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

[Marc FRYD]

Cher Michaël,
Bien que tu ne sois pas linguiste, ceci t'intéressera (et t'amusera) 
peut-être:

************
The context is - Yiddish linguist Max Weinreich was giving a lecture
about problems in the history of the Yiddish language, when a
high-school teacher asked him "What is the difference between a dialect
and a language?" Max Weinreich tried to give an intellectual answer, but
the teacher interrupted him, "All of this I know already, but I'll give
you a better definition: a language is a dialect with an army and a
navy." (a shprakh iz a dialekt mit an armey un a flot)
************

Bien amicalement,
Marc




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