A pluricentric language is a language with several standard versions. This situation usually arises when language and the national identity of its native speakers do not coincide. A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a particular variety of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status. ... One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... First language (native language, mother tongue) is the language a person learns first. ...

Examples

English

For example, English is a pluricentric language, with marked differences in pronunciation and spelling between the United Kingdom and the United States, and a variety of accents of those and other English-speaking countries. It is usually considered a symmetric case of a pluricentric language, because no variety clearly dominates culturally. Statistically, however, American English speakers constitute more than 70% of native English speakers, with British English in second place at 16% and other varieties having less than 5% each. In recent decades, due to globalization, it is becoming increasingly decentralized, with daily use and state-wide study of the language in schools growing at a rapid rate in most regions of the world. British English was formerly dominant in the education systems of most regions where English was taught as a foreign language (L2). In former colonies, British English remains strong. Standard British English is also the primary form taught in the EU and the rest of Europe. In many regions of the world, the use of American English is beginning to accelerate, sometimes outstripping British English in terms of popularity among L2 student and business users. Other varieties of English, including Australian, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South African and Canadian, are almost unknown as distinct varieties in terms of the teaching of English as an L2 abroad.And Ashlee was partying in Emma's backpack The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

German

By contrast, Standard German is often considered an asymmetric case of a pluricentric language, because the standard used in Germany is often considered dominant, mostly because of the sheer number of its speakers and their frequent unawareness of the Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German varieties. While there is a uniform stage pronunciation (the Siebs Dictionary) which is used in theatres all across German-speaking countries, this is not true for the standards applied at public occasions in Austria and Switzerland, which differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, and sometimes even grammar. Sometimes this even applies to news broadcasts in Bavaria, a German region with a strong separate cultural identity. The varieties of Standard German used in those regions are to some degree influenced by the respective dialects (but by no means identical with them), by specific cultural traditions (e.g. in culinary vocabulary, which differs markedly across the German-speaking area of Europe), and by different terminology employed in law and administration. A list of Austrian terms for certain food items has even been incorporated into EU law, even though it is clearly incomplete. Standard German is the prescriptive norm variant of the German language used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas. ... Swiss Standard German refers to the spoken and written varieties of Standard German used in the German speaking part of Switzerland. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... Look up pronunciation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A vocabulary is a set of words known to a person or other entity, or that are part of a specific language. ... For the surname, see Grammer. ... For other uses, see News (disambiguation). ... Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. ... The geographic region and Free State of Bavaria (German:  ), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). ... Look up Administration (business) in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The European Union is unique among international organizations in having a complex and highly developed system of internal law which has direct effect within the legal systems of its member states. ...

Portuguese

Portuguese varies mainly between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese. Both dialects have undergone significant and divergent developments in phonology and in the grammar of their pronominal systems. Brazilian Portuguese is more conservative of the two in its phonology, but much less conservative in its grammar. The result is that communication between the dialects without previous exposure can be occasionally difficult, especially for a Brazilian attempting to understand European Portuguese speech. Each variety has its own orthography, although spelling differences are small. Formal written standards remains grammatically close to each other. Brazilian Portuguese is a collective name for the varieties of Portuguese written and spoken by virtually all the 187 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a couple million Brazilian immigrants and temporary workers in other countries, mainly in Canada, United States, Portugal, Paraguay and Japan. ... European Portuguese (also named Continental Portuguese or Lusitanian Portuguese) is a group of Portuguese dialects spoken in Portugal. ... The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of writing in that language. ...

African Portuguese is based on the European dialect, but has undergone its own phonetic and grammatical developments, sometimes reminiscent of spoken Brazilian. African Portuguese is the group of Portuguese language dialects spoken in Africa. ...

Galician

Galician is a special case. Originally the same language, it lost almost all contact with Portuguese since the 14th century. Nowadays, a Galician standard has emerged which is still very close to European Portuguese. In what regards pronunciation, however, each branch has gone very different ways, and as a result communication may be difficult at first. To a Galician speaker, Portuguese sounds like a kind of Galician with most vowels left out, whereas to a Portuguese speaker Galician may sometimes sound like Portuguese with a Spanish accent. The latter judgement, though, may be attributed to the fact that a large proportion of the Spanish citizens with whom a Portuguese speaker may have been in contact were Galicians. As further anecdotal evidence, a rural Galician accent is sometimes mistaken in Madrid for a Portuguese accent. The Galician people (Povo Galego) is the ethnic group or nation native to the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia, in the Iberian peninsula of southwest Europe. ...

