Dialect and language. Factors that create linguistic reality based on status evolution of the castilian language

The aim of this paper was to reduce confusion around the concepts of dialect and language. Although linguists often use separate terms, there are no linguistic criteria to make a distinction between the two. It is also difficult to delineate the boundaries of specific languages or dialects. Classification attempts may lead to developing linguistic hierarchy, therefore it is necessary to know that any distinction is artificial and arbitrary. In view of no clear definitions of dialect and language, the use of a neutral term “variety” is preferred. Human perception of linguistic reality – diverse varieties and their mutual relations – is the outcome of subjective, political decisions and organised social activity. Distinction between a dialect and a language is volatile – e.g. colloquial Latin had evolved into dialects that, over time, transformed into the Romance languages. The evolution of the Castilian language on the Iberian Peninsula shows how social and political factors, rather than linguistic ones, influence the actual status of a linguistic variety.aniakorsak@gmail.comUniwersytet WarszawskiAlvar Ezquerra Antonio, 1983, Para una sociolingüística del latín w: Philologica Hispaniensia in honorem Manuel Alvar, t. 1, red. Manuel Alvar i Gregorio Salvador, Madryt.Anderson Benedict, 1992, Imagined communities: reflections on the origins and spread of nationalism, Londyn.Chomsky Noam, 2004, Language and politics, Oakland, CA.Coseriu Eugenio, 1958, Sincronía, diacronía e historia. El problema del cambio lingüístico, Montevideo.Edwards John, 1985, Language, society and identity, Nowy Jork.Edwards John, 2011, Challenges in the social life of languages, Nowy Jork.Ferguson Charles Albert i Gumperz John Joseph, 1960, Linguistic diversity in South Asia: studies in regional, social, and functional variation, Bloomington.Greene Robert Lane, Dialect versus language – what’s the big deal? rozmowę przepr. Nina Porzucki, „The World in Words”, Public Radio International, 27.06.2017 r.Haugen Einar, 1966, Linguistics and language planning, w: Sociolinguistics. Proceedings of the UCLA Sociolinguistics Conference, 1964, red. William Bright, Haga, s. 50–71.Heinz Adam, 1978, Dzieje językoznawstwa w zarysie, Warszawa.Hockett Charles Francis, 1979, Zagadnienie uniwersaliów w języku, w: Językoznawstwo strukturalne. Wybór tekstów, red. Halina Kurkowska i Adam Weinsberg, Warszawa.Labov William, 1982, Building on empirical foundations, w: Perspectives in Historical Linguistics, red. Lehmann Winfred Philip i Malkiel Yakov, Amsterdam.McWhorter John, 2016, What’s a language, anyway? The realities of speech are much more complicated than the words used to describe it [online], „The Atlantic”, dostępny w Internecie: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/01/difference-between-language-dialect/424704/ [dostęp: 13.08.2018 r.].Menéndez Pidal Ramón, 1986, Orígenes del español. Estado linguístico de la Península Ibérica hasta el siglo XI, Madryt.Montgomery Martin, 2008, An Introduction to language and society, Nowy Jork.Montrul Silvina, 2013, El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante, Malden, MA.Moreno Fernández Francisco, 2005, Historia social de las lenguas de España, Barcelona.Oliver Asín Jaime, 1939, Iniciación al estudio de la historia de la lengua española, Saragossa.Oxford English Dictionary, 1989, wyd. 2, Oxford.Perlin Jacek, 2016, Kiedy i jak powstaje język?, w: Perfectum. Badania diachroniczne w Polsce III, red. Bożenna Bojar, Warszawa, s. 27–30.Perlin Jacek, 2017, Iberyjska liga językowa, „Białostockie Archiwum Językowe”, nr 17, s. 327–332.Romaine Suzanne, 2000, Language in society. An Introduction to sociolinguistics, Nowy Jork.Szul Roman, 2009, Język, naród, państwo. Język jak zjawisko polityczne, Warszawa.Weinsberg Adam, 1983, Językoznawstwo ogólne, Warszawa.Wells Rulon, 1954, Archiving and language typology, „International Journal of American Linguistics”, 20/2, s. 101–107, https://doi.org/10.1086/464260.1920522