Linguistic Variation, Standardization, and Language Contact
Diaphasic Variation: Linguistic Registers
Diaphasic variation, also known as linguistic registers, refers to language variations that occur depending on the components of the situation of use. It employs the concept of linguistic competence to describe a speaker’s ability to use the appropriate register in different possible situational contexts. The most common related registers are considered to be the colloquial, the vulgar, the scientific-technical, the juridical-literary, and journalistic. It adds that the standard should be treated as a variety considered within the field of diatopia.
Linguistic Regulation: Linguistic Variety and Standard
The standard language is a variety created with a high level of codification to serve as a standard, a model of reference for all users of the language and across all regions of the republic. The existence of a standard language facilitates cohesion within a linguistic community and fosters a positive perception of this language variety. It is based on a social convention to be “the linguistically correct” means. It satisfies the need for shared linguistic rules. The standard oral and written forms are very similar. The standardization process involves establishing rules for the use of this standard variety.
Language Standardization Process
Language standardization is a process of community cohesion through the provision of a language that unifies and is capable of fulfilling all communicative functions. However, it is truly achieved through social and political normalization. If one observes processes of language standardization, a number of variables must be considered:
- The degree of linguistic community cohesion.
- The linguistic awareness of its members.
- The current legal framework and possibilities for its development.
- The social, cultural, and political stakeholders involved in normalization.
Language Contact Phenomena
Currently, almost 7,000 languages exist. Migration further enriches this multilingualism, which is normal for our social communities where two or more languages are in contact. In situations of language contact, there are multiple linguistic phenomena, each with its corresponding denomination:
- Individual Bilingualism: The ability of a person to use two languages. The first language learned is called L1; subsequent languages follow a chronological order. Bilingualism can be passive or active (e.g., only understands speech and/or writing), symmetric or asymmetric (masters some languages more than others), instrumental (for business, economic purposes, etc.), or acquired (as in the case of immigrants).
- Territorial Bilingualism: Occurs in a territorial space divided into two zones, each with its own language.
- Diglossia: This is not a natural social bilingualism but rather a false dichotomy. In the same space, where two languages coexist, it is a situation of inequality that generates a hierarchy of functions for each language.
The Chronicle of James I
The Llibre dels fets (Book of Deeds) or the Chronicle of King James I is the first historiographical text written in Catalan; it is an autobiography, not just a chronicle of the king. James I focuses on himself and his reign. He chronicles the difficulties at the beginning of his reign, his loneliness, and his struggles against adversity until he established his authority. James I shifted the policy of the House of Barcelona, renounced his rights in Occitan territories, and led the expansion southward into the Iberian Peninsula. The book begins with the narration of his birth. The King’s chronicle has the character of a personal chronicle. However, he is responsible for his book, and he himself dictated parts to scribes.