09 Language and dialect

LanguageandDialect1.Language,dialect,idiolect,style2.Standardlanguage,dialectstatus,criteria3.Dialectcontact,dialectlevelingLinguisticabstractionsLinguisticanalysisproceedsinthemannerofothersciencesbymakingabstractions,atdifferentlevels,ofelementshavingthestatusofconstantsandofcategoriesandrulesexpressingtherelationsbetweentheelements.Booknounsubject/objectWhatisalanguage?Amongtheabstractionsthataremadeinlinguistics,oneofthemostimportanthassofarbeenassumedwithoutreceivinganyexamination.Thisisthetermlanguage,inthesenseoftheEnglishlanguage,theFrenchlanguage,etc.Whatisalanguage?Ontheonehand,ineverydayaffairs,onereadilyspeaksoftheEnglishlanguage,etc.withoutconfusionormisunderstanding.Ontheother,itisanempiricallyobviousfactthatnotwoindividualshaveidenticalspeech.Whatisalanguage?Onecanproceedintwoways.Onecanmakehisstatementsgeneralenough,admittingpermissivevariationofstructuresandsystemsinone’sdescriptionandwiderangeofactualexponents,sothattheinherentdiversityofdifferentspeakersisallowedfor.Onecanselectcertainspeakersonlyandrestricthisstatementtothemaloneasfictitiouslyrepresentingthelanguageasawhole.Whatisalanguage?Inpractice,exceptwithlanguagesspokenbyafewpeopleinacompactarea,thesecondprocedureisnormal.Traditionallyandcustomarily,thespeechofeducatedpersonsinthecapitalcityofacountryisselectedasrepresenting‘thelanguage’.GrammarsofEnglishandFrenchandbooksonEnglishorFrenchpronunciation,unlessitisexpresslystatedotherwise,describeeducatedEnglishasspokeninLondonandthesoutheastofthecountryandeducatedParisianFrench.Whatisalanguage?Whateverthepracticalmeritsofthisprocedure,linguisticscienceandlinguistictheorymustbeabletodealwiththeactualdiversityoflinguisticphenomenamoreprecisely.Withinthedomaingenerallyrecognizedas‘onelanguage’,manyclearlyobservabledifferencesofpronunciation,grammarandvocabularyarenothaphazardlymixed,butoccupydifferentregionswithintheterritory,shadingcontinuouslyintooneanotherinalldirections.DialectTocopewiththisstateofaffairs,thelinguistdistinguishesdifferentdialectswithinlanguageareas.Dialectisanabstractionofthesamesortoflanguage;butasitcoversfewerpeople,itenablesonetokeepone’sstatementsclosertotheactualspeechofthespeakers.DialectThenumberofdialectstoberecognizedwithinalanguageisclearlynotfixedinadvance.Itdependsonthefinenessofthescaleonwhichthelinguistisworking.Naturally,thesmallereachdialectistakentobeandthereforethegreaterthenumberofdialectsdistinguished,themorepreciseeachdescriptioncanbe,aseachgeneralizationwillcoverasmallerrangeofdivergence.IdiolectInsuchcircumstances,dialectswillfallintosuccessivelylargergroupsofdialectstotheupperlimitwhichisthelanguageitself.Thelowerlimitofdialectdivisioncomesdowntotheindividualspeaker,andforthelimitingcaseofdialectthetermidiolect(thespeechhabitofasingleperson)hasbeencoined.Language,dialect,idiolectDialect(groups)LanguageIdiolect(wholepopulation)(individuals)StyleEvenhere,however,onehasnotreachedtheendofthepossiblesubdivisionsoflinguisticphenomena.Eachindividual’sspeechhabitsvaryaccordingtothedifferentsituationsheisinandthedifferentrolesheisplayingatanytimeinsociety.Onereadilydistinguishesthedifferenttypesofspeechusedbythesamepersoninintimatefamilycircles,amongstrangersandwithpersonofdifferentsocialpositions,inofficial,professional,andlearneddiscourse,andsoon,thoughwithintermediateborderlinesbetweeneach;andinwriting,thecompositionofafamilyletterisverydifferentfromthatofatechnicalarticle.Thesedifferenceswithinthelinguisticrangeofasinglepersonareoftencalledstyles.ClassdialectsApartfromthegeographicallymarkeddialectdifferences,thereareso-calledverticalorsocialdialectdivisions.Thereisusuallyaconnectionbetweenthetwodimensionsofdialectdivision:educatedspeechtendstobelessdifferentbetweenoneregionandanotherthanthespeechoflesseducatedpeople,presumablybecauseofthegreatermobilityofeducatedpeople.StandardlanguageAdialectenjoyingprestigeasthespeechofeducatedpeopleofthecapitalcityorofsomeothersociallyrespectedgroupisoftendesignatedthestandardlanguage.Theuseandconsequentspreadof‘standardlanguage’outwardsanddownwardsinthesocialscaleisoftenencouragedbyitsofficialbroadcasts,astheapprovedtypesofspeechforschoolinstruction,astheformofthelanguagetobelearnedbyforeigners,andinothersimilarways.StandardlanguageTheterm“capital”maybemoreofaculturalfocusorcenterthanjustthepoliticalcapitalofacountry.Forexample,ParisianFrenchsetsthestandardofeducatedspeechintheFrench-speakingareasofBelgiumandSwitzerlandaswellasofFrance.WithalanguageaswidelyspokenandtaughtasasecondlanguageasEnglishistoday,morethanonestandardmaycometoberecognized,forexampleavarietyofAmericanEnglishintheUSAandinareaspoliticallyandculturallyunderitsinfluence.StandardlanguageThetermstandardlanguagemustnotmislead.Itisapopularassumptiononthepartofthosespeakingthestandarddialect(designatedasthestandardlanguage)thatotherdialects,especiallythosespokenbygroupslackinganysocialprestigeorrecognition,are“incorrect”,“ugly”,“slovenly”andthelike,especiallywithreferencetotheirpronunciation.However,reactionstoothe