marker (n.)

A term used in early GENERATIVE LINGUISTICS as part of a (controversial) two-way classification of the SEMANTIC COMPONENTS of LEXICAL ITEMS. Markers are those components of the meaning of a lexical item which are systematic for the language, i.e. the relations into which the item enters are systematic, in that the analysis of other lexical items makes reference to them. For example, [animate] is a marker, as can be seen by SELECTIONAL restrictions on the CO-OCCURRENCE of [+animate] lexical items with [−animate] ones, e.g. *the stone slept. Components of meaning which do not operate in this way are called DISTINGUISHERS.

In SOCIOLINGUISTICS, marker refers to a linguistic VARIABLE which conveys social import, people being aware of the distinction and associating it with groups within the speech community. An example is the contrast between short and long a in British English, in such words as bath. William Labov (b. 1927) distinguishes markers from INDICATORS and STEREOTYPES.