{"id":302,"date":"2020-03-25T17:53:13","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T17:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xalient.in\/2d\/?p=302"},"modified":"2020-09-06T16:03:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-06T06:33:09","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-a-language-a-dialect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2dpoint.net\/what-is-the-difference-between-a-language-a-dialect\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the difference between a language & a dialect?"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

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1. Broadly, two criteria define a language and distinguish it from a dialect: political<\/strong> and social<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
2. In the political<\/strong> view, languages are ‘prestigious’, are both spoken & written and should have grammar, vocabulary and syntax (ability of words to come together to create well-formed sentences) to enable it to be used as \u201cofficial\u201d.<\/li>\n
3. Dialects, on the other hand, are only spoken; they are unofficial and thus are not hugely respected.<\/li>\n
4. Because languages are prestigious and dialects are not, no country would want to \u2018devalue\u2019 its language by calling it a dialect of some other language, no matter how close that \u2018language\u2019 is to the language of the neighbouring country.<\/li>\n
5. For example, people of Norway, Sweden & Denmark can comfortably understand each other but none would call their language a dialect of the other.<\/li>\n
6. That is what brings us to the second criterion: understanding, the social<\/strong> aspect of defining a language.<\/li>\n
7. In the social<\/strong>\u00a0view, if two related kinds of speech are so close that the speakers can understand ‘each other’ (without having learnt it as a foreign language), they are dialects of the same language.<\/li>\n
8. \u201cEach Other\u201d is very important e.g. people of Netherlands can understand German pretty well but people of Germany can\u2019t understand Dutch (language of Netherlands), so they are different languages.<\/li>\n
9. Having said that, the social aspect of language has always been very tricky and that is where micro-criteria for language come in.<\/li>\n
10. Micro-criterion 1<\/strong>: It should have vitality; i.e. it should be used extensively both inside and outside homes, by all generations, and for most, if not all topics.<\/li>\n
11. UNESCO\u2019s criteria for vitality can be read here<\/a>.<\/li>\n
12. Micro-crietrion 2<\/strong>: It should have autonomy i.e. it should feel different from other languages, but this criterion can be subjective.<\/li>\n
13. Micro-criterion 3<\/strong>: It should have norms or rules i.e. you should be able to identify good speakers from the bad speakers; this is an offshoot of a language having a grammar, syntax and vocabulary because these define whether someone is a good speaker or a bad speaker of the language.<\/li>\n
14. Micro-criteria can go on and on and that is what makes \u201clanguage Vs. dialect\u201d a grey area, which has also led to many controversies in history.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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