Abstand and ausbau languages

The Ausbausprache - Abstandsprache - Dachsprache (IPA: [ˈaʊ̯sbaʊ̯ˌʃpʁaːχə - ˈapʃtantˌʃpʁaːχə - ˈdaχˌʃpʁaːχə]) framework is a tool developed by sociolinguists for analyzing and categorizing the status of language varieties along the cline between autonomous languages on the one hand and dialects on the other. The terms were coined by Kloss (1967). They are designed to capture the idea that there are two separate and largely independent sets of criteria and arguments for calling a variety an independent "language" rather than a "dialect": the one based on its social functions, and the other based on its objective structural properties.

Terminology

Ausbausprache may be translated literally as 'upgrade language', although Heinz Kloss describes it as "language by development", Abstandsprache as 'distance language' and Dachsprache as 'umbrella language' (literally: 'roof language'). The terms are also often rendered with the qualifier untranslated in English, as ausbau language and abstand language.

Ausbausprache

A variety is called an ausbau language if it is used autonomously with respect to other related languages. This typically means that it has its own standardized form independent of neighbouring standard languages. This often involves being taught in schools, and being used as a written language in a wide variety of functions, possibly including that of an official national language. In contrast, varieties that are not ausbau languages are those that are only spoken and typically only used in private contexts.

Abstandsprache

A variety is called an abstand language in relation to another language if both are so different from each other that the one cannot be considered a dialect of the other. This criterion deals with objective structural properties of the language systems. The framework does not in itself specify exactly how "distance" is to be measured objectively. An often used, but debated criterion is mutual intelligibility. A typical example of an abstand language is Basque with respect to Spanish.

Interrelation of Ausbausprache and Abstandsprache

A language may be an abstand language without being an ausbau language. This is often the case with minority languages used within a larger nation state, where the minority language is used only in private and all official functions are performed in the majority language. On the other hand, a language may be an ausbau language even when it has relatively little abstand from its neighbours. Examples are the Scandinavian languages Danish, Swedish and Norwegian, which are mutually intelligible to a large degree but nevertheless constitute three separate languages on criteria of ausbau. The concept of ausbau is particularly important in cases where the local spoken varieties across a larger region form a dialect continuum. In such cases, the question of where the one language ends and the other starts is often a question more of ausbau than of abstand. For instance, the local dialects of Dutch and German on some sides of the Dutch-German border are similar, with both languages merging to some degree; nevertheless, on the level of the ausbau standard languages Dutch and German clearly constitute two separate languages. In some instances, ausbau languages have been created out of dialects for purposes of nation building. This applies for instance to Luxembourgish vis-a-vis German, or to Macedonian vis-a-vis Bulgarian and Serbian. In some instances where ausbau languages have been created for political purposes on the basis of very little abstand, the separate-language status of the resulting variety may be quite controversial, as in the case of Moldovan vis-a-vis Romanian. Other examples of ausbau languages are Persian of Iran and Afghanistan (cf. Dari), Serbian and Croatian, Dutch and Afrikaans, and to some extent Hindi and Urdu.

Dachsprache

Dachsprache means a language form that serves as standard language for different dialects, mostly in a dialect continuum, even though these dialects may be so different that mutual intelligibility is not possible on the basilectal level between all dialects, particularly those separated by significant geographical distance. In 1982, "Rumantsch Grischun" was developed by Heinrich Schmid as such a Dachsprache for a number of quite different Romansh language forms spoken in parts of Switzerland. Standard German and standard Italian to some extent function in the same way. Perhaps the most widely used Dachsprache is Modern Standard Arabic, which links together the speakers of many different Arabic dialects. Kloss has also used the term pseudo-dialectized abstand language for cases where a variety is so different from its Dachsprache that it ought to be regarded as a separate language on abstand grounds, but is nevertheless treated more like a dialect in social practice. Examples include Sardinian vis-a-vis Italian, or Occitan vis-a-vis French.

References

Kloss, H. (1967) "Abstand languages and Ausbau languages" in Anthropological Linguistics (Harvard : Harvard Press)

External links

There are useful definitions included in these two scientific articles

Further information

de:Heinrich Schmid: German Wikipedia entry on the linguist mentioned in the examples.