Spanish

Castilian Spanish is spoken in the central and southern parts of Spain while a range of Latin American Spanish is spoken in North, Central and South America, some with marked personalities like Rioplatense Spanish and Mexican Spanish. The two branches are perfectly intelligible in their acrolects, except for minor vocabulary differences caused by the specific environment or demographic composition of the area where the language is spoken. The basilects have diverged more, with different slangs, foreign influences and choices in verbal forms. However, the worldwide diffusion of telenovelas and Spanish-language music favor intercomprehension. Spanish () or Castilian () is an Iberian Romance language. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Main urban centers of Rioplatense Spanish. ... Mexican Spanish is the form of the Spanish language spoken in Mexico by over 99% of the population. ... An acrolect is a register of a spoken language that is considered formal and high-style. ... In linguistics, a basilect is a dialect of speech that has diverged so far from the standard language that in essence it has become a different language. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Chinese

Writing system

Chinese, at least in terms of its writing system, has been pluricentric since the mid-20th century, when simplified Chinese characters were introduced in the People's Republic of China. Simplified characters are now official in the PRC and Singapore, while traditional Chinese characters, the system originally used in Chinese societies before the advent of simplified characters, remain in use elsewhere, including the Republic of China on Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and many overseas Chinese communities. Writing systems of the world today. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiǎntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiǎnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Motto Three Principles of the People (三民主義 San-min Chu-i) Anthem National Anthem of the Republic of China Capital Taipei (de facto)  Nanking (de jure)1  Largest city Taipei Official languages Mandarin (GuóyÇ”) Government Semi-presidential system  -  President Chen Shui-bian  -  Vice President Annette Lu  -  Premier Chang Chun-hsiung... Languages various Religions Predominantly Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, traditional Chinese religions, and atheism. ...

Spoken Chinese

Standard Mandarin is the official Chinese spoken language in China, Taiwan and Singapore, whilst Standard Cantonese is de facto official in Hong Kong and Macau. There are a few differences in the spoken Standard Mandarin promulgated in the PRC and the ROC (Taiwan). Some of the vocabulary is different and a few words are officially pronounced with different tones. See Taiwanese Mandarin for more details on the differences. This site also lists the differences in the pronunciation standards. Standard Mandarin – also known as Standard Chinese or Standard spoken Chinese – is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Singapore. ... Spoken Chinese The Chinese spoken language(s) comprise(s) many regional variants. ... Standard Cantonese is a variant, and is generally considered the prestige dialect of Cantonese Chinese. ... De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without... Standard Mandarin – also known as Standard Chinese or Standard spoken Chinese – is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Singapore. ... It has been suggested that Tonal language be merged into this article or section. ... Taiwanese Mandarin (Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Táiwān Guóyŭ; also 台灣華語, Táiwān Huáyŭ) is the dialect of Mandarin Chinese spoken on Taiwan. ...

French

The two main standards of the French language are Parisian (Standard) French and Canadian French. The latter typically represents a French marked by much greater use of archaic vocabulary no longer current in metropolitan France. Québecois French also makes a conscious effort not to borrow foreign vocabulary (creating such words as "stationnement" for "parking", the English word used in French from France), making it prone to continued divergence from European French, although in Montreal it is common to hear "Franglais". Many English words, colloquialisms, and sayings are used abundantly. There is also a variety of French, Acadian, which is distinct from Quebec French and is spoken mainly in the Maritime provinces, especially New Brunswick. Acadian is marked by differences in pronunciation, intonation, and vocabulary. Franglais (slang), a portmanteau combining the words français (French) and anglais (English), also called Frenglish, is a slang term for types of speech, although the word has different overtones in French and English. ... The Acadians (French: Acadiens) are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia (located on the northern portion of North Americas east coast). ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... The Maritime provinces. ... Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope restored) Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Official languages English, French (the only constitutionally bilingual province in the country) Government - Lieutenant-Governor Herménégilde Chiasson - Premier Shawn Graham (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 10 - Senate seats 10 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st...

