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Where Does One Language End and the Next Begin?

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Where Does One Language End and the Next Begin? “SORRY, COULD YOU REPEAT THAT, PLEASE?!” – WHERE DOES ONE LANGUAGE END AND THE NEXT BEGIN? Angela Kluge1 2007 CONTENT 1. Introduction 2. Languages and dialects 3. Bilingualism, intelligibility, and bidialectism 3.1. Bilingualism 3.2. Intelligibility 3.3. Bidialectism 4. Intelligibility and affinity 5. Where does one language end and the next begin? 6. Summary 7. References This paper considers the question of why speakers of different dialects belonging to the same language group do not always understand each other, and explores the question of how best to determine whether different speech communities belong to the same language group. In this context three pertinent issues are considered: (1) the notions of language and dialect, (2) the notions of bilingualism, intelligibility, and bidialectism, and (3) the notion of affinity (i.e. feeling of interconnectedness) and how it impacts intelligibility. The discussion of these issues demonstrates that both linguistic and nonlinguistic factors need to be taken into account when considering the boundaries of a language group, namely structural similarity, intelligibility, and affinity, with affinity being the most decisive factor as it impacts intelligibility and may override linguistic considerations. Brown’s (1998) “ethnolinguistic” or “broad standardization” model is presented as a relevant framework for considering the question of where one language ends and the next begins.. This model identifies a language group as a group of structurally related speech varieties that recognize one common variety as their transdialectal standard, or “main dialect” based on the factors of ethnolinguistic identity, intelligibility, and relatedness. The identified main dialect in turn defines the entire language group. In the context of nonstandardized language chain situations, however, it may not be possible to identify a main dialect based on these three factors of ethnolinguistic identity, intelligibility, and relatedness. Instead, the question presents itself, whether for these situations it might be more useful to consider the language identification and standardization process in terms of relatedness, affinity, and exposure time. Given the dynamic nature of language situations and the sociolinguistic changes that the standardization process is most likely to cause, the assessment process regarding which speech varieties accept and understand the main dialect also needs to be dynamic and, furthermore, ongoing. 1 Biblographical details: Kluge, Angela. 2007. “Sorry, could you repeat that, please?!” – Where does one language end and the next begin? Paper presented at the SIL-Indonesia Eastern Indonesia Malay Seminar, Sentani, 3-6 September 2007. Kluge_A_2007_Where does one language end and the next begins.doc p. 1 / 24 1. INTRODUCTION “Sorry, could you repeat that, please?!” – Have you ever had the experience of talking to someone from an area different from your own but where people supposedly speak the same language as you and yet you did not understand what she was saying? “Sorry, could you repeat that again, please?!” A situation like that could easily happen in Germany, when someone from the Rheinland, for example from Köln, travels south and for the first time in her life meets speakers of Schwäbisch from the Schwäbische Alp south of Stuttgart or speakers of Bayrisch from the area around München. And yet, in Germany all Germans supposedly speak German. Similar situations may happen in the Anglophone world when an English speaker, for example from Cumberland in northwestern England, meets an English speaker from the Deep South (e.g. Alabama) in the USA or this English speaker from the Deep South meets an English speaker from the Australian outback (i.e. Australia’s interior region). And yet, in the Anglophone world speakers supposedly speak the same English language. Thus, do Kölsch and Schwäbisch belong to the same language or are they, in fact, two different languages, and are Cumberland English, ‘Deep South’ English, and ‘Outback’ English also, in fact, distinct languages? Most commonly these varieties are referred to as dialects of German and English, respectively, whereas English and German would be considered different languages. So why do speakers of different dialects not understand each other although they supposedly speak the same language? What about the Kölner who do not understand the Schwaben from the Schwäbische Alp, and what about the Cumberlanders who do not understand the Deep South English speakers when they first meet? When considering the question of whether different speech communities belong to the same language group, three issues need to be examined more closely: (1) the notions of language and dialect (Section 2), (2) the notions of bilingualism, intelligibility, and bidialectism (Section 3), and (3) the notion of affinity and how it impacts intelligibility (Section 4). Following these considerations, Section 5 presents Brown’s (1998) “ethnolinguistic” or “broad standardization” model, which considers the various factors that need to be taken into account with respect to the question of where one language ends and the next begins. Section 5 summarizes the most important issues that were raised in this paper, followed by a list of references (Section 6). 2. LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS There are a variety of usages of the terms language and dialect, not only in the popular but also in the formal linguistic realm. For some, language refers to the particular speech variety that has been chosen to be developed, that is, to be written and to serve as the standard for a whole group of dialects in terms of orthography, grammar and lexicon and, in many cases, also in terms of pronunciation, while dialects lack such standardization (see Brown 1998). Based on this point of view, Deutsch or Hochdeutsch is regarded a language since it has a standardized written form which is acknowledged by speakers of all German speech varieties, whereas Schwäbisch or Bayrisch are (nonstandardized) dialects of Deutsch. Other linguists employ the term dialect to refer to a set of speech varieties that are descendents of the same parent language with language in the superordinate position within a hierarchy of linguistic taxonomy, while dialects are in a subordinate position and considered subdivisions of languages. Based on this definition, all Germanic languages are regarded as dialects, that is descendants, of the Proto Germanic language. (Bussmann 2000:125) Kluge_A_2007_Where does one language end and the next begins.doc p. 2 / 24 In distinguishing language from dialect, some apply primarily linguistic criteria and focus on structural relatedness and “similarity-based” intelligibility (Simons 1979:62). That is, due to the structural similarity or genetic relationship of the speech varieties involved, speakers of different dialects of the same language can understand each other without having had to learn the other variety. Others would argue that linguistic criteria are not sufficient for making an adequate distinction between languages and dialects. Instead, the distinction needs to be based on nonlinguistic criteria which take into account socio-political, cultural, and historical factors. Based on the main criteria used to distinguish languages from dialects, different conclusions are possible in terms of language identification for a given area. Good examples for this are some of the language situations of Europe and of China. The European language situation is characterized by a number of different geographical dialect continua in which related speech varieties form dialect chains that may cover large geographical areas (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Dialect continua in Europe (Crystal 2001:9) In such language continua, or as Bloomfield designates them, dialect areas, typical communication patterns emerge (Bloomfield 2001:51): In a country like France, Italy, or Germany … every village or, at most, every group of two or three villages, has its own dialect. The differences between neighboring local dialects are usually small, but recognizable. The villagers are ready to tell in what way their neighbors’ speech differs from theirs, and often tease their neighbors about these peculiarities. The difference from place to place is small, but, as one travels in any one direction, the differences accumulate, until speakers, say from opposite ends of the country, cannot understand each other, although there is no sharp line of linguistic demarcation between the places where they live. Any such geographic area of gradual transitions is called a dialect area. The Germanic continuum, for example, covers Dutch as spoken in the Netherlands, Flemish as spoken in Belgium, and German as spoken in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein Kluge_A_2007_Where does one language end and the next begins.doc p. 3 / 24 (see Figure 2). Within this continuum neighboring groups understand each other well – even across borders, such as the Dutch-German border. Here, on either side of the border regional dialects are spoken which belong to the Rhenisch-Maas group of dialects, namely Limburgisch (Gordon 2005). Speakers of the respective Dutch and German dialects understand each other sufficiently well and – based on linguistic criteria – could therefore be considered as speakers of the same language. In fact, German speakers from near the Dutch border may understand speakers from the Dutch side of the border much better than they understand speakers of southern German dialects, e.g. Schwäbisch from the Schwäbische
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