Can a language become a dialect?
Standard languages arise when a certain dialect begins to be used in written form, normally throughout a broader area than that of the dialect itself. Even a standard language that was originally based on one local dialect changes, however, as elements of other dialects infiltrate into it over the years.
What does it take for a dialect to become a language?
Different languages can be mutually understood between speakers and different dialects of the same language could be completely different. According to many linguists, a dialect becomes a language when it is no longer mutually intelligible between the dialect speakers and speakers of the “original” language.
Why a language might be considered a dialect instead of a language?
A dialect is generally a particular form of a language which is specific to a region or social group and usually has differences in pronunciation, grammar, syntax and vocabulary. It’s still a bit fuzzy to understand because dialects can be spoken by people living in one particular town or by a whole nation.
How long does it take for a dialect to become a language?
If two groups of speakers from the original language were isolated for these lengths of time, the resulting dialects would probably be considered new languages. So the lower limit is probably 500 years and a reasonable limit would be 1000 years for a language to have diverged enough to be mutually incomprehensible.
What separates language and dialect?
Dialect is a specific kind of language spoken by a defined group or region. So you see that language is a broader term, and dialect comes under its shade. Language plays the role of a parent, and different dialects are stemming from it. We can view the difference between dialect and language while writing about it.
How is language a barrier to communication?
Language barriers are the most common communication barriers which cause misunderstandings and misinterpretations between people. Not using the words that other person understands makes the communication ineffective and prevents message from being conveyed.
Can dialects understand each other?
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. The higher the linguistic distance, the lower the mutual intelligibility.
What is the different between dialect and language?
Generally, a language is written as well as spoken, while a dialect is just spoken until it is promoted to the elite status usually for political purposes. When it becomes a national language, it then becomes codified into that nation’s literary tradition and acts as an identifier or national identity.
How is a dialect boundary formed?
A language border or language boundary is the line separating two language areas. If two adjacent languages or dialects are mutually intelligible, no firm border will develop, because the two languages can continually exchange linguistic inventions; this is known as a dialect continuum.
How long does it take for a Creole to develop?
In LA, the basic ‘Child Grammar’ or the basic ‘learner’ Variety in L2 is developed in a period of 1 to 3 years (36 months). The emergence of a stabilized pidgin takes some years, less than for a creole languge to emerge. The development of creole languages spans over some 50 years (3 generations of speakers?).
Can a dialect evolve and eventually become a language?
Historically, when two dialects are in close enough continuous contact with each other, they will often remain mutually intelligible. With enough separation in time and space, though, dialects will eventually turn into separate languages as the two become more and more distinct.
Should schools enforce a standard American English dialect?
When schools enforce a standard American English dialect as the only proper way to speak and write, teachers under utilize the dialect and language skills that students develop in their language communities.
How can dialects be incorporated into the classroom?
There are many ways to incorporate student dialect into the classroom and to better educate them on the role of code and style switching in there daily lives. Students, for example, could be encouraged to produce a small research project on their own dialect.
How does Standard English affect the prestige of different dialects?
However, the use of standard English in the media, schools and government along with upper and middle-class societies, allows dialects that speak language closest to standard English to gain overt prestige over other dialects. Overt prestige is when one dialect gains an advantage over another dialect because it is language of the majority.
What is the dichotomy between American English and English dialects?
The dichotomy between standard American English and nonstandard dialects of English causes a great amount of conflict and difficulties for students of English. Students, like everyone, have intimate connections to the language they speak and write.