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My personal opinion, not a linguist: All languages start as dialects, and the point at which they become a separate language is arbitrary, more a matter of opi
by the_biot 4y ago
My personal opinion, not a linguist:
All languages start as dialects, and the point at which they become a separate language is arbitrary, more a matter of opinion than a hard rule.
Languages are created by people speaking another language badly.
- koolba 4y ago> All languages start as dialects, and the point at which they become a separate language is arbitrary, more a matter of opinion than a hard rule. Having an army is a sufficient but not necessary condition.
- inglor_cz 4y agoDespite having the largest army in the world, Americans still speak English.
- fsckboy 4y agothe definition linguists use is, "the only difference between a dialect and a language is, a language has a navy"
- kubanczyk 4y agoIt's more of a quip: 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... One can use "variety" to side-step the whole problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect