Who said a language is a dialect with an army?

The pioneering sociolinguist and Yiddish scholar Max Weinreich had a quote:* A language is a dialect with an army and navy. His point being that the difference between a language and a dialect was ultimately a political distinction and had little to do with linguistics per se.

How does a dialect become a language?

Different languages can be mutually understood between speakers and different dialects of the same language could be completely different. According to many linguists, a dialect becomes a language when it is no longer mutually intelligible between the dialect speakers and speakers of the “original” language.

Can a language be a dialect?

In terms of its dictionary definition, a dialect is ‘a particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group. ‘ This implies that we can view a language in the role of parent, with a range of dialects stemming from it.

How is a dialect boundary formed?

A language border or language boundary is the line separating two language areas. If two adjacent languages or dialects are mutually intelligible, no firm border will develop, because the two languages can continually exchange linguistic inventions; this is known as a dialect continuum.

Is a language a dialect with an army and a Navy?

There’s a famous quip about defining languages that is often referenced in this context: “A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” It’s a saying popularized by the sociologist Max Weinreich, and though of course the phrase in itself is hardly scientific, it does seem to capture a certain truth about the world. How true is it, though?

Is a language a dialect?

There’s a famous quip about defining languages that is often referenced in this context: “A language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” It’s a saying popularized by the sociologist Max Weinreich, and though of course the phrase in itself is hardly scientific, it does seem to capture a certain truth about the world.

Who said a language is a language with an army and flag?

Jean Laponce noted in 2004 that the phrase had been attributed in “la petite histoire” (essentially anecdote) to Hubert Lyautey (1854–1934) at a meeting of the Académie Française; Laponce referred to the adage as “la loi de Lyautey” (‘Lyautey’s law’). Randolph Quirk adapted the definition to “A language is a dialect with an army and a flag”.

How do social and political conditions affect the status of languages?

It points out the influence that social and political conditions can have over a community’s perception of the status of a language or dialect. The facetious adage was popularized by sociolinguist and Yiddish scholar Max Weinreich, who heard it from a member of the audience at one of his lectures.