Standard language

A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a language

variety used by a group of people in their public discourse.[1]

Alternatively, varieties

become standard by undergoing a process of standardization, during which it is

organized for description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference

works.[1]

Typically, varieties that become standardized are the local dialects spoken in

the centers of commerce and government, where a need arises for a variety that will

serve more than local needs. A standard language can be either pluricentric[2]

(e.g.

English, German, Serbo-Croatian, French, Portuguese and Spanish)[3]

or monocentric

(e.g. Icelandic, Italian,[4]

Japanese,[5]

and Russian[5]

).[6]

A standard written language is

sometimes termed by the German word Schriftsprache.

Characteristics

The only requirement for a variety to be standard is that it can frequently be used in

public places or public discourse.[1]

The creation of a prescriptive standard language

derives from a desire for national (cultural, political, and social) cohesion with this

considered as requiring an agreed-upon, standardized language variety.[citation needed]

Standard languages commonly feature:

A recognized dictionary (standardized spelling and vocabulary)

A recognized grammar

A standard pronunciation (educated speech)

A linguistic institution defining usage norms; e.g. Académie française or Real

Academia Española

Constitutional (legal) status (frequently as an official language)

Effective public use (court, legislature, schools)

A literary canon

Convenience speaking[7]

Popularity and acceptance in the community[7]

Population[7]

Used in the broad-casting and news media

List of standard languages and regulators

Further information: List of language regulators

Language Standard register Regulator Non-standard

dialects

Arabic

Pluricentric Standard

Arabic

The Quran; several

Arabic language

academies

spoken Arabic

Afrikaans Standard Afrikaans Die Taalkommissie

Afrikaans

dialects

Basque Standard Basque Euskaltzaindia Basque dialects

Dutch Standard Dutch Nederlandse Taalunie Dutch dialects

Danish Rigsdansk Dansk Sprognævn Danish dialects

Catalan

Standard Catalan, Standard

Valencian

Institut d'Estudis

Catalans, Acadèmia

Valenciana de la Llengua

Catalan dialects

Chinese

(Spoken

language

based on

Mandarin)

Standard Chinese

(Spoken: Standard

Mandarin)

National Language

Regulating Committee

(PRC), National

Languages Committee

(ROC/Taiwan), Promote

Mandarin Council

(Singapore)

Varieties of

Chinese,

Mandarin

dialects (Beijing,

Taiwanese,

Singaporean,

Malaysian,

Philippine)

Persian

Pluricentric Standard

Persian (Standard Iranian

Persian (based on Tehrani

dialect), Standard Dari

(Afghan Persian), and

Standard Tajik)

Academy of Persian

Language and Literature

Persian dialects

French

Pluricentric Standard

French (African Standard

French, Belgian Standard

French, Cambodian

Standard French, Canadian

Standard French, Lao

Standard French, French

Standard French, Swiss

Standard French, and

Vietnamese Standard

French (most Standard

French dialects, except

Belgian, Canadian, and

Swiss, are all based on

French Standard French))

Académie française,

Office québécois de la

langue française, Council

for the Development of

French in Louisiana

Varieties of

French

German

Pluricentric Standard

German (Austrian Standard

German, German Standard

German and Swiss

Standard German)

Rat für deutsche

Rechtschreibung

German dialects

Irish An Caighdeán Oifigiúil Foras na Gaeilge

Connacht Irish,

Munster Irish

and Ulster Irish

Italian Standard Italian Accademia della Crusca Regional Italian

Korean

Pluricentric Standard

Korean (South Korean

standard and North Korean

standard

The National Institute of

the Korean Language,

The Language Research

Institute of Social

Science

Korean dialects

Modern

Greek

Standard Modern Greek

official introduction

under Constantine

Varieties of

Modern Greek

Karamanlis in 1976

Hindustani

language

(Hindi and

Urdu)

Pluricentric Standard

Hindustani (Hindi Standard

Hindustani and Urdu

Standard Hindustani)

Central Hindi

Directorate, National

Language Authority of

Pakistan

Hindi language

belt

Macedonian Standard Macedonian

Institute for Macedonian

language "Krste

Misirkov"

Macedonian

dialects

Malay

Pluricentric Standard Malay

(as a national language in

Malaysia, Brunei and

Singapore; as a regional

language in Indonesia),

Malaysian language, and

Indonesian language

(Bahasa Indonesia yang

Baik dan Benar)

