A remarkable aspect of the present-day American linguistic and intellectual scene is the fact that public attitudes about language reflect neither scholarly efforts in the field of linguistics nor the intellectual spirit of the twentieth century in general. Prescriptive, absolutist linguistic attitudes on the part of intelligent, educated people persist against the development of structuralist and transformational linguistic theories and against the historical force of relativism and the scientific ethic of the twentieth century. This disunion between linguistic theory and public attitude, far from being an anomaly, is consistent with the interplay of certain historical, institutional, and sociolinguistic forces: the standardization, autonomy, historicity, and vitality of language. With these forces at work, the absolutist, prescriptive public attitude is a natural result of the linguistic ecology of America. (Author/RL)