Minor standards can also be found in Belgium and Switzerland, with a particular influence of Germanic languages on grammar and vocabulary, sometimes through the influence of local dialects. In Belgium for example, various Germanic influences in the spoken French are evident in Walloon (for example,: to blink in English, German and Dutch, blinquer in Walloon and local French, briller in standard French). Ring (rocade or périphérique in standard French) is a common word in the three national languages for beltway. The term Walloon may refer to either the Walloon language, or to the ethnic people of the same name. ... A sign on the Hampton Roads Beltway in Virginia, United States, traveling on the outer loop (counterclockwise). ...

Hindi-Urdu

It can be argued that Hindi and Urdu are one language, spoken in India and Pakistan respectively, though they are divided by two different writing systems. In addition, while both varieties include borrowings from Persian and Arabic, the influence of these languages on Urdu is much heavier, and Hindi vocabulary contains many Sanskrit words. Hindi (Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is one of the official languages of the Union government of India. ... (, historically spelled Ordu), is an Middle Eastern-Aryan language. ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Sanskrit ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ...

Others

• Arabic has a standard acrolect, with several mutually unintelligible basilects
• Danish: Once identical with Danish Rigsmaal, a number of spelling reforms have brought the Norwegian Riksmål closer to spoken Dano-Norwegian.
• Dutch: despite sometimes significant differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar between the Dutch, Flemish, Surinam, and the Netherlands Antilles variants, there is just one Standard Dutch orthography as regulated by the Dutch Language Union.
• Korean: North and South (to some extent—differences are growing; see Korean language North-South differences)
• Gaelic: Scottish, Irish and Manx.
• Serbo-Croatian: Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian standard forms that are sometimes considered either two or three separate languages for political reasons. Perhaps the biggest difference is in orthography, with the Serbian variety being written in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... An acrolect is a register of a spoken language that is considered formal and high-style. ... Mutually Unintelligible In linguistics, two or more languages or dialects are said to be mutually unintelligible when a knowledge or familiarity of one language does not preclude a knowledge or familiarity of the other(s). ... In linguistics, a basilect is a dialect of speech that has diverged so far from the standard language that in essence it has become a different language. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Flanders (Dutch: ) has several main meanings: the social, cultural and linguistical, scientific and educational, economical and political community of the Flemings; generally called the Flemish community (others refer to this as the Flemish nation) which is, with over 6 million inhabitants, the majority of all Belgians; the constituent governing institution... The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of writing in that language. ... The Unions member states Where Dutch is spoken The Nederlandse Taalunie or Dutch Language Union is an international institution for discussing issues relating to the Dutch language. ... The North-South differences in the Korean language refers to the differences in the Korean language used in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea; hereafter the North) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea; hereafter denoted the South). From a linguistic point of view, the language used... The Goidelic languages (also sometimes called the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) have historically been part of a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland. ... Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ... Serbo-Croatian or Croato-Serbian (also Croatian or Serbian, Serbian or Croatian) (srpskohrvatski or cрпскохрватски or hrvatskosrpski or hrvatski ili srpski or srpski ili hrvatski), earlier also Serbo-Croat, was an official language of Yugoslavia (along with Slovenian, Macedonian). ... Serbian (српски језик; srpski jezik) is one of the standard versions of the Shtokavian dialect, used primarily in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and by Serbs in the Serbian diaspora. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages; (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ...

Bibliography

• Clyne, Michael G. (Ed.). (1992). Pluricentric languages: Differing norms in different nations. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-012855-1.
• Clyne, Michael G.; & Kipp, Sandra. (1999). Pluricentric languages in an immigrant context: Spanish, Arabic and Chinese. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016577-5.
• Dua, Hans R. (1992). Hindi-Urdu as a pluricentric language. In M. G. Clyne (Ed.)

See also

• Diasystem
• Standard language
• Dialect continuum
• Ausbausprache - Abstandsprache - Dachsprache

In linguistics, a diasystem is a term used in structural dialectology, to refer to a single genetic language which has two or more standard forms. ... A standard language (also standard dialect or standardized dialect) is a particular variety of a language that has been given either legal or quasi-legal status. ... A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater. ... The Ausbausprache - Abstandsprache - Dachsprache framework is a tool developed by sociolinguists, e. ...

External links

• Language Attitudes and language conceptions in non-dominating varieties of pluricentric languages (by Rudolf Muhr)