Dewan Bahasa dan

Pustaka (for the Malay

language in Malaysia

and Brunei), Badan

Pengembangan dan

Pembinaan Bahasa (for

the Indonesian

language), Majlis Bahasa

Brunei–Indonesia–

Malaysia

Malayan

languages

Norwegian Nynorsk, Bokmål Språkrådet

Norwegian

dialects

Polish Standard Polish Polish Language Council Polish dialects

Portuguese

Pluricentric Standard

Portuguese (Brazilian

Standard Portuguese and

European Standard

Portuguese)

Academia das Ciências

de Lisboa, Classe de

Letras, Academia

Brasileira de Letras

Portuguese

dialects

Serbo-

Croatian

Pluricentric Standard

Serbo-Croatian (Bosnian

Standard Serbo-Croatian,

Croatian Standard Serbo-

Croatian, Montenegrin

Standard Serbo-Croatian,

and Serbian Standard

Serbo-Croatian)

University of Sarajevo,

Zagreb, Podgorica, and

Belgrade; Matica

hrvatska and Matica

srpska

South Serbian

dialects

(Torlakian) and

West Croatian

dialects

(Kajkavian and

Čakavian)

Slovenian Standard Slovenian

Slovene Academy of

Sciences and Arts

Slovene dialects,

Prekmurje

Slovene, Resian

dialect

Somali Standard Somali

Regional Somali

Language Academy

Somali

languages

Spanish

Pluricentric Standard

Spanish (Pluricentric

American Standard

Spanish, Canarian Standard

Spanish, and European

Standard Spanish)

Real Academia

Española, Association of

Spanish Language

Academies

Spanish dialects

and varieties

Swahili Standard Swahili based on the Inter-Territorial Mombasa

the Kiunguja dialect

(Zanzibar)

Language Committee dialect, others

Swedish Standard Swedish

Swedish Language

Council, Svenska

språkbyrån

Swedish dialects

Arabic

Arabic comprises many varieties (some of which are mutually unintelligible) which

are considered a single language because the standardized register of Arabic, called

Literary Arabic (or, misleadingly, Modern Standard Arabic), is generally intelligible

to literate speakers. It is based on simplified Classical Arabic, the language of the

Quran, which dates from the 7th century CE.

Aramaic

The Aramaic language has been diglossic for much of its history, with many different

literary standards serving as the "high" liturgical languages, including Syriac

language, Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, Samaritan

Aramaic language and Mandaic languagelanguage, while the vernacular Neo-Aramaic

languages serve as the vernacular language spoken by the common people like

Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Bohtan Neo-Aramaic, Chaldean

Neo-Aramaic, Hértevin language, Koy Sanjaq Syriac language, Senaya language),

Western Neo-Aramaic, Northeastern Neo-Aramaic, Central Neo-Aramaic (Mlahsô

language, Turoyo language), Neo-Mandaic, Hulaulá language, Lishana Deni,

Lishanid Noshan, Lishán Didán, Betanure Jewish Neo-Aramaic, and Barzani Jewish

Neo-Aramaic.

Armenian

The Armenian language has Classical Armenian serving as the "high" literary

standard, and the standardized vernacular Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian

dialects.

Chinese

The Chinese language (漢語) comprises a wide variety of spoken forms, which are

known as fangyan (方言, “regional speech”). The major spoken variants are (i)

Mandarin, (ii) Wu, (iii) Yue, and (iv) Min. These spoken variants are not mutually

intelligible, so referring to them by the English term “dialect” is inaccurate, since this

generally denotes mutual intelligibility.

Standard Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin, and is the official

language of the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and

Republic of Singapore. The spoken standard is called Putonghua (普通话, “common

speech”) in the PRC, Guoyu (國語, “national language”) in Taiwan, and Huayu

(华语, “Chinese language”) in Singapore.

Classical Chinese(文 言文, “literary writing”), based on the vernacular in Qin

Dynasty, previously served as the written standard throughout most of the Chinese

history before being replaced by written vernacular Chinese(白話文, “vernacular

writing”) based on Standard Mandarin, in the 20th century.

The Chinese language also enjoys official status in Hong Kong (together with

English) and in Macau (together with Portuguese). Although the written standard is

widely understood and used almost exclusively on formal and semi-formal occasions

(e.g. government documents, books) while the spoken standard is often taught at

school, Standard Mandarin is not widely employed in these territories. In daily life,

the majority of the population speaks, Yue (typically the de facto standard variant,

Cantonese), and often writes it on casual occasions (e.g. text messages,

advertisements). Even when they read out a passage in the written standard, they

would read it with the Cantonese pronunciation of each character, not Mandarin.

