Language and dialect

People 'know' quite a lot about the language(s) they speak. They 'know' how to put sounds together to make words and to put words together to make sentences that are always grammatical and acceptable; often they use language in nuanced and metaphorical ways. This knowledge, though extremely abstract, rich and complex is not conscious. This is true irrespective of whether you call what is acquired 'language' or 'dialect.' It is effortlessly acquired by every child before the age of four without any explicit tutoring; though the normal processes of socialization are central to language acquisition. At some level people are also aware that without language, no systems of language or culture may exist. Yet the same people treat the issue of language with indifference and immaturity. For them, there is a fundamental difference between a 'pure and standardized' language and a 'locally spoken rustic' dialec