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What’s a language, anyway?

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Michele Fauble
Michele Fauble  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:41
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
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Dialects and languages Jan 23, 2016

They are all dialects, and some are also languages.
 
Merab Dekano
Merab Dekano  Identity Verified
Spain
Member (2014)
English to Spanish
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Politics Jan 23, 2016

Some dialects are so apart from their language that you cannot really understand anything. Other languages are so similar to another language that if you speak one of them you can understand the other.

What is a language? Thomas Hampson said if you take vowels and put some consonants in between, the speed you use the consonants will determine the language. That's singer's perspective (I will not bore you with linguist's perspective here).
 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:41
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
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A language exists if their users can afford it Jan 24, 2016

To me, calling a certain way of speaking a "language" is mostly a matter of politics and resources: politics because standardisation of a language requires legal (i.e. approved in some form of parliament/freely elected government) means of discrediting/prohibiting other languages people may speak in a certain region that is the object of nation creation movements; and resources because standardisation and imposition of the new language requires money invested in terminology, regulating authoriti... See more
To me, calling a certain way of speaking a "language" is mostly a matter of politics and resources: politics because standardisation of a language requires legal (i.e. approved in some form of parliament/freely elected government) means of discrediting/prohibiting other languages people may speak in a certain region that is the object of nation creation movements; and resources because standardisation and imposition of the new language requires money invested in terminology, regulating authorities, teacher training, and intense official or officially-funded production of materials in the newly standardised language.

So, all in all, indeed the existence of a "language" requires a navy and an army, even if in figurative terms. ▲ Collapse
 
LilianNekipelov
LilianNekipelov  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 10:41
Russian to English
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A language is a dialect with an army and a navy. Jan 25, 2016

According to one linguist. I think this is correct in its essence. A language is a standardized dialect, in my opinion, often an official language of a state.
All dialects are really languages, from another point of view. i think what is becoming more and more common in terms of usage, are idiolects. Most people speak in idiolects.

[Edited at 2016-01-25 10:11 GMT]
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:41
Member (2008)
Italian to English
If you don't know by now Jan 25, 2016

If you don't know the answer to that question maybe it's time for Chomsky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdUbIlwHRkY
 


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What’s a language, anyway?







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