[Corpora-List] Can corpora help to distinguish a dialect and a language?

[maxwell]

On Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:09:38 -0800, "Paula Newman" <paulan at earthlink.net>
wrote:
> This is a funny discussion.  Why?  Because it indicates that the
Weinreich
> quote was originally given in Yiddish, definitely a language, not a
dialect
> of German, but never having an army or navy, or much political power.

I think that's the point; self-deprecating humor.  Rather like the debate
among the Protestant minister, Catholic priest, and Rabbi about when life
begins.  The minister argued that life began at birth, while the priest
held out for life beginning at conception.  The Rabbi said, "You're both
wrong; life begins when the dog dies and the kids go off to college."

> Possibly a better definition of the distinction between a dialect and a
> language would focus on the amount of difference between the purported
base
> language and the dialect, possibly indicated by mutual intelligibility.

I believe that was the teacher's point: even though that's the technical
definition, it doesn't matter for schmucks if you don't have power.

   Mike Maxwell


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