Standard language


A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a particular dialect of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status. It is said to be the most correct language of a nation. Usually, but not always, based on the tongue of a capital city, a standard language is defined by the selection of certain regional and class markers, and the rejection of others. This is the version of a language that is typically taught to learners of the language as a foreign language, and most texts written in that language follow its spelling and grammar norms. Some of the features that identify a standard language include: The creation of a standard language represents the triumph of a certain variety of linguistic prescription; its selection means that the speech of areas with features that vary from the standard so upheld are devalued or "deprecated." This means that in some countries, the selection of a standard language is a social and political issue. The act of seeking to define a language standard can be an act of nationalism or support of political devolution. In Norwegian, for example, two parallel standard languages exist, one called Bokmål, based partly on the local pronunciation of Danish back when Norway was ruled by Denmark; and a second, called Nynorsk, based on a mixture of dialects from western Norway. While Italian contains dialects that vary from each other even more than the two versions of Norwegian do, there remains a single standard Italian; curiously, standard Italian is not based on the speech of the capital, Rome, but on the speech of Florence. In Spain, Standard Spanish is likewise not based on the speech of Madrid, but on the more northerly province of Valladolid. Standard German is not based on a specific city or region but was developed over a process of several hundred years, in which writers tried to write in a way that was understood in the largest area. Until about 1800 Standard German was almost entirely a written language. In this time, people in northern Germany, who spoke Low German dialects very different from Standard German, learnt it almost like a foreign language. They tried to pronounce it as close to the spelling as possible. Later this spoken form spead southward; in some regions (such as around Hanover) the local dialect completely died out. The basic structure and words in standard Finnish are largely based on Western Finnish. One reason is that Mikael Agricola, who conceived the written language in the 1500's, was from Turku, the capital at the time. However, the language was consciously developed further to become a fusion of dialects and a "logical" language for "proper" written text. One aim was national unification, in accordance to the nationalistic principle. Another was regularity and consistency, even if it goes against the general usage. For example, ruoka becomes ruoan in standard language, when the pronounciation is ruuan. The standard language became a homogenizing force on the dialects, when mobility of the work force increased, creating the language of generic spoken Finnish. Other standard languages present fewer complicating factors. The pre-eminence of Parisian French has reigned largely unchallenged throughout the history of recent French literature. In British English, the standard Received Pronunciation is based on the language of the upper classes in the London area, and is based on the sociolect that comes out of the British private boarding schools. In the United States, there are variations of American English throughout but the Standard Midwestern dialect is considered unofficial because it is perceived as accentless by most Americans. Curiously, English has no official legal status in the United States as a whole; however, the languages that do have official recognition include Spanish and Hawaiian; Spanish is guaranteed equal treatment for legal purposes in the territories acquired by the United States from Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and Hawaiian enjoys similar status in Hawaii

See also

de:Standardsprache es:Lengua estándar hr:Standardni jezik ja:標準語 nl:Standaardtaal Category:Linguistics
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