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. Acadmie franaise or Real
Academia Espaola
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

Arabic

Pluricentric Standard
Arabic

The Quran; several

Arabic language
academies

Afrikaans

Standard Afrikaans

Die Taalkommissie

Basque
Dutch
Danish

Standard Basque
Standard Dutch
Rigsdansk

Euskaltzaindia
Nederlandse Taalunie
Dansk Sprognvn

Non-standard
dialects
spoken Arabic
Afrikaans
dialects
Basque dialects
Dutch dialects
Danish dialects

Catalan

Chinese
(Spoken
language
based on
Mandarin)

Persian

French

German

Irish
Italian

Korean

Modern
Greek

Institut d'Estudis
Standard Catalan, Standard
Catalans, Acadmia
Catalan dialects
Valencian
Valenciana de la Llengua
Varieties of
National Language
Chinese,
Regulating Committee
Mandarin
Standard Chinese
(PRC), National
dialects (Beijing,
(Spoken: Standard
Languages Committee
Taiwanese,
Mandarin)
(ROC/Taiwan), Promote
Singaporean,
Mandarin Council
Malaysian,
(Singapore)
Philippine)
Pluricentric Standard
Persian (Standard Iranian
Persian (based on Tehrani Academy of Persian
Persian dialects
dialect), Standard Dari
Language and Literature
(Afghan Persian), and
Standard Tajik)
Pluricentric Standard
French (African Standard
French, Belgian Standard
French, Cambodian
Standard French, Canadian
Standard French, Lao
Acadmie franaise,
Standard French, French
Office qubcois de la
Varieties of
Standard French, Swiss
langue franaise, Council
French
Standard French, and
for the Development of
Vietnamese Standard
French in Louisiana
French (most Standard
French dialects, except
Belgian, Canadian, and
Swiss, are all based on
French Standard French))
Pluricentric Standard
German (Austrian Standard
Rat fr deutsche
German, German Standard
German dialects
Rechtschreibung
German and Swiss
Standard German)
Connacht Irish,
An Caighden Oifigiil
Foras na Gaeilge
Munster Irish
and Ulster Irish
Standard Italian
Accademia della Crusca Regional Italian
The National Institute of
Pluricentric Standard
the Korean Language,
Korean (South Korean
The Language Research Korean dialects
standard and North Korean
Institute of Social
standard
Science
official introduction
Varieties of
Standard Modern Greek
under Constantine
Modern Greek

Karamanlis in 1976
Hindustani Pluricentric Standard
Central Hindi
language
Hindustani (Hindi Standard Directorate, National
(Hindi and Hindustani and Urdu
Language Authority of
Urdu)
Standard Hindustani)
Pakistan
Institute for Macedonian
Macedonian Standard Macedonian
language "Krste
Misirkov"
Dewan Bahasa dan
Pluricentric Standard Malay
Pustaka (for the Malay
(as a national language in
language in Malaysia
Malaysia, Brunei and
and Brunei), Badan
Singapore; as a regional
Pengembangan dan
Malay
language in Indonesia),
Pembinaan Bahasa (for
Malaysian language, and
the Indonesian
Indonesian language
language), Majlis Bahasa
(Bahasa Indonesia yang
BruneiIndonesia
Baik dan Benar)
Malaysia
Norwegian

Nynorsk, Bokml

Polish

Standard Polish
Pluricentric Standard
Portuguese (Brazilian
Standard Portuguese and
European Standard
Portuguese)
Pluricentric Standard
Serbo-Croatian (Bosnian
Standard Serbo-Croatian,
Croatian Standard SerboCroatian, Montenegrin
Standard Serbo-Croatian,
and Serbian Standard
Serbo-Croatian)

Portuguese

SerboCroatian

Academia das Cincias

de Lisboa, Classe de
Letras, Academia
Brasileira de Letras

Portuguese
dialects

University of Sarajevo,
Zagreb, Podgorica, and
Belgrade; Matica
hrvatska and Matica
srpska

South Serbian
dialects
(Torlakian) and
West Croatian
dialects
(Kajkavian and
akavian)

Standard Slovenian

Somali

Standard Somali

Regional Somali
Language Academy

Swahili

Malayan
languages

Norwegian
dialects
Polish Language Council Polish dialects

Slovenian

Spanish

Macedonian
dialects

Sprkrdet

Slovene Academy of
Sciences and Arts

Pluricentric Standard
Spanish (Pluricentric
American Standard
Spanish, Canarian Standard
Spanish, and European
Standard Spanish)
Standard Swahili based on

Hindi language
belt

Slovene dialects,
Prekmurje
Slovene, Resian
dialect
Somali
languages

Real Academia
Espaola, Association of Spanish dialects
Spanish Language
and varieties
Academies
the Inter-Territorial

Mombasa

the Kiunguja dialect

(Zanzibar)
Swedish

Standard Swedish

Language Committee

dialect, others

Swedish Language
Council, Svenska
sprkbyrn

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, Hrtevin language, Koy Sanjaq Syriac language, Senaya language),
Western Neo-Aramaic, Northeastern Neo-Aramaic, Central Neo-Aramaic (Mlahs
language, Turoyo language), Neo-Mandaic, Hulaul language, Lishana Deni,
Lishanid Noshan, Lishn Didn, 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 () comprises a wide variety of spoken forms, which are
known as fangyan (, 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 (, common
speech) in the PRC, Guoyu (, national language) in Taiwan, and Huayu
(, Chinese language) in Singapore.

Classical Chinese( , 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(, 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 nations 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 (Pakistans
official tongue), resultantly, Hindustani often called Hindi-Urdu.[13]

Irish
An Caighden Oifigiil ("The Official Standard"), often shortened to An Caighden,
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
Dil ireann in the 1950s.[14] As of September 2013,[15] the first major revision of the
Caighden Oifigiil 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 Caighden 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, Niccol 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: Bokml. 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) Bokml (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 So Tom and Prncipe). 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 //)
the rhotic consonant spelled <r> is pronounced [h] in the same situation (whereas in
So Paulo this is usually an alveolar flap or trill). European and African dialects have
differing realizations of // than Brazilian dialects, with the former using [] and [r]
and the latter using [x], [h], or [].[23] Between vowels, <r> represents // 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 (tokavian).[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 SerboCroatian 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 Bogot ("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 -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.

Society
Language

Form
Selection
Codification

Function
Acceptance
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.97111. (Originally published in
American Anthropologist 68 (1966): 922935.)