EL1102
Lecture No. 8
Standardisation
and Language Planning
Organisation
1. What is a ‘standard
language’?
2. What are the
processes of standardisation?
3. How did
Standard English evolve? How did the notion of ‘standard’ itself appear in the
history of the development of the English language?
4. What is
language planning?
5. What are some
of the important considerations underlying language planning?
I. What is a ‘standard language’?
A language that enjoys a privileged
position in the community as the most highly valued among the
available varieties of the language.
1. ‘the process of one variety of a language
becoming widely accepted throughout the speech community as a
supra-dialectal norm - the “best” form of the language - rated
above regional and social dialects.’ (Charles A. Ferguson, Language
Development)
3. ‘a codified form of the language
accepted by and serving as a model to the larger speech community’
(Garvin and Mathiot, 1968)
A Standard language may be characterised as
follows:
2. Acceptance
3. Elaboration
4. Codification
II. Four Processes Of Standardisation
(a) SELECTION
One among the available varieties of the
language is selected as representing the desired norms.
[ ‘… cannot be seen as merely a matter of
communal choice, an innocent attempt on the part of society as a whole to
choose a variety that can be used for official purposes and a lingua franca. It
involves from the first a cultivation by an elite of a variety that can be
regarded as exclusive.’ Dick Leith]
(b) ELABORATION AND INTELLECTUALISATION
For the variety selected to represent the
desired norms, it must be able to discharge a whole range of functions that it
may be called upon to discharge, including ABSTRACT, INTELLECTUAL functions.
Where it lacks resources to do so, these are developed. Thus a standard
language is often characterised as possessing ‘maximal variation in function,
minimal variation in form.’
(c) CODIFICATION
The norms and rules of grammar, use, etc.
which govern the variety selected have to be formulated, and set down
definitively in grammars, dictionaries, spellers, manuals of style, texts, etc.
(d) COMMUNITY ACCEPTANCE
The ‘acceptance’ by the community of the
norms of the variety selected over those of rival varieties, through the
promotion, spread, establishment and enforcement of the norms. This is done
through institutions, agencies, authorities such as schools, ministries, the
media, cultural establishments, etc.
1. Standardisation – acceptance of a
formal set of codified norms
2. Autonomy – uniqueness and
independence of the language
3. Historicity – development over
time in association with some national or ethnic tradition
4. Vitality – use of the
language by a community of native speakers
|
|
Standardisation |
Autonomy |
Historicity |
Vitality |
|
1. Standard |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
2. Classical |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
3. Artificial |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
4. Vernacular |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
5. Dialect |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
|
6. Creole |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
7. Pidgin |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Standard:
Standard English
Classical:
Bible English
Vernacular:
Black English
Dialect:
Cockney
Creole:
Krio (West Africa)
Pidgin:
Neomelanesian (Papua New Guinea)
X-ised Y:
Singapore English, Indian English
The promotion of uniformity
Languages show this tendency because of the
simultaneous operation of two opposite forces:
- a centrifugal force (force de clocher
- a spirit of parochialism)
- ie it is taken to be a UNIFYING
process, providing a linguistic ‘centre’ around which a community would remain
cohesive and united.
2. centrifugal force / divergence
3. ‘natural’ regularisation / simplification
4. new realities / perspectives
5. language contact / pidginisation
6.* language planning
1-5 project change as occurring quite
NATURALLY in the usage of individuals, often below the level of their conscious
attention.
6 involves the EXPLICIT, DELIBERATE and
CONSCIOUS intervention by the community and its institutions
(commissions, committees, bodies of thinkers & scholars, schools,
ministries, associations, etc.) in changing the language.
The initial absence of the notion of a
standard
AD 449 to 8th c. No notion of a standard
language.
- Britain was a tribal society with warring
groups and no sense of unity.
The first appearance of the notion
9th c. Alfred the Great’s Kingdom – Wessex
- for the first time, a sense of English
NATIONHOOD, as parts of England are united against the Vikings.
- all-round social, economic development
- Alfred’s conscious support of learning,
particularly in the English language, his encouragement of translations of
classical works & commissioning of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
- Alfred’s West Saxon dialect emerges
as a standard.
The Norman Conquest and the resulting
consignment of English to the non-prestigious status of the language of the
subject races
bring these developments to an end.
Three-fold division of labour among
languages:
LATIN Lang. of learning and Church
(b) FRENCH Lang. of administration &
high social prestige
(c) ENGLISH Low level lang. of menials
Rather than standardisation, we see
varieties of the language continuing to develop independently in different
places, leading to pronounced diversity.