English

In British English the standard, known as Standard English (SE), is historically based

on the language of the medieval English court of Chancery.[8]

The late seventeenth

and eighteenth centuries saw the establishment of this standard as the norm of "polite"

society, that is to say of the upper classes.[9]

The spoken standard has come to be seen

as a mark of good education and social prestige.[10]

Although often associated with the

RP accent, SE can be spoken with any accent.[11]

The dialects of American English vary throughout the US, but the General American

accent is the unofficial standard language for being considered accentless; it is based

on Midwestern English, distributed within an isogloss area encompassing parts of

Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois, excluding the Chicago area.[citation needed]

Filipino

Filipino is the standardised form of the Manila dialect of Tagalog, and is an official

language of the Philippines. Most regions of the Philippines have a different

Philippine language as their first language, but all Filipinos learn Tagalog in school.

Tagalog is thus used as the lingua franca. National television is almost exclusively in

Tagalog. National printed media are sometimes in Tagalog but more often in English.

Finnish

The basic structure and words of standard Finnish (yleiskieli) are mostly based upon

the dialects of Western Finland, because Mikael Agricola, who codified the written

language in the sixteenth century, was from Turku, the regional centre of the time.

Finnish was developed to integrate all of the nation’s dialects, and so yield a logical

language for proper written communication. One aim was national unification, in

accordance to the nationalistic principle; the second aim was linguistic regularity and

consistency, even if contradicting general colloquial usage, e.g. in Standard Finnish,

ruoka becomes ruoan, and the pronunciation is ruuan.

French

Parisian French is the standard in French literature.

Georgian

The Georgian language has a literary liturgical form, the Old Georgian language,

while the vernacular spoken varities are the Georgian dialects and other related

Kartvelian languages like Svan language, Mingrelian language, and Laz language.

German

Standard German was developed over several centuries, during which time writers

tried to write in a way intelligible to the greatest number of readers and speakers, thus,

until about 1800, Standard German was mostly a written language. In that time,

northern Germany spoke Low German dialects much different from Standard

German. Later, the Northern pronunciation of written German became considered as

the universal standard; in Hanover, because of that adoption, the local dialect

disappeared.

Greek

The Standard form of Modern Greek is based on the Southern dialects; these dialects

are spoken mainly in the Peloponnese, the Ionian Islands, Attica, Crete and the

Cyclades.[12]

However the Northerners call this dialect, and the Standard form,

'Atheneika' which means 'the Athens dialect'. This form is also official in Cyprus,

where people speak a South-Eastern dialect (dialects spoken in the Dodecanese and

Cyprus), Cypriot Greek.

Hindi

Two standardized registers of the Hindustani language have legal status India:

Standard Hindi (one of 23 co-official national languages) and Urdu (Pakistan’s

official tongue), resultantly, Hindustani often called “Hindi-Urdu”.[13]

Irish

An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official Standard"), often shortened to An Caighdeán,

is official standard of the Irish language. It is taught in most schools in Ireland, though

with strong influences from local dialects. It was first published by the translators in

Dáil Éireann in the 1950s.[14]

As of September 2013,[15]

the first major revision of the

Caighdeán Oifigiúil is available, both online[16]

and in print.[17]

Among the changes to

be found in the revised version are, for example, various attempts to bring the

recommendations of the Caighdeán closer to the spoken dialect of Gaeltacht

speakers,[18]

including allowing further use of the nominative case where the genitive

would historically have been found.[19]

Italian

Standard Italian derives from Tuscan, specifically from its Florentine variety: the

Florentine influence upon early Italian literature established that dialect as base for the

standard language of Italy. In particular Italian became the language of culture for all

the people of Italy, thanks to the prestige of the masterpieces of Dante Alighieri,

Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco

Guicciardini. It would later become the official language of all the Italian states, and

after the Italian unification it became the national language of the Kingdom of

Italy.[20]

Modern Standard Italian's lexicon has been deeply influenced by almost all

regional languages of Italy while its received pronunciation (known as Pronuncia

Fiorentina Emendata, Amended Florentine Pronunciation) is based on the accent of

Romanesco (Rome's dialect); these are the reasons why Standard Italian can't be

considered identical to Tuscan.[21]

