Editing Standard language (section)

==Examples==
{{see also|List of language regulators}}

===Chinese===
[[Chinese language|Chinese]] consists of hundreds of [[varieties of Chinese|local varieties]], many of which are not mutually intelligible, usually classified into seven to ten major groups, including [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]], [[Wu Chinese|Wu]], [[Yue Chinese|Yue]], [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] and [[Min Chinese|Min]].
Before the 20th century, most Chinese spoke only their local variety.
For two millennia, formal writing had been done in [[Classical Chinese]], a style modelled on the [[Chinese classics|classics]] and far removed from any contemporary speech.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=108–109, 245}}
As a practical measure, officials of the late imperial dynasties carried out the administration of the empire using a [[Mandarin (late imperial lingua franca)|common language based on Mandarin varieties]], known as ''Guānhuà'' (literally "speech of officials").{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=133, 136}}

In the early 20th century, many Chinese intellectuals argued that the country needed a standardized language.
By the 1920s, Literary Chinese had been replaced as the written standard by [[written vernacular Chinese]], which was based on Mandarin dialects.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=133–134}}
In the 1930s, [[Standard Chinese]] was adopted, with its pronunciation based on the [[Beijing dialect]], but with vocabulary also drawn from other Mandarin varieties and its syntax based on the written vernacular.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=135}}
It is the official spoken language of the [[China|People's Republic of China]] (where it is called ''Pǔtōnghuà'' "common speech"), the de facto official language of the [[Taiwan|Republic of China]] governing Taiwan (as ''Guóyǔ'' "national language") and one of the official languages of [[Singapore]] (as ''Huáyǔ'' "Chinese language").{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=136–137}}
[[Standard Chinese]] now dominates public life, and is much more widely studied than any other [[Varieties of Chinese|variety of Chinese]].{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=247}}

===English in the United Kingdom===
{{Further|Standard English}}
In the United Kingdom, the standard language is [[British English]], which is based upon the language of the medieval [[court of Chancery]] of England and Wales.{{sfnp|Smith|1996}} In the late-seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, [[Standard English]] became established as the linguistic norm of the [[Social class in the United Kingdom|upper class]], composed of the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom|peerage]] and the [[gentry]].{{sfnp|Blake|1996}} Socially, the accent of the spoken version of the standard language then indicated that the speaker was a man or a woman possessed of a good education, and thus of high [[reputation|social prestige]].{{sfnp|Baugh|Cable|2002}} In England and Wales, Standard English is usually associated with [[Received Pronunciation]], "the standard accent of English as spoken in the [[Southern England|south of England]].", but it may also be spoken with other accents, and in other countries still other accents are used ([[Australian English|Australian]], [[Canadian English|Canadian]], [[American English|American]], [[Scottish English|Scottish]], etc.){{sfnp|Pearsall|1999|p=xiv}}

===Greek===
The standard form of [[Modern Greek]] is based on the [[Varieties of Modern Greek#Modern varieties|Southern dialects]]; these dialects are spoken mainly in the [[Peloponnese]], the [[Ionian Islands]], [[Attica]], [[Crete]] and the [[Cyclades]].{{sfnp|Horrocks|1997}}

===Hindi-Urdu===
Two standardized [[register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] of the [[Hindustani language]] have legal status in India: [[Standard Hindi]] (one of 23 co-official national languages) and [[Urdu]] ([[Pakistan]]'s official tongue); as a result, Hindustani is often called "Hindi-Urdu".{{sfnp|Blum|2002}}

===Irish===
{{main article|An Caighdeán Oifigiúil}}
{{Lang|ga|[[An Caighdeán Oifigiúil]]}} ('The Official Standard'), often shortened to {{Lang|ga|An Caighdeán}}, is the official standard of the [[Irish language]]. It was first published by the translators in [[Dáil Éireann]] in the 1950s.{{sfnp|BBC|2005}} As of September 2013,{{sfnp|Ní Shúilleabháin|2012}} the first major revision of the Caighdeán Oifigiúil is available, both online{{sfnp|Eachach|2012}} and in print.{{sfnp|Foilseacháin Rialtais|2012|p=2|ps=: "M67B Gramadach na Gaeilge 9781406425766 390 10.00."}} Among the changes to be found in the revised version are, for example, various attempts to bring the recommendations of the Caighdeán closer to the spoken dialect of Gaeltacht speakers,{{sfnp|Eachach|2012|p=2|ps=: "Rinneadh iarracht ar leith san athbhreithniú seo foirmeacha agus leaganacha atá ar fáil go tréan sa chaint sna mórchanúintí a áireamh sa Chaighdeán Oifigiúil Athbhreithnithe sa tslí is go mbraithfeadh an gnáthchainteoir mórchanúna go bhfuil na príomhghnéithe den chanúint sin aitheanta sa Chaighdeán Oifigiúil agus, mar sin, gur gaire don ghnáthchaint an Caighdeán Oifigiúil anois ná mar a bhíodh."}} including allowing further use of the nominative case where the genitive would historically have been found.{{sfnp|Eachach|2012|p=7|ps=: "Triaileadh, mar shampla, aitheantas a thabhairt don leathnú atá ag teacht ar úsáid fhoirm an ainmnigh in ionad an ghinidigh sa chaint."}}

