Editing Standard language (section)

{{Short description|Language variety with substantially codified grammar and usage}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
A '''standard language''' (or '''standard variety''', '''standard dialect''', '''standardized dialect''' or simply '''standard''') is any [[variety (linguistics)|language variety]] that has undergone substantial [[Codification (linguistics)|codification]] in its [[grammar]], [[lexicon]], [[writing system]], or other features and that stands out among related varieties in a community as the one with the highest status or [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige]].{{sfnp|Richards|Schmidt|2010|p=554}}{{sfnp|Finegan|2007|p=14}} Often, it is the prestige language variety of a whole country.{{sfnp|Richards|Schmidt|2010|p=554}} 

In [[linguistics]], the process of a variety becoming organized into a standard, for instance by being widely expounded in [[grammar books]] or other reference works,{{sfnp|Finegan|2007|p=14}} and also the process of making people's language usage conform to that standard,{{sfnp|Richards|Schmidt|2010|p=552}} is called '''standardization'''. Typically, the varieties that undergo standardization are those associated with centres of commerce and government,{{sfnp|Auer|2011|pp=492–493}}{{sfnp|Finegan|2007|p=14}} used frequently by educated people and in [[news broadcasting]], and taught widely in schools and to non-native learners of the language.<ref name = "Trudgill">Trudgill, Peter (2009). ''Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society''. Penguin Books, 5–6.</ref>{{sfnp|Richards|Schmidt|2010|p=554}} Within a language community, standardization usually begins with a particular variety being selected (often towards a goal of further linguistic uniformity), accepted by influential people, socially and culturally spread, established in opposition to competitor varieties, maintained, increasingly used in diverse contexts, and assigned a high social status as a result of the variety being linked to the most successful people.{{sfnp|Milroy|Milroy|2012|p=22}} As a sociological effect of these processes, most users of a standard dialect—and many users of other dialects of the same language—come to believe that the standard is inherently superior to, or consider it the linguistic baseline against which to judge, the other dialects.{{sfnp|Davila|2016}} However, such beliefs are firmly rooted in social perceptions rather than any objective evaluation.<ref name = "Trudgill"/> Any varieties that do not carry high social status in a community (and thus may be defined in opposition to standard dialects) are called nonstandard or [[vernacular]] dialects. 

The standardization of a language is a continual process, because language is always [[language change|changing]] and a language in use cannot be permanently standardized.{{sfnp|Williams|1983}} Standardization may originate from a motivation to make the written form of a language more uniform, as is the case of [[Standard English]].{{sfnp|Milroy|Milroy|2012|p=245}} Typically, standardization processes include efforts to stabilize the [[Orthography|spelling]] of the prestige dialect, to [[Codification (linguistics)|codify]] usages and particular ([[Denotation|denotative]]) meanings through formal [[grammar]]s and [[dictionary|dictionaries]], and to encourage public acceptance of the codifications as intrinsically correct.{{sfnp|Carter|1999}}{{sfnp|Bex|2008}} In that vein, a [[pluricentric language]] has interacting standard varieties.{{sfnp|Stewart|1968|p=534}}{{sfnp|Kloss|1967|p=31}}{{sfnp|Clyne|1992|p=1}} Examples are [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[German language|German]], [[Korean language|Korean]],  [[Serbo-Croatian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Armenian language|Armenian]] and [[Mandarin Chinese]].{{sfnp|Clyne|1992|pp=1–3}}{{sfnp|Kordić|2007}} Monocentric languages, such as [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Japanese language|Japanese]], have one standardized idiom.{{sfnp|Clyne|1992|p=3}}

The term ''standard language'' occasionally refers also to the entirety of a language that includes a standardized form as one of its varieties.{{sfnp|Сулейменова|2006|pp=53–55}}{{sfnp|Kapović|2011|pp=46–48}} In Europe, a standardized [[written language]] is sometimes identified with the German word {{lang|de|Schriftsprache}} (written language). The term ''[[literary language]]'' is occasionally used as a synonym for ''standard language'', a naming convention still prevalent in the [[Slavic languages|linguistic traditions of eastern Europe.]]{{sfnp|Dunaj|1989|p=134}}{{sfnp|Соціологія}} In contemporary linguistic usage, the terms ''standard dialect'' and ''standard variety'' are neutral synonyms for the term ''standard language'', usages which indicate that the standard language is one of many dialects and varieties of a language, rather than the totality of the language, whilst minimizing the negative implication of [[Social stratification|social subordination]] that the standard is the only form worthy of the label "language".{{sfnp|Starčević|2016|p=69}}{{sfnp|Vogl|2012|p=15}}