The standard language is often viewed and defined through stages in its development. Such stages can, first of all, be described by juxtaposing them to historical developments of societies, as part of a broader history of the society or the language (e.g. Migliorini, 1984 and Chaurand, 1999:11). Another approach of development stages is looking at the standardisation of the language itself (Ferguson, 1968; Haugen, 1966; 1972:252; Leith 1983; Joseph, 1987; Milroy & Milroy, 1987; and Thomas, 1991; Van der Wal and Van Bree, 2008). A more contemporary and synchronic approach to defining standard languages is looking at the general qualities that the language has developed, often including the prototypical speakers to go with these qualities (e.g. Jespersen, 1925; Stewart, 1968:533-539; Finegan, 2007:14; Van der Wal and Van Bree, 1992:369).
Fisher studied the birth and development of standard varieties of French, English, Spanish, and Italian and mentioned the lack of a discussion that points out similarities in this process in various countries and emphasised that such similarities are necessary for a general understanding of the nature of standard languages (1996: 65). It should be obvious that generalising outside this European context is even more problematic. Both the diachronic and synchronic approach to defining the standard language that have appeared suffer from the weakness that they take well-known, mostly western, languages as their point of departure and many of the approach taken so far can safely be qualified Euro-centric. The authors, too, are often from a western society, which leads to approaches of replicating older models and the underlying assumptions regarding the coming to existence of nation states in a European...
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.... This situation and other similar ones suggest that unlike in the Anglo-western countries where everyone is somehow able to speak the standard language or has access to it, somehow, if they want to', non-western countries do not have such a luxury. The standard language could be inaccessible, and therefore intrinsically not standard in non-western multilingual countries.
It is often assumed that the standard language is definitely prestigious and that the other varieties are of a lower status, however, in some situations such as North Africa, the classification of languages according to status is difficult given that the overt status lies not with the formal status (Bassiouney 2014). Bassiouney further explains that Standard Arabic is not necessarily the prestigious variety in Egypt, but instead, the prestigious variety is a specific variety of Cairene Arabic.
The article The Strange Persistence of First Languages by Julie Sedivy was an intriguing and eye-opening piece of writing to read. The concepts she brought to life through her explicit writing revealed many things I had never heard of before. The further I read, the more I wanted to know and the deeper my interest became. As a monolingual, this article was insightful, captivating and ultimately provided me with a new perspective on language.
The Life of Language: Papers in Linguistics in Honor of William Bright. Berlin [etc.]. Mouton De Gruyter, 1998. Print. The.
The desolate and chaotic conditions of the society can have a significant amount of influence on the development on a certain character of a novel. For instance, at the time the novel, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky was written, the conditions of the setting, was very chaotic and was in turmoil. Crime and Punishment took place in Russia, where Russia during the time Crime and Punishment was written was suffering due to economical downfalls and failure of the poor reforms of Tsar Alexander II; ultimately transforming Russia into a poverty-stricken country. The failure of Alexander’s reforms affected much of setting in which Crime and Punishment was written in, which ultimately contributed in character development of Raskolinokov. This is evident through the use of metaphor, which Dostoevsky uses to compare the state of the country to Raskolinkov’s apartment.
William Golding , the author of The Lord of the flies believes that evil resides in all human beings. The Lord of the Flies begins softly but nearing the end everything turns upside down. But would the world be the same way it is today without societal structure and rules? Only through societal structure, rules and order will humans be thought morality/principal and proper behaviour. The Lord of the Flies demonstrates what society would look like/resort to without any rules or guidance for man to follow. Others might believe this is true because of natural evil and actions done by individuals, a comparison through savagery and civilization, and certain truths in the world that are evil.
Crawford, James. “A nation divided by one language.” Guardian.co.uk. 8 Mar 2001. Web. 11 October 2014
English has always been a unofficial preferred language in the United States. Historically it has never been a, “monolinguistic country” (Driscoll 1). Over the years United States has experienced a lot of cultural diversity even though it, "has not appreciated l...
On July 18, 1962, Martin Heidegger delivered a lecture entitled Überlieferte Sprache und Technische Sprache (1) (Traditional Language and Technological Language) in which he argues that the opposition between these languages concerns our very essence. In this paper I examine the nature of this opposition by developing his argument in this particular context and in the general light of his reflections on language.
Mollin, S., 2006. “English as a Lingua Franca: A New Variety in the New Expanding Circle?”, The Nordic Journal of English Studies 5(2), pp. 41-57. Available from
Finegan, Edward,."Language :its structure and use" Edward Finegan, David Blair and Peter Collins. 2nd ed. N.S.W : Harcourt, Brace & Co., c1997
In a sociolinguist perspective “the idea of a spoken standardized language is a hypothetical construct” (Lippi-Green, 2012, pp. 57). They are the form of Britain English and American English that are used in textbooks and on broadcasting. Giles and Coupland observe that “A standard variety is the one that is most often associated with high socioeconomic status, power and media usage in a particular community” (1991, p. 38). Both native speakers and learners of English, where English is taught as a second or foreign language (hereafter ESL/EFL), speak dialect of English in everyday conversation (Kachru, 2006, pp. 10-11; Owens 2012, p.
prevalent within a single dialect, a single national language or a single group of social language. It is one of the most significant “modes in the historical life and evolution of all languages … [and] language and languages change historically primarily by means of hybridization” (Bakhtin, 2011, 358). The conscious hybridization, on the other hand, is an intentional hybrid that is primarily applied as “an artistic device” (Bakhtin, 2011, p. 358). Bakhtin (2011) defines these hybrid constructions
Experiencing those days where people would laugh at other for the broken English; the grammar and pronunciation are the toughest parts of the language. People with English as a second language always stumble upon difficulties; however, the determination of learning a new language do not decrease easily as the motivation is still surrounding one’s mind. Today, English has become an international communication; even the teaching and learning of the language has already spread throughout the world. English is known as one of the most common use language and has been offering classes everywhere for years especially around Asia; additionally, the world common language has now become the number one language uses in every fields of career that is being offer everywhere. Non-American students should be required to take English class as a second language in school
Coming from a Spanish speaking household having to learn a new language can always be difficult. While, I was a child learning a second language was difficult. It was difficult for me to put words to use in the correct way. And use terms that make sense with one another term. It was difficult for me because some Spanish words sound the same as English words, and while learning I wanted to translate everything the way I say it in Spanish to English. For example, in Spanish “helo” means ice, but if you say it out loud it sounds like “yellow”. Little things like that will be a big issue to me. I have to put up with many looks from others and hear all sorts of criticism around me. Learning a new language at a young age was a struggle with reading
The settlement of the British Isles by north Europeans followed by Norman French paints the backdrop to this essay which will focus on the period between the early 15th and 17th centuries, when a 'standard' English evolved. It will show that modern-day English is very different to that first introduced to the British Isles, but by identifying changes through time, its continuity can be demonstrated. Finally, it will suggest that present day English is in a position analogous to that which existed before the Norman invasion, when there were many varieties and dialects, and that this may lead to its decline as a global language, due to decreasing intelligibility.
Speech says Saussure, “has both an individual and social side … always implies both establish system and evolution” (Course in General Linguistics p. 8). All changes in language occur in parole, in the actual speech act. But only some of these changes become institutionalised in langue. Saussure states that langue, should not be confused with human speech, it is a system or structure of speech codes. He argued that linguistic elements are relational, that it is viewpoint that creates the object of linguistic study. Because so much depends on viewpoint, the nature of the linguistic sign is necessarily arbitrary.