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Well it was said (attributed, anyway) to Max Weinreich (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_language_is_a_dialect_with_an_army_and_navy https://en.wikipedia.org/wik
by cema 10y ago
Well it was said (attributed, anyway) to Max Weinreich (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_language_is_a_dialect_with_an_army_and_navy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_language_is_a_dialect_with_a...) who was a professional linguist.
Notice that it was said in Yiddish which, of course, did not have its own navy or army. So it may have been said with a tongue in cheek, especially if the story relayed by Weinreich at the link is correct.
- jhbadger 10y agoI always interpreted it as meaning that there is no objective distinction between dialects and languages but that nations (which have armies and navies) declare their prestige dialect to be a "language" and claim related dialects to be subservient to it.
- cema 10y agoYes, normative dialects are selected to be the language. Often based on the dialect of the capital city.