28.3400, Disc: pluricentric languages: on a fundamental point

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LINGUIST List: Vol-28-3400. Sat Aug 12 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.3400, Disc: pluricentric languages: on a fundamental point

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Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2017 12:12:55
From: Stefan Dollinger [stefan.dollinger at ubc.ca]
Subject: pluricentric languages: on a fundamental point

 
Dear colleagues,

As many of you will know, different philologies/schools do not always use
similar concepts or terms. At times, some schools seem to operate with
incompatible terms and concepts and it is not always clear to what purpose.

I am reporting here on an instance that has been keeping me busy for a few
years. It has to do with the concept of pluricentric languages and their
modelling as being centred around a number of, at least two per definition,
''linguistic centres''. This idea, going back to (at least) Michael Clyne in
the 1980s, has given rise in the European context to the study of national
varieties of languages, e.g. German German vs. Austrian German and Swiss
German, or Belgian Dutch (Flemish) vs. Dutch Dutch. It is clear that national
variation is only one level of variation, but, as most pluricentrists
maintain, a level that has in traditional dialectology usually been, and
unjustifyingly so, neglected.

The notion of pluricentricity is, in my opinion, 100% in line with a World
Englishes approach: each country gets to set its own standard variety: UK
English and American English were early, followed by the codification of
Canadian English, Irish English, etc. As such, plurcentricity is a useful
concept that makes theoretical predictions.

Now, in German linguistics and as far as I can tell only in German
dialectology, a counter concept has been around since the late 1990s:
''pluri-areality'' (Scheuringer and others). It does not maintain several
centres for a given language and its (national) varieties, but merely states
that there is geographical variation. To me, this concept is not a concept
that is on par with pluricentricity, but merely another term for
''geographical variation'', as it makes no theoretical prediction. 

I have posted a 20-minute, written-to-be-spoken talk with slides on this very
issue, with all references:
https://www.academia.edu/27653734/Pluricentricity_vs_pluriareality_an_unavoida
ble_dispute

A more recent version, with a depiction of the different conceptions of
national varieties (the triangular-shaped graphs, inspired by Trudgill's
classic model of regional and social variation in English, at the end of page
3), is found here: 
https://www.academia.edu/31919020/_SLIDES_Two_Nations_One_Language_Controversi
es_in_Variationist_Theory_and_Practice_the_Anglist_s_Take

It seems that ''pluri-areality'', sometimes called ''poly-areality'', is not
just a confusing term, but more importantly, that it is not at all a counter
concept to ''pluricentricity'' at all, as it does not make any theoretical
predictions. 

I would appreciate your insights in that debate, from any and all
angles/backgrounds that this community can muster and as wide a variety of
languages/varieties as possible.

I will post a summary in due course on this list, acknowledging all
submissions by name (unless you wish not to be identified). 

All the best wishes,

Stefan



Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics
                     General Linguistics
                     Historical Linguistics
                     Lexicography
                     Linguistic Theories
                     Sociolinguistics

Subject Language(s): Dutch (nld)



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