Just a quick reply to this, but in a phrase I think I've picked up