Latin

Classical Latin was the literary standard dialect of Latin spoken by higher

socioeconomic classes, as opposed to the Vulgar Latin which is the generic term of

the colloquial sociolects of Latin spoken across the Roman Empire by uneducated and

less-educated classes. The Latin brought by Roman soldiers to Gaul, Iberia, or Dacia

was not identical to the Latin of Cicero, and differed from it in vocabulary, syntax,

and grammar.[22]

Some literary works with low-register language from the Classical

Latin period give a glimpse into the world of early Vulgar Latin. The works of Plautus

and Terence, being comedies with many characters who were slaves, preserve some

early basilectal Latin features, as does the recorded speech of the freedmen in the

Cena Trimalchionis by Petronius Arbiter. At the third Council of Tours in 813, priests

were ordered to preach in the vernacular language — either in the rustica lingua

romanica (Vulgar Latin), or in the Germanic vernaculars — since the common people

could no longer understand formal Latin. Catholic Church continued to use Latin at

present, and the name of the form of Latin is named Ecclesiastical Latin which is

regarded a modernized standard dialect of Latin based on simplified Classical Latin

with some lexical variations, a simplified syntax in some cases, and, commonly, an

Italianized pronunciation.

Language distribution: The official form of written Norwegian by municipality in

Norway. Red: Bokmål. Blue: New Norwegian. Grey: Neutral (neither form is

official, usually because of a fairly even number of users or lack of political decisions

over the matter).

Malay

The Malay language exists in a Classical variety, and modern standard variety and

several vernacular dialects.

Manchu

Standard Manchu was based on the language spoken by the Jianzhou Jurchens during

Nurhaci's time, while other unwritten Manchu dialects such as that of Aigun and

Sanjiazi were also spoken in addition to the related Xibe language.

Mongolian

Classical Mongolian language was the high register used for religious and official

purposes while the various Mongolian dialects serve as the low reigster, like Khalkha

Mongolian, Chakhar Mongolian, Khorchin Mongolian, Kharchin Mongolian, Baarin

Mongolian, Ordos Mongolian, and the Buryat language. The Tibetan Buddhist canon

was translated into Classical Mongolian. The Oirat Mongols who spoke the Oirat

Mongol language and dialects like Kalmyk language or Torgut Oirat used a separate

standard written with the Clear script.

The Mongolian language, based on Khalkha Mongolian, now serves as the high

register in Mongolia itself while in Inner Mongolia a standard Mongolian based on

Chakhar Mongolian serves as the high register for all Mongols in China. The Buryat

language has been turned into a standard literary form itself in Russia.

Norwegian

In Norwegian there are two parallel standard languages: (i) Bokmål (partly derived

from the local pronunciation of Danish, when Denmark ruled Norway), (ii) Nynorsk

(comparatively derived from Norwegian dialects).

Portuguese

Portuguese has two official written standards, (i) Brazilian Portuguese (used chiefly in

Brazil) and (ii) European Portuguese (used in Portugal and Angola, Cape Verde, East

Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe). The

written standards slightly differ in spelling and vocabulary, and are legally regulated.

Unlike the written language, however, there is no spoken-Portuguese official

standard, but the European Portuguese reference pronunciation is the educated speech

of Lisbon.

In Brazil, actors and journalists usually adopt an unofficial, but de facto, spoken

standard Portuguese, originally derived from the middle-class dialect of Rio de

Janeiro, but that now encompasses educated urban pronunciations from the different

speech communities in the southeast. In that standard, <s> represents the phoneme /s/

when it appears at the end of a syllable (whereas in Rio de Janeiro this represents /ʃ/)

the rhotic consonant spelled <r> is pronounced [h] in the same situation (whereas in

São Paulo this is usually an alveolar flap or trill). European and African dialects have

differing realizations of /ʁ/ than Brazilian dialects, with the former using [ʁ] and [r]

and the latter using [x], [h], or [χ].[23]

Between vowels, <r> represents /ɾ/ for most

dialects.

