Language Standardization and Codification
Standardization is the process by which one variety is selected and developed into a uniform, codified norm, and codification is the fixing of that norm in dictionaries, grammars, and spelling rules.
Definition
Language standardization and codification is the topic concerned with the deliberate process of developing a uniform language norm from a selected variety and fixing it through authoritative grammars, dictionaries, and orthographies.
Scope
This topic covers standardization as a corpus-planning process, its stages of selection, codification, elaboration, and acceptance, and the role of institutions such as academies and dictionaries in fixing the norm. It includes the drive toward minimal variation in form and the social and political dimensions of choosing one variety as standard. The ideology that treats the standard as uniquely correct is treated under standard language ideology.
Core questions
- How is one variety selected to become the standard?
- What does codification involve, and which institutions carry it out?
- What stages does standardization pass through?
- How does standardization reduce variation in linguistic form?
Key concepts
- Selection of a variety
- Codification in grammars and dictionaries
- Elaboration of function
- Acceptance and minimal variation
- Language academies
Key theories
- Stages of standardization
- Haugen described standardization as proceeding through selection of a norm, its codification in reference works, elaboration to cover new functions, and acceptance by the community.
- Standardization as the suppression of variation
- Milroy and Milroy characterized standardization as an ongoing effort to impose uniformity and suppress optional variability, never fully achieved in speech, sustained by institutions and prescriptive authority.
History
Haugen's 1966 account of dialect, language, and nation framed standardization as a four-stage process, and Milroy and Milroy later emphasized its ideological character as the imposition of uniformity and authority on inherently variable speech.
Debates
- Standardization as natural development or imposed control
- Scholars debate whether standardization is a neutral, functional response to the needs of literate societies or a politically motivated imposition that privileges particular groups and varieties.
Key figures
- Einar Haugen
- James Milroy
- Lesley Milroy
Related topics
Seminal works
- haugen1966
- milroy1985
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between standardization and codification?
- Standardization is the whole process of developing and promoting a uniform variety, while codification is one stage within it: the recording of the chosen norm in authoritative grammars, dictionaries, and spelling conventions.