |
| More at
deaf. | 2 |
|
|
|
| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
