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Some other useful notions: Kloss's criteria of Ausbau vs. Abstand
languages.
- Ausbau languages are languages because they have been developed
or `built-up'; they contain all the useful vocabulary they need and are
recognized for all domains and registers of a language---technical, religious,
etc. But they may be very close to some other, even mutually intelligible
lect: The Scandinavian ``languages", Czech and Slovak, Lao and Thai, etc. But
they may depend on different classical (or other) languages as a source of
learned vocabulary ...
- Abstand languages are definitely
languages by `distance', i.e. there is no close relative with which they can
be confused, or are mutually intelligible with: Japanese, Korean, Icelandic,
etc. No chain of mutually intelligible lects merging with some other
`language'. Thus many African languages, Amerindian languages, Malayo-
Polynesian languages, Australian languages are so by Abstand, but not by
Ausbau.
- Many languages are languages by both criteria of Ausbau
and Abstand, e.g. Japanese, English, French, etc. but some are
languages by only one criterion, though some are attempting to become useful
for all registers by developing their own Ausbau procedures;
- Some languages that are so by Ausbau but not by Abstand
might try to increase the distance by resorting to purism or some other
distancing mechanism (borrowing from some other source). Maithili is
thought of as a dialect of Hindi within Nepal, but within India, Maithili
speakers wish to claim language status.
Harold Schiffman
Fri Sep 6 08:02:57 EDT 1996