The function of the Standard variety: a contrastive study of Norwegian and Polish

• Autores: Ernst Håkon Jahr, Karol Janicki
• Localización: International journal of the sociology of language, ISSN 0165-2516, Nº. 115, 1995, págs. 25-46
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In this paper, the social function of the Polish and Norwegian Standard varieties is compared and contrasted. While the Polish Standard is proved to have an extremely high social Status and to be taken for granted by society at large, the Norwegian Situation is described äs quite different. In Norway, no Standard spoken variety is taught in school, and there are two competing written Standards, both of which include a large number of optional words and wordforms. The two written Standards are linguistically very dose but have come to symbolizefor most Norwegians important and long-lasting geographic, cultural, andpolitical contrasts. The sociohistorical development and conditions in Norway and Poland are described in order to accountfor the differences found. Le Page s and Tabouret-Keller's terms "focused" and "diffuse" are found useful to describe the differences. While Norway can be described äs having a quite diffuse linguistic Situation, Polish is a prototypically focused language.