Diglossia

Diglossia is a stable social arrangement in which two varieties of a language, a prestigious High variety and an everyday Low variety, are used for sharply different functions within one community.

Definition

Diglossia is a sociolinguistic situation in which two language varieties, a High variety reserved for formal and written functions and a Low variety used in everyday speech, coexist in a community with a stable functional division of labor.

Scope

This topic covers Ferguson's classic concept of diglossia, the functional split between High and Low varieties across domains such as formal writing, education, religion, and casual conversation, and the features (prestige, acquisition, standardization, stability) that characterize it. It includes Fishman's broadening of the concept to two distinct languages and the relationship between diglossia and bilingualism. Code-switching and the wider study of multilingual repertoires are treated in neighboring topics.

Core questions

• How are High and Low varieties allocated to different social functions?
• What features distinguish classic diglossia, such as prestige and mode of acquisition?
• How does Fishman's extended diglossia involving two languages differ from Ferguson's?
• How do diglossia and bilingualism interact in a community?

Key concepts

• High (H) and Low (L) varieties
• Functional allocation by domain
• Classic vs. extended diglossia
• Stability of the arrangement

Key theories

Classic diglossia

Ferguson defined diglossia as a stable situation where a High variety, learned through schooling and used for formal functions, coexists with a Low variety acquired natively and used in everyday life.

Extended diglossia

Fishman broadened the concept to cover communities using two genetically unrelated languages for High and Low functions, and cross-classified diglossia with bilingualism to yield four community types.

History

The concept was introduced in Ferguson's 1959 paper, using cases such as Arabic, Swiss German, and Greek, and was extended in 1967 by Fishman to encompass two-language situations and its relation to societal bilingualism.

Debates

Narrow versus broad definitions of diglossia

Scholars debate whether diglossia should be restricted to varieties of one language, as Ferguson intended, or extended to any functional split between separate languages, as Fishman proposed.

Key figures

• Charles Ferguson
• Joshua Fishman

Seminal works

• ferguson1959
• fishman1967

Frequently asked questions

How is diglossia different from ordinary bilingualism?

Diglossia refers to a stable, community-wide division of functions between varieties, with each reserved for particular settings, whereas bilingualism concerns individuals' ability to use two languages; a community can have one without the other.