Autonomy and heteronomy are complementary attributes of a
language variety
In sociolinguistics, a variety, also called an isolect or lect, is a specific form of a language or Dialect continuum, language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, register (sociolinguistics), registers, style (sociolinguistics), style ...
describing its functional relationship with related varieties.
The concepts were introduced by
William A. Stewart in 1968, and provide a way of distinguishing a ''language'' from a ''dialect''.
Definitions
A variety is said to be autonomous if it has an independent cultural status. This may occur if the variety is structurally different from all others, a situation
Heinz Kloss
Heinz Kloss (30 October 1904, in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt – 13 June 1987) was a German linguist and internationally recognised authority on linguistic minorities.
He coined the terms " Abstandsprache" and " Ausbausprache" to try to describe the diff ...
called ''
abstand''.
Thus
language isolates such as
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
are necessarily autonomous. Where several closely related varieties are found together, a
standard language is autonomous because it has its own orthography, dictionaries, grammar books and literature. In the terminology of Heinz Kloss, these are the attributes of ''
ausbau
In sociolinguistics, an abstand language is a language variety or cluster of varieties with significant linguistic distance from all others, while an ausbau language is a standard variety, possibly with related dependent varieties. Heinz Kloss ...
'', or the elaboration of a language to serve as a literary standard.
A variety is said to be heteronomous with respect to a
genetically related standardized variety if speakers read and write the other variety, which they consider the standard form of their speech, and any standardizing changes in their speech are toward that standard.
In such cases, the heteronomous variety is said to be dependent on, or oriented toward, the autonomous one.
In the terminology of Heinz Kloss, the heteronomous varieties are said to be under the "roof" of the standard variety.
For example, the various
regional varieties of German (so called "dialects"), such as
Alemannic,
Austro-Bavarian
Bavarian (german: Bairisch , Bavarian: ''Boarisch'') or alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a West Germanic language, part of the Upper German family, together with Alemannic and East Franconian.
Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million pe ...
, Central, Eastern, and Northern
Hessian,
Kölsch,
Low German, and more, are heteronomous with respect to
Standard German, even though many of them are not mutually intelligible.
A
dialect continuum
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
may be partitioned by these dependency relationships, which are often determined by extra-linguistic factors.
For example, although Germanic varieties spoken on either side of the Dutch–German border are very similar, those spoken in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
are oriented toward Standard
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, whereas those spoken in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
are oriented toward
Standard German.
Within this framework, a ''language'' may be defined as an autonomous variety together with all the varieties that are heteronomous with respect to it.
Stewart noted that an essentially equivalent definition had been stated by
Charles A. Ferguson and
John J. Gumperz in 1960.
In these terms,
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
and
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
, though mutually intelligible to a large degree, are considered separate languages.
Conversely, although the
varieties of Chinese
Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of ma ...
are mutually unintelligible and have significant differences in phonology, syntax and vocabulary, they may be viewed as comprising a single language because they are all heteronomous with respect to
Standard Chinese.
Similarly, a heteronomous variety may be considered a ''dialect'' of a language defined in this way.
Change of status
Autonomy and heteronomy are largely
sociopolitical constructs rather than the result of intrinsic linguistic differences, and thus may change over time.
Heteronomous varieties may become dependent on a different standard as a result of social or political changes.
For example, the
Scanian dialects
Scanian ( sv, skånska , da, skånsk) is an East Scandinavian dialect spoken in the province of Scania in southern Sweden. Present-day speakers of "Scanian" speak the Scanian dialect of Swedish. Older Scanian formed part of the old Scandina ...
spoken at the southern tip of
Sweden, were considered dialects of
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
when the area was part of the kingdom of
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
. A few decades after
the area was transferred to Sweden, these varieties were generally regarded as dialects of Swedish, although the dialects themselves had not changed.
Efforts to achieve autonomy are often connected with
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
movements and the establishment of
nation state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may i ...
s. Examples of varieties that have gained autonomy are
Serbian,
Croatian, and
Bosnian from
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...
; and
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
, which was formerly considered a dialect of
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
.
Examples of languages that have previously been considered to be autonomous but are now sometimes considered heteronomous are
Occitan, sometimes considered a dialect of
French;
Low German, occasionally considered to be a dialect of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
; and
Scots with regard to
Standard English, though the German linguist
Heinz Kloss
Heinz Kloss (30 October 1904, in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt – 13 June 1987) was a German linguist and internationally recognised authority on linguistic minorities.
He coined the terms " Abstandsprache" and " Ausbausprache" to try to describe the diff ...
considered Scots a ('half language') in terms of an
abstand and ausbau languages
In sociolinguistics, an abstand language is a language variety or cluster of varieties with significant linguistic distance from all others, while an ausbau language is a standard variety, possibly with related dependent varieties. Heinz Kloss i ...
framework due to its prestigious literary conventions as, for example, described in the 1921 ''Manual of Modern Scots''.
[Grant, William; Dixon, James Main (1921) ''Manual of Modern Scots''. Cambridge, University Press]
See also
*
Abstand and ausbau languages
In sociolinguistics, an abstand language is a language variety or cluster of varieties with significant linguistic distance from all others, while an ausbau language is a standard variety, possibly with related dependent varieties. Heinz Kloss i ...
* "
A language is a dialect with an army and navy"
*
Language secessionism
Language secessionism (also known as linguistic secessionism or linguistic separatism) is an attitude supporting the separation of a language variety from the language to which it has hitherto been considered to belong, in order to make this var ...
References
Works cited
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Dialectology
Sociolinguistics