1204: The loss of Normandy,
leading in the 14th c. to the gradual revival of English from out of the trough
/ stasis that it was in.
A new beginning: diversity as a problem
A new and very different start to standard
English after the rehabilitation of the language in the 14th c.
The major catalyst: modern order of society
- development of a national economy
- the nation state and a centralised
administration
This converts the language diversity which
existed into a problem for the first time. E.g.:
Spelling: ‘ . . . . alff a hundred in
red and wyht’ [half]
‘ . . . . frust betweyn the rybes’
[thrust]
‘ . . . . chynes abut ther nekes. . .
. ‘ [chain]
Pronunciation: the high-born Edgar in King
Lear forced to disguise himself throughout as various low-born characters
pronounces
so & Sir
as zo & zir
folk & fortnight
as volk & vortright
In place of the earlier tolerance towards
differences in spelling and pronunciation, language variation and diversity now
viewed in
negative terms .
‘Al the longage of the Northumres and speicialliche at York is so sharp slittynge and frontynge and vnshape, that we southern men may that longage vnnethe (= hardly) vnderstonde’ John de Trevisa (1385)
‘Oure language is also so dyuerse in it
selfe that the commen maner of spekynge in Englysshe of some contre can skante (=
scarcely) be vnderstondid in som other contre of the same lond” Lydgate (1530)
Therefore the selection of a common,
unifying variety becomes a practical necessity.
LONDON was emerging as the great, highly
prestigious urban centre of the developing modern English nation/civilisation:
(i) the COMMERCIAL METROPOLIS, base of the
merchant class who were leaders in the commercial and trading activities that
drove the process across the whole nation.
(ii) it also became the centre of POLITICAL
activity, as the king began to hold court and stay in Westminster, then very
close to, now part of, London.
(iii) acquired significance from the
RELIGIOUS point of view. Church and State not too separate at that time, and
the close
LINK between political and religious
activity gave the city a further importance, as higher ecclesiastics from all
over the country treat it as a “centre”, being part of the Court.
(iv) was the ADMINISTRATIVE centre of the
emerging state. Higher officials, great lawyers, statesmen, from al over bring
their business to the Court, and also London.
(v) The Universities of Oxford and
Cambridge, major CENTRES OF LEARNING and culture, were in close touch with the
Court and London, forming a close-knit triangle with the city.
(vi) Education becomes a social necessity at
this time (to serve the functional needs of the growing middle class) and the
present day kind of schooling system begins to develop, part. through the
impetus of the Reformation.
(vii) the city becomes the centre of
ARTISTIC and CREATIVE activity (Marlowe, Shakespeare, Ben Johnson)
Therefore the London dialect, used by the
increasingly dominant merchant class acquires prestige and GETS SELECTED as the
basis of the emerging standard.
- very interestingly, the former ‘standard’
of Alfred’s time is relegated in Elizabethan drama to the status of a low
prestige clown dialect.
This choice was strengthened by the
LINGUISTIC consideration that the London dialect was a mixed dialect,
incorporating
North-western, South-eastern, South-western,
Essex, Kentish and East Midland forms, with East Midland forms predominating.
Therefore enjoyed the status of being a
happy mean between the very different northern and southern dialects.
B. Community acceptance through spread, etc.
The spread of the London variety ensured by
the great traffic between London and the rest of the country.
William Caxton: the invention of PRINTING
guaranteed both its spread and its establishment.
1475 - the first book printed in English
1476 - a Printing Press established at
Westminster
The printing of multiple copies of texts for
nationwide circulation. In contrast, the earlier scribal tradition of writing
and reading
guaranteed
- only a handful of copies of text for a
highly localised readership
- the MSS. would show a great degree of
variation, within themselves and relative to other mss., resulting in
considerable inconsistency in the writing.
1611: The Authorised version of the Bible, a
text often regarded as a landmark in the history of the English.
16th century witnessed a flurry of Biblical
translation.
This process of vernacularisation culminated
in the publication of the AV, a response to the desire of many to hear a
dignified and elevated language in church.
It came to be seen as a monument, a
reference point, and a stimulated a sense of historicity – has also been seen
as one way of generating language loyalty.
The air of dignity associated with the
language of the Bible derives from the fact that it is distanced from ordinary
spoken usage.
This distance was achieved, not by the use
of either French or Latin, but by archaism, by setting the text in the tradition
of native religious discourse, particularly the sermons of the Middle Ages.
