Alternate (pronounced awl-ter-neyt, or al-ter-neyt (adjective) or awl-ter-nit (noun).
(1) Repeatedly and regularly to interchange with one another in time or place; rotate (usually followed by with).
(2) To change back and forth between conditions, states, actions etc.
(3) To perform or do in succession or one after another.
(4) Being in a constant state of succession or rotation; interchanged repeatedly one for another.
(5) Reciprocal; mutual.
(6) Constituting an alternative (a historic sense in English, revived in US use (and not without controversy).
(7) In botany, placed singly at different heights on the axis, on each side in succession, or at definite angular distances from one another, as leaves; opposite to the intervals between other organs (petals alternate with sepals).
(8) In electric current, voltage etc, to reverse direction or sign at regular intervals, usually sinusoidally ((having the shape or characteristics of a sine wave)), the instantaneous value varying continuously.
(9) In mathematics, designating the members in a series, which regularly intervene between the members of another series, as the odd or even numbers of the numerals; every other; every second (eg 2, 4, 6, 8).
1505-1515:
From the Latin alternō (take turns),
from alternus (one after another, by
turns), the construct being alter
(other) + -rnus (a suffix forming
adjective from the earlier -r̥inos from -(o)sinos, from -nus or from some -r- or -s- stem + -nus; metanalysis of this suffix led to its free use). In classical Latin, alternātus was the past participle of alternāre. Derived forms are
the adverbs alternately & alternatingly, the noun alternateness and the
adjective nonalternating.
Alternative (pronounced awl-tur-nuh-tiv, al-tur-nuh-tiv)
(1) A choice limited to one of two or more possibilities, as of things, propositions, or courses of action, the selection of which precludes any other possibility.
(2) One of the things, propositions, or courses of action that can be chosen.
(3) A possible or remaining course or choice.
(4) Affording a choice of two or more things, propositions, or courses of action (of two things, propositions, or courses) mutually exclusive so that if one is chosen the other must be rejected.
(5) Employing or following non-traditional or unconventional ideas, methods etc.; existing outside the establishment.
(6) In logic (of a proposition) asserting two or more choices, at least one of which is true.
1580–1590: The construct was alternat(e) + -ive (an adjective suffix signifying relating or belonging to). The –ive suffix is from the Anglo-Norman -if (feminine -ive), from Latin -ivus. Until the fourteenth century all Middle English loanwords from Anglo-Norman ended in -if (compare actif, natif, sensitif, pensif etc) and, under the influence of literary Neolatin, both languages introduced the form -ive. Those forms not yet replaced were subsequently changed to end in -y (compare hasty, from hastif, jolly, from jolif etc.). Like the Latin suffix -io (genitive -ionis), Latin suffix -ivus is appended to the perfect passive participle to form an adjective of action. Alternative was from the Middle French alternatif, from the Medieval Latin alternātīvus (alternating), from the participle stem of Latin alternō (interchange, alternate). Derived forms are the adverb alternatively, the nouns alternativeness & alternativity, the adjective quasi-alternative and the adverb quasi-alternatively.
Alternative Facts
The phrase “alternative facts” aroused interest when used in 2017 by Donald Trump’s (b 1946; US president 2017-2021) campaign strategist and counselor, Kellyanne Conway (b 1967; senior counselor to the president, 2017-2020). Ms Conway used the words during a Meet the Press interview to describe the use of statistics quoted by Sean Spicer (b 1971; White House Press Secretary & Communications Director, 2017), numbers which, prima facie, seemed dubious. The matter about which Spicer spoke was not a great affair of church or state; it was squabble about which president attracted the greater live audience to his inauguration, Barack Obama (b 1961; US president 2009-2017) in 2009 or Donald Trump in 2017. All available evidence appeared to suggest Obama’s numbers were up to twice those of Trump and if Spicer hadn’t brought it up probably nobody else would have mentioned it but for Trump, who borrowed for his campaign so many of the techniques he’d learned from his career in reality television, viewer numbers were professional life and death.
Ms Conway sought later to clarify “alternative facts” by defining the phrase as "additional facts and alternative information" which, when deconstructed, probably did add a layer of nuance but really didn’t help. Journalists, not a crew always entirely truthful, decided to help and called the phrase "Orwellian", provoking a spike on the search engines as folk sought out "doublethink" and "newspeak"; sales of George Orwell’s (1903–1950) Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) said overnight to have risen several-dozen fold. The relationship between the press and the Trump White House was never likely to be friendly but “alternative facts” meant things started badly almost from day one. Noting journalists rarely seemed to show great energy in pursuing crooked Hillary Clinton’s evasiveness and casual relationship with truthfulness, the administration felt unfairly picked-upon. Journalists thought “alternatives facts” was just too blatant, beyond spin and actually an expression of contempt; they knew politicians were going to lie but the lack of subtlety was just insulting. Both sides made good cases.
Watching with amused detachment were those with as little trust in what was being reported as in those being reported. Some observed that “alternative facts” in political discourse was little different from the arguments offered in court by prosecution and defense; law was a matter for the judge but questions of fact were for the jury and for centuries juries had been choosing between alternative facts. This was not novel and in an era where the conduct of politics was as adversarial as what’s done in any courtroom, nor did it seem difficult. It’s never been certain just who first said “the truth is so precious it deserves an escort of lies” but it sits well with many.
The difference
Sometimes expressed is the view that in the days before linguistic promiscuity overtook the land, "alternate" and "alternative" enjoyed quite distinct meanings. If two things were described as alternate, it meant one came after another in a repetitive pattern; if red switches to black, then red, then black etc, red & black are said to be alternating. If one has the choice between red & black, the two colors are alternatives. If one declines coffee, one might be offered tea as an alternative. Thus alternate is where one comes after another and alternative is where one is the option opposed to the other. That is for many the preferred position but in the sixteenth century the alternative did enjoy the sense pendants insist belongs properly only to alternate so there's history but in English, citing precedents from the sixteenth century to support the revival of some archaic use rarely impresses and the blurring of any distinction is just how the language evolves. In the US alternate & alternative seem now widely accepted as synonyms and while that's perhaps unfortunate, confusion will presumably be rare because the meaning will usually be clear from the context in which the words appear.
The battle may be lost: The international reach of US English means alternate & alternative may in decades to come be universally regarded as synonyms.
Beyond US shores, the process has already begun. Both belong to a class of words which sound similar and have a not-unrelated meaning (like enormous and enormity) and the trend towards interchangeability in use appears usually to favor that which is phonetically preferred so alternate is more often heard. It’s common now in much of the English-speaking world to hear an opposition leader described as the alternate rather than alternative prime minister, something which should be said only when describing alternating premierships such as those of Gladstone and Disraeli. Where alternate & alternative went in the US the world may be destined to follow: the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) definitely blames the Americans but they would say that wouldn't they?
Alternating prime-ministers, each an alternative. William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898; prime-minister 1868–1874, 1880–1885, Feb-July 1886 & 1892–1894) (left) and Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881, later First Earl of Beaconsfield; prime-minister Feb-Dec 1868 & 1874-1880) (right).
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