Re: The definition of the Standard variation of British English

"Arne H. Wilstrup" <ahw> wrote in message
news:4a55a6ae$0$15886$edfadb0f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

. . . some book said that Standard English is a variety of
English characterised by features of grammar, vocabulary, spelling and
punctuation - not by features of accent (i.e. pronunciation) and that
Standard English may be combined with different accents, in the United
Kingdom for instance with the prestige accent RP or with one of the many
regional accents.
Moreover, in contrast to non-standard varieties, the standard variety of
a language is the variety which is most widely understood (it is
national rather than local), and which can be used for all purposes.
It is the variety of the language which has a fixed written form
(dialects do not), and which is described in grammar books, dictionaries
and other works of reference. It is the variety taught at school and
used by the educational system, the authorities and the media, so it is
the variety that has prestige.
What do you think about this notion?

This looks like an attempt to classify the language (as standard or
non-standard) according to identifying features found in natural
usage of all types. This was the main theme of 19th-century
linguistics, but most scholars abandoned it in the late 20th
century as impossible.

Could one claim that the Standard English is all English which follows a
certain pattern taking into acount of syntax, grammar etc.?

Yes, but we do not need to retrieve the definition from actual language
use. The BBC from approx. 1925 to 1965 attempted to publish and
enforce rules for "Standard English" with substantial success (actually
altering the way many English people habitually spoke, by adding the
influence of radio to the older influences of family, community and
school.) But the BBC abandoned this policy approx. 1970 as "elitist" or
undemocratic. I know of no other equally large (or successful)
project of later date.

It is said that English Grammar rules are of the descriptive kind, i.e.
they are rules that describe how the native speakers of English speak
or write rather of prescriptive kind, i.e. they do not state how people
should speak or write and that grammar also has to do with making
choices, choices which depend on levels of formality (formal- informal),
the medium (speech - writing) meaning etc.

Do you agree in this or am I missing out on something here?

Consider the possibility (clarified by philosopher Vaihinger approx.
1900) that prescriptive rules of language are a "necessary fiction."
If we agree children should learn language rules, we are obliged
to pretend the rules inhere a priori in the language and are rock-solid
and unchanging. Only adults have the sophistication to understand
the situation is much less clear-cut, and that English rules are either
imported from other languages or generalizations from observed
patterns.

When we look carefully, we find many such "fictions" in social life.
E.g. an action may be a crime in 1995 and not in 1996. But the
justice system is forced to behave in 1995 as if the act were always
a crime and always will be, and in 1996 as if it had never been a
crime. Evangelists of religion usually feel they are obliged to
teach converts that every word of the sacred book is literally
true, even if they have private doubts or a much more complicated
conception of the role of the book in their religion. This looks like a
Vaihinger "necessary fiction." (Cf. also Wittgenstein: the trick is
that after climbing up the ladder we must throw it away.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)


.

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