This choice was strengthened by the
LINGUISTIC consideration that the London dialect was a mixed dialect,
incorporating Northwestern, Southeastern, Southwestern, Essex, Kentish and East
Midland forms, with East Midland forms predominating.
Therefore enjoyed the status of being a
happy mean between the very different northern and southern dialects.
Illustrated by the development of modern
English prose form
- coincides with the revival of English and
the modern order of society
- the emergence of new views of reality, new
modes of thinking, new perspectives, (scientific empiricism)
- therefore, increasing new and
unprecedented demands made on English and the inadequacy of English to
meet these new demands - deficient in grammar, vocabulary and other
linguistic devices.
- the criterion of ELOQUENCE (a notion based
on the post-Latin literary traditions)
English described as ‘coarse bread’, ‘homespun
cloth’, ‘rough’, ‘rude’, ‘simple’, etc.
The battle between the CLASSICISTS and the
PURISTS
Massive borrowings, adaptations from French,
Latin and Greek in the realms of vocabulary, grammar, style, particularly in
the 14th and 15th
Cs.
Classicising tendencies often excessive,
combined with the notion of ‘eloquence’ leading to ornamentation:
‘Inkhorn words’ - sheer ostentation,
ridiculed for their affectation and pedantry. E.g. The ridiculous words used by
Crispinus in Ben Johnson’s Poetaster:
furibund (furious);
lubrical (smooth, slippery, wanton)
oblatrant
(carping , reviling); turgidous (swollen, puffed up)
But they also include : defunct,
reciprocal, retrograde, spurious, strenuous
Several publications on classical rhetoric,
initially focusing on Latin, but gradually changing to a focus on English.
The battle was resolved by a compromise: ‘Sensible’
borrowing, adaptation, which met the needs of the changing times while
maintaining the native ‘Englishness’ of the language, which had been kept
alive in the clear prose that had come down from Alfred’s times, especially
through the pulpit. (sermons written in this English prose)
The Puritans, largely from the commercial
merchant classes, play a major role - primarily interested in the pursuit of
material wealth, rigorously disciplined.
Emphasise the UTILITARIAN, & a stolid ‘unimaginative’
concern with the practical - expressed in the form of a distrust of rhetoric
and ornamentation.
The impact of the emerging new learning and
the developing modern science
A major aim : to create a universal,
artificial language for science
‘to separate knowledge of nature from the
colours of rhetoric, the devices of the fancy, the delightful deceit of the
fables.’ (Thomas Spratt, History of the Royal
Society)
Late 17th
c.: The development of an unpedantic, flexible, rational,
smooth-flowing yet functional prose medium as an important instrument of
civilisation
- by the middle classes, who had by
now triumphed in every sphere (economic, religious, political, social, etc.)
But they still did not have social
RECOGNITION, commensurate with their achievement, prestige & power.
Therefore, they cultivate the graces of the
courtly classes in an effort to earn such recognition.
Accomplished through:
- The writing of GRAMMARS of the language to
counteract the ‘lack of regularity in grammar’.
- The production of DICTIONARIES of the language.
- the 17th C. Hard Word Dictionaries, a
whole series. They included only the ‘hard’ Latin and Greek borrowings
- addressed three problems, all relating to
standardisation:
FORM: decisions concerning two or more
equally possible ways of assimilating originals to English
modish
vs. modern
unexpressive
vs. inexpressive
SPELLING: resolution of the inconsistencies
caused by the reading/writing methods of the time
MEANING: questions as to which meanings were
to be assigned to the borrowings
delicious - delectable; virtual - virtuous
18th c. dictionaries set the seal on these
developments and also on many of the decisions made in these three problematic
areas by the Hard Word dictionaries - driven by the great 18th C. DOCTRINE OF
CORRECTNESS.
The Augustan Age and its sense of society
having reached the pinnacle of civilisation combined with the idea that change
could only take place DOWN AND AWAY from the achievement. i.e., Change = Decay.
Therefore the need to FIX the achievement
unalterably, on the basis of the rules of REASON.
‘the true End and Use of Grammar is to teach
how to speak and write well and learnedly in a language already known,
according to the unalterable Rules of right Reason.’ (A Lane, A Key to the Art
of Letters)
1755: Dr Johnson’s Dictionary
Recommended usage (models of ‘correctness’)
identified with particular books, written and compiled by established scholars and
literary men – undoubtedly the most famous among them was the Dictionary of
Samuel Johnson.
Johnson: a poet and a critic who raised
common sense to the heights of genius, his approach was intensely practical.