===Italian===
Standard [[Italian language|Italian]] is derived from the [[Tuscan dialect]], specifically from its [[Florentine dialect|Florentine variety]]—the Florentine influence upon early [[Italian literature]] established that dialect as base for the standard language of Italy.{{sfnp|Maiden|2014|p=3}}{{sfnp|Coletti|2011|p=318|ps= 
, quote="L'italiano di oggi ha ancora in gran parte la stessa grammatica e usa ancora lo stesso lessico del fiorentino letterario del Trecento."}} In particular, Italian became the language of culture for all the people of Italy, thanks to the prestige of the masterpieces of Florentine authors like [[Dante Alighieri]], as well as to the political and cultural significance of Florence at the time and the fact that it was linguistically an intermediate between the northern and the southern Italian dialects.{{sfnp|Lepschy|Lepschy|1988|p=22}} It would later become the official language of all the [[Historical states of Italy|Italian states]], and after the [[Italian unification]] it became the [[national language]] of the [[Kingdom of Italy]].{{sfnp|Maiden|2014|pp=7–9}} Modern Standard [[Italian language|Italian]]'s lexicon has been deeply influenced by almost all [[Languages of Italy|regional languages of Italy]].

===Latin===
The standard language in the [[Roman Republic]] (509 BC – 27 BC) and the [[Roman Empire]] (27 BC – AD 1453) was [[Classical Latin]], the literary dialect spoken by upper classes of Roman society, whilst [[Vulgar Latin]] was the [[sociolect]] (colloquial language) spoken by the educated and uneducated peoples of the middle and the lower social classes of Roman society. The Latin language that Roman armies introduced to [[Gaul]], [[Hispania]], and [[Dacia]] had a grammar, syntax, and vocabulary different from the Classical Latin spoken and written by the statesman [[Cicero]].{{sfnp|Palmer|1988}}

===Portuguese===

==== Brazil ====
In Brazil, actors and journalists usually adopt an unofficial, but ''[[de facto]]'', spoken standard of [[Brazilian Portuguese]], originally derived from the middle-class dialects of [[Rio de Janeiro (city)|Rio de Janeiro]] and [[Brasília]], but that now encompasses educated urban pronunciations from the different speech communities in the southeast. This artificial accent is called [[:pt:Dialeto_neutro|''sotaque neutro'']]. In that standard, {{angbr|s}} represents the phoneme {{IPA|/s/}} when it appears at the end of a syllable (whereas in Rio de Janeiro this represents {{IPA|/ʃ/}}) and the [[rhotic consonant]] spelled {{angbr|r}} is pronounced {{IPA|[h]}} in the same situation (whereas in [[São Paulo (city)|São Paulo]] this is usually an [[alveolar flap]] or [[alveolar trill|trill]]). 

The [[sociolect]] of [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige]] of ''[[mineiro]]'' spoken in the capital of [[Minas Gerais]], [[Belo Horizonte]], is the accent from Brazilian Portuguese that is the nearest to ''sotaque neutro''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vieira Lima Neto |first=Newton |date=2018 |title=BRASÍLIA, SUA GENTE, SEUS SOTAQUES: DIFUSÃO CANDANGA E FOCALIZAÇÃO BRASILIENSE NA CAPITAL FEDERAL |url=http://icts.unb.br/jspui/bitstream/10482/34808/1/2018_NewtonVieiraLimaNeto.pdf |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=University of Brasília}}</ref>

==== Africa and Europe ====
European and African dialects have differing realizations of {{IPA|/ʁ/}} than Brazilian dialects, with the former using {{IPA|[ʁ]}} and {{IPA|[r]}} and the latter using {{IPA|[x]}}, {{IPA|[h]}}, or {{IPA|[χ]}}.{{sfnp|Mateus|d'Andrade|2000|pp=5–6, 11}}

===Serbo-Croatian===
Four standard variants of the [[Pluricentric language#Serbo-Croatian|pluricentric Serbo-Croatian]] are spoken in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Croatia]], [[Montenegro]], and [[Serbia]].{{sfnp|Kordić|2007}}{{sfnp|Šipka|2019|pp=166,206}} They all have the [[Language secessionism#In Serbo-Croatian|same dialect]] basis ([[Shtokavian dialect|Štokavian]]).{{sfnp|Blum|2002}}{{sfnp|Brozović|1992|pp=347–380}}{{sfnp|Kristophson|2000|pp=178–186}} These variants do differ slightly, as is the case with other pluricentric languages,{{sfnp|Blum|2002}}{{sfnp|Kordić|2009}} but not to a degree that would justify considering them as [[Language secessionism#In Serbo-Croatian|different languages]]. The differences between the variants do not hinder mutual intelligibility and do not undermine the integrity of the system as a whole.{{sfnp|Pohl|1996|p=214, 219}}{{sfnp|Kordić|2004}}{{sfnp|Kafadar|2009|p=103}} Compared to the differences between the variants of English, German, French, Spanish, or Portuguese, the distinctions between the variants of Serbo-Croatian are less significant.{{sfnp|Thomas|2003|p=314}}{{sfnp|Methadžović|2015}}Nonetheless, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro have all named the language differently in their constitutions.{{sfnp|Gröschel|2009|p=344–350}}

===Somali===
In [[Somalia]], [[Somali language#Varieties|Northern Somali]] (or North-Central Somali) forms the basis for [[Somali language|Standard Somali]],{{sfnp|Dalby|1998|p=571}} particularly the [[Mudug]] dialect of the northern [[Darod]] clan. Northern Central Somali has frequently been used by famous [[List of Somali poets|Somali poets]] as well as the political elite, and thus has the most prestige among other Somali dialects.{{sfnp|Saeed|1999|p=5}}