Abstand languages
''Abstandsprache'' literally means "distance language". Kloss suggested the English translation "language by distance", referring to linguistic differences rather than geographical separation. ''Abstand'' means a distance of ongoing separation, e.g. a clearance by mechanical design. In the context of language varieties, ''abstand'' indicates the discontinuity of two dialects; in the words of Kloss, there is a "definite break" between the varieties. An ''abstand'' language is a cluster of varieties that is distinctly separate from any other language. European examples include Basque language, Basque and Breton language, Breton. Kloss also spoke of degrees of ''abstand'' between pairs of varieties. He did not specify how the differences between two varieties would be measured, assuming that linguists would apply objective criteria. A standard linguistic criterion is mutual intelligibility, though this does not always produce consistent results, for example when applied to a dialect continuum. An ''abstand'' language does not need to have a standard form. This is often the case with minority languages used within a larger state, where the minority language is used only in private, and all official functions are performed in the majority language.Ausbau languages
The German verb ''ausbauen'' (literally "to build out") expresses core meanings of "expanding" something or "developing something to completion", e.g. adding to an existing structure. (Croatian linguist translated ''Ausbausprache'' into French as ''langue par élaboration''.) Kloss suggested the English translation "language by development", referring to the development of a standard variety from part of a dialect continuum:Languages belonging in this category are recognized as such because of having been shaped or reshaped, molded or remolded—as the case may be—in order to become a standardized tool of literary expression.Kloss identified several stages of this development, beginning with use of the variety for humour or folklore, followed by lyrics and then narrative prose. The next phase, which he considered crucial, was use for serious non-fiction. From this point, the variety could be further developed for use in technical, scientific or government domains. A standard variety developed in this way may be mutually intelligible with other standard varieties. A commonly cited example occurs in the North Germanic languages, Scandinavian dialect continuum spanning Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The three standardized languages Norwegian language, Norwegian, Swedish language, Swedish and Danish language, Danish (or four if Norwegian ''Bokmål'' and ''Nynorsk'' are distinguished) are mutually distinct ''ausbau'' languages, even though speakers of the different standards can readily understand each other. This classification invokes the criterion of social and political functions of language use. The sociolinguist Peter Trudgill has linked Kloss's theoretical framework with Einar Haugen's framework of autonomy and heteronomy, with the statement that a variety is an ''ausbau'' language corresponding to the statement that it is used "autonomously" with respect to other related languages. Such a language has an independent cultural status, even though it may be mutually intelligible with other ''ausbau'' languages from the same continuum. This typically means that it has its own standardized form independent of neighbouring standard languages, it is typically taught in schools, and it is used as a written language in a wide variety of social and political functions, possibly including that of an official national language. In contrast, varieties that are not ''ausbau'' languages are typically only spoken and typically only used in private contexts. Trudgill expands the definition to include related varieties:
[A]n Ausbau language is an autonomous standardized variety together with all the nonstandard dialects from that part of the dialect continuum which are heteronomous with respect to it i.e. dependent on it.
Roofing
Kloss described an ''ausbau'' language as providing a "roof" (German: ''Dach'') over dependent varieties, whereas nonstandard dialect, non-standard varieties without a reference standard were "roofless dialects". He used the term "near-dialectized sister languages" for varieties roofed by a standard variety with which they are related but not mutually intelligible, such as Low Saxon language, Low Saxon (roofed by Standard German), Occitan language, Occitan and Haitian Creole (roofed by Standard French, French), and Sardinian language, Sardinian (roofed by Italian language, Italian). Muljačić introduced the term ''Dachsprache'', or "roofing language", for a dialect that serves as a standard language for other dialects. These dialects would usually be in a dialect continuum, but may be so different that mutual intelligibility is not possible 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. Similarly, Standard Basque and the Southern Quechua literary standard were both developed as standard languages for dialect continua that had historically been thought of as discrete languages with many dialects and no "official" dialect. Standard German and Italian language, 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, often mutually unintelligible varieties of Arabic.Distance between ausbau languages
Kloss recognized three degrees of separation between ausbau languages. When two standards are based on identical or near-identical dialects, he considered them as variants of the same standard, constituting a pluricentric language. Examples include British and American variants of English, and European and Brazilian variants of Portuguese language, Portuguese. High Hindi and Urdu also have a common dialect basis (Dehlavi dialect, Dehlavi). The same is the case with Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin, which also have the same dialect basis (Shtokavian dialect, Shtokavian), and Language secessionism#In Serbo-Croatian, consequently constitute four standard variants of the Pluricentric language#Serbo-Croatian, pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language. Standards created from different dialects, but with little ''abstand'', would not be considered separate abstand languages, but constitute distinct ausbau languages, as noted above for Danish language, Danish, Swedish language, Swedish and Norwegian language, Norwegian. 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.'' In some instances, ''ausbau'' languages have been created out of dialects for purposes of nation-building. This applies, for instance, to Luxembourgish language, Luxembourgish ''vis-a-vis'' German (the vernaculars in Luxembourg are varieties of Moselle Franconian, which is also spoken in the German sections of the Moselle River valley and neighbouring French département of Moselle (department), Moselle). Other examples of groups of vernaculars lacking ''abstand'' internally but that have given rise to multiple ''ausbau'' languages are: Persian language, Persian of Iran and Afghanistan (''cf.'' Dari (Afghanistan), Dari); Bulgarian language, Bulgarian and Macedonian language, Macedonian, because they have different dialect bases. Finally, the ''ausbau'' languages may be so different that they also constitute ''abstand'' languages. Examples include Dutch language, Dutch versus German language, German, Persian language, Persian versus Pashto language, Pashto, and Tamil language, Tamil versus Telugu language, Telugu.Change of roles over time
There are several instances of languages and language pairs that have undergone role changes over time. Low German, for instance, was both an ausbau language and a roof of local dialects in the Netherlands and Germany and in parts of the Baltic states and their formerly German vicinity. With the end of the Hanseatic League, Low German lost its status as an official language to a large degree. Approximately at the same time, Dutch started to replace Low German as a roof of the Low German dialects in the Netherlands that form today's Dutch Low Saxon group, and most Central German dialects went under the "roof" of the evolving High German. Low German ceased to be spoken on the eastern rim of the Baltic Sea. Today, its dialects surviving in northern Germany have come under the roof of Standard German. Local Low German dialects spoken in the Netherlands have come under the roof of Dutch. This happened despite the effect of notable migration streams in both directions between the Western (Dutch) and Eastern (Prussian, now mainly Polish and Russian) areas of the region of the Low German languages, motivated by both religious intolerance and labour need. In several spots along the Dutch–German border, identical dialects are spoken on both sides, but are deemed to belong to different roofing according to which side of the border they are on.See also
*A language is a dialect with an army and navy *Language secessionism *Linguistic demography *Linguistic distance *Post-creole speech continuum ** Decreolization *Register (sociolinguistics)References
Bibliography
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The following article contains useful definitions: * Peter Trudgill (2002)