His two-volume work - a masterpiece
containing definitions for more than 40,000 words and 114,000 quotations drawn
from English writing on every subject, from the Elizabethan to his own times. Provided
the basis for Standard English – an important milestone in the history of the
language. And its influence has lasted to this day.
Some of his definitions are still miracles
of clarity.
For example:
Heart
- The muscle which by its contraction and dilation propels the blood through
the course of circulation . . . It is supposed in popular language to be the
seat sometimes of courage, sometimes of affection.
At other times they were famously
idiosyncratic:
Oats
– A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland
supports the people.
And again:
A lexicographer
– A writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge
Single-handed he had conferred stability on the language of his country.
Prescriptivism
The result was a powerful prescriptivism in
language use, based on Standard English.
This prescriptivism was reinforced in the
19th C. – the great age of the birth of comprehensive education.
The social and economic transformation
effected by the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 18th C.
1700: 80% rural 20% urban
1900: 20% rural 80% urban
RESULT: The creation of the INDUSTRIAL
SYSTEM and the working class as we now know it.
Massive demand for skills & elementary
education.
1870 – EDUCATION ACT: makes Primary school
education compulsory
The teaching of codified gram. rules of Standard
English to replace the rules of the dialects of the work force.
Prescriptive grammarians reject all of these
sentences as ungrammatical.
1. You are taller than me.
2. It’s me who gets the blame for
everything.
3. Harry and Sally love one another.
4. If I was you I would resign.
5. Nobody said nothing.
6. None of the guests have arrived.
7. Who did you get that from?
8. John is the one person I really owe all
my success to.
9. Hopefully, the weather will clear up
tomorrow.
10. The mission of the USS Enterprise is to
go boldly where no man has ever been before.
The ‘correct’/ more ‘logical’ versions
appear in brackets:
1. You are taller than me. (than I)
2. It’s me who gets the blame for
everything. (It’s I who)
3. Harry and Sally love one another. (each
other)
4. If I was you I would resign. (If I were
you . . .)
5. Nobody said nothing. (Nobody said
anything)
6. None of the guests have arrived. ( . . .
has arrived)
7. Who did you get that from? (From whom did
you . . .)
8. John is the one person I really owe all
my success to. (. . . . . . . . . . . . to whom I owe all my success).
9.Hopefully, the weather will clear up
tomorrow.
10. The mission of the USS Enterprise is to
boldly go (to go boldly) where no man has ever been before.
The standardisation of languages is one of
several major concerns of what, in modern times (since about the 1960s) has
come to be called language planning.
‘Language planning is DELIBERATE language
change, that is, changes in the systems of a language code or speaking or both
that are planned by organisations established for such a purposes or given a
mandate to fulfil such purposes.’ (Joan Rubin, ‘Bilingual Education and
Language Planning’)
Language Planning refers to
- all CONSCIOUS, DELIBERATE efforts to
affect the structure and function of language varieties.
- is PROACTIVE and necessarily
FUTURE-ORIENTED
- is directed towards the attainment in the
future of clearly articulated social, national, etc. GOALS.
Two basic kinds of Language Planning
In a situation where there are seen to be
two or more languages available, any attempt to set up norms or rules for when
to use each is what is called status planning. Language status policy is by its
very nature a political activity. Linguists are sometimes consulted, but
decisions are made by government or elected parliament and sometimes form part
of the constitution. The status decisions determine which language(s) are to be
used in various public functions, by government, the legal system, the media,
and the educational system. For example, in Singapore:
National language: Malay
Official languages: Malay, Mandarin, Tamil,
English
Primary language of education: English
Once a language has been fixed as
appropriate for use in a specific situation (ie as the official
language, or in printing books, or in schools), any effort to modify its
structure or develop its linguistic resources in a manner consistent with the
declared objectives/goals is called CP.
MODERNISATION: (develop grammar, vocabulary,
etc. for modern purposes) e.g. Bahasa Indonesia /Melayu (Malay)
GRAPHISATION: (establish a new writing
system or refine the existing one) e.g. pinyinisation of the Chinese script.
One of the most common processes today is
the need for modernisation and elaboration of vocabulary. The rapid increase of
concepts associated with the modern world, and the expansion of terminology
needed to label all the new objects involved in modern technology, set a major
challenge for all languages.
An obvious example is the Computer:
The computer I am working on now is a
laptop, or to be more precise, a sub-notebook. I just had to have a new
motherboard put in, as the old one would not accept the PCMCIA card that is
supposed to be used to connect the diskette drive. But my double-space hard
drive offers me a megabyte of memory (not to mention the 16-K RAM that my
programs can access) and my trackball or mouse makes it easy to control my
passive matrix screen.