Serbo-Croatian

Four standard variants of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian are spoken in Serbia,

Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.[24]

They all have the same dialect

basis (Štokavian).[13][25]

These variants do differ slightly, as is the case with other

pluricentric languages.[13][26]

The differences between the variants do not hinder

mutual intelligibility and do not undermine the integrity of the system as a

whole.[27][28][29]

Compared to the differences between the variants of English, German,

French, Spanish, or Portuguese, the distinctions between the variants of Serbo-

Croatian are less significant.[30]

Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and

Montenegro in their constitution have all named the language differently.[31]

Somali

In Somalia, Northern Somali (or North-Central Somali) forms the basis for Standard

Somali,[32]

particularly the Mudug dialect of the northern Darod clan. Northern

Central Somali has frequently been used by famous Somali poets as well as the

political elite, and thus has the most prestige among other Somali dialects.[33]

Spanish

In Spain, Standard Spanish is based partly upon the speech of educated speakers from

Madrid, but mainly upon the literary language. In Argentina and Uruguay the Spanish

standard is based on the local dialects of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. This is

known as Rioplatense Spanish (“River Plate Spanish”), distinguishable, from other

standard Spanish dialects, by the greater use of the voseo. Like Rioplatense Spanish,

all Standard Spanish dialects in all Latin America, United States, and Canary Islands

are related to Andalusian Spanish. In Colombia, the dialect of Bogotá ("Rolo") is

valued across Latin America for its clear pronunciation.[34]

Tibetan

Classical Tibetan was the high register used universally by all Tibetans while the

various mutually unintelligible Tibetic languages serve as the low register vernacular,

like Central Tibetan language in Ü-Tsang (Tibet proper), Khams Tibetan in Kham,

Amdo Tibetan in Amdo, Ladakhi language in Ladakh, and Dzongkha in Bhutan.

Classical Tibetan was used for official and religious purposes, such as in Tibetan

Buddhist religious texts like the Tibetan Buddhist canon and taught and learned in

monasteries and schools in Tibetan Buddhist regions.

Now Standard Tibetan, based on the Lhasa dialect, serves as the high register in

China. In Bhutan, the Tibetan Dzongkha language has been standarized and replaced

Classical Tibetan for official purposes and education, in Ladakh, the standard official

language learned are now the unrelated languages Hindi-Urdu and English, and in

Baltistan, the Tibetan Balti language serves as the low register while the unrelated

Urdu language is the official language.

Uzbek and Uyghur

The Turkic Chagatai language served as the high register literary standard for Central

Asian Turkic peoples, while the vernacular low register languages were the Uzbek

language and Eastern Turki (Modern Uyghur). The Soviet Union abolished Chagatai

as the literary standard and had the Uzbek language standarized as a literary language,

and the Taranchi dialect of Ili was chosen as the literary standard for Modern Uyghur,

while other dialects like the Kashgar and Turpan dialects continue to be spoken.

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Processes of Standardisation

Standardisation is generally thought of as a process that involves four stages. We need not

think of them as being chronological. Indeed, the process of standardisation is an on-going

one, and a whole range of forces are at work.

Selection

Variability is a fact of life for almost all languages. There are different regional dialects, class

dialects, situational varieties. Standardisation represents an attempt to curtail, minimise if

not eliminate this high degree of variability. The easiest solution seems to be to pick

(although not arbitrarily) one of these varieties to be elevated to the status of the standard.

Acceptance

The ‘acceptance’ by the community of the norms of the variety selected over those of rival

varieties, through the promotion, spread, establishment and enforcement of the norms. This

is done through institutions, agencies, authorities such as schools, ministries, the media,

cultural establishments, etc. In fact, the standard language comes to be regarded not just as

the best form of the language, but as the language itself (eg consider the claim that

Mandarin is Chinese in Singapore). The other varieties are then dialects, which tend

implicitly to get stigmatised as lesser forms, associated with the not too highly regarded

people, who are seen as less educated, slovenly, uncouth, etc.

Elaboration

For the variety selected to represent the desired norms, it must be able to discharge a whole

range of functions that it may be called upon to discharge, including abstract, intellectual

functions. Where it lacks resources to do so, these are developed. Thus a standard language

is often characterised as possessing ‘maximal variation in function, minimal variation in

form’.

Codification

The norms and rules of grammar, use, etc. Which govern the variety selected have to be

formulated, and set down definitively in grammars, dictionaries, spellers, manuals of style,

texts, etc.

Haugen (1972) summarised this in the form of a table.

Form Function

Society Selection Acceptance Language Codification Elaboration

Table 1 (from Haugen 1972: 110)

Haugen, E. (1972), ‘Dialect, language, nation’, in J. B. Pride and Janet Holmes (eds),

Sociolinguistics (Harmondsworth: Penguin), pp.97–111. (Originally published in

American Anthropologist 68 (1966): 922–935.)