Knowra Language standardization Language standardization Language standardization is the development and promotion of shared norms for spelling, grammar, pronunciation, and public use. It makes language practices more consistent across institutions and communities.
Language planning : Deliberate efforts to influence a language’s form, status, or use. Standardization is one part of planning language form and public use.
Printing press : A machine for reproducing text efficiently, first developed in Europe in the fifteenth century. Print increased the reach and repeatability of written conventions.
Diglossia : A social arrangement in which distinct language varieties serve different functions within a community. A standard variety may occupy formal domains while local varieties remain common in daily life.
Language variation : Differences in language use across speakers, places, situations, and time. Standardization selects conventions from a wider field of variation.
Language codification : The formal selection and recording of language norms in grammars, dictionaries, and spelling guides. Codification turns preferred forms into explicit reference rules.
Dictionaries : Reference works that record words and information about their meanings, forms, and use. Dictionaries have helped fix spellings and identify socially accepted usage.
Language discrimination : Unequal treatment based on a person’s language, accent, or way of speaking. Standard-language expectations can turn linguistic differences into social penalties.
Descriptive linguistics : The study of how people actually use language, without prescribing how they should use it. Description documents usage; standardization promotes particular norms.
Orthography : A system of conventions for writing a language, including spelling and punctuation. Shared spelling conventions make written language more consistent across settings.
Samuel Johnson : An English writer and lexicographer whose 1755 dictionary became a major reference work. His dictionary helped shape public expectations about English spelling and usage.
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