Old words with new meanings: drive,
screen, mouse
Metaphorical use of words: memory,
storage, device
Creation of new terms by combining existing
morphemes: trackball, diskette, megabyte
Codification of the Standard was not based
on an informed and systematic analysis of the language. But on the arbitrary
judgment of a few language gatekeepers – some of them men of genius, like Dr.
Johnson; others, self-appointed guardians of the language. These people were
not, however, without their allegiances to class and background. Now, the
assumption behind all of Language Planning is that the activity is driven by
clearly thought-out, rationally devised and explicitly and transparently
articulated CRITERIA to the declared goals. This takes for granted that there
pre-exist some kind of set of IDEAL CONSIDERATIONS, invariably assumed to be
rational/ ‘objective’, which preside over LP processes and in terms of which LP
outcomes can be explained.
These ideal considerations have been
referred to as:
14th –16th C. - Eloquence
- Uniformity vs. diversity
early 17th C. - utility, regularity vs.
irregularity
late 17th C. - ‘wit’, grace, elegance,
refinement
18th C. - ‘correctness’
‘the unalterable rules of right reason’
19th C. - compliance with the expectations
of an orderly society
In modern times - more sophisticated, ‘empirical’,
‘objective’ criteria
The association of Standard English with
power in society
A more critical examination shows a certain
amount of ideological involvement with issues of power, dominance, hegemony, inequality,
etc.
The whole history of Standard English shows
its crucial involvement with considerations of POWER and HEGEMONY, as it issues
as a CLASS DIALECT which secures the power of the educated middle class elite.
1. The replacement of the West Saxon dialect
as the standard by the London (East Midland) dialect.
The West Saxon dialect was selected as the
standard in Alfred’s times because of its use in the places where the power
lay. Had there been some rational criteria for its selection, there would be no
reason for it to become unsuitable a few centuries later.
2. The battle of the Purists and Classicists
In reality, this was a battle between
representatives of the old, conservative, feudal order and the emerging middle
class led, progressive order.
The highly over-classicised language
advantaged the old classically-learned upper crust of court, scholars, clerics,
administrators, etc. at the expense of the emergent middle class, who knew no
Latin and Greek, and who were in search of an accessible practical medium
adapted to their needs.
In fact, later the Puritans brought about a
compromise
- Not the abandonment of classical
borrowings, etc. through emphasis on utilitarianism.
This was because the economic, educational,
intellectual activities that the new order of society they were helping
establish could
NOT do without the classical input.
3. The ‘polishing’ of the language and the
doctrine of ‘correctness’ in the late 17th century
These were motivated by efforts by the middle
class to earn social respectability that was commensurate with their economic
and political standing and power.
The late 17th & 18th century notions of
reason, order, stability and social cohesiveness on the basis of which the
language was ‘fixed’ were middle class notions. The social stability guaranteed
the continuance of the social order within which the middle class had secured
for itself the dominant position, which they did not want disturbed. The 18th
century doctrine of ‘correctness’ was likewise a middle class doctrine, which
was implemented through the codification of the language and the prescriptivist
impulse it encouraged. This helped erect gates in society, to keep out of
positions of power and influence all those who used language differently and
came from different social backgrounds.
4. The goal of ‘excellence’ that 19th century
education aimed at was meant to create a docile, obedient, but at the same
time, a
reliable and literate workforce that would
keep the wheels of industry running in the interest of capitalism. The ‘excellence’
that the teaching of the codified rules to the working class in 19th century
Britain was intended to achieve was not measured in terms of cognitive training
for self-determining and self-liberating goals, but in terms of ‘industrial
habits, rules and rhythms’ which would promote the creation and preparation of
a modern industrial and urban workforce’ – ie, a work force that had
just enough literacy to do well the jobs their masters wanted them to do and
fit into a system at levels determined from above.
- There was great emphasis on moral training
and the virtues of obedience, orderliness, contentment and discipline.
This seems to suggest that Language Planning
is inextricably embedded in socio-historical-political realities. It is not
just PROACTIVE but also very clearly REACTIVE (to the surrounding realities and
issues of power, status and ideology they raise). It also suggests that
standardisation, which is a part of language planning, cannot therefore be
studied in terms of the internal changes alone that develop within the standard
language to make it the most prestigious or acceptable variety, but that issues
such as social identity, economic interests, political power and control,
cultural dominance and ideological concerns all have a role to play in
influencing the development and acceptance of a standard language.
© 2001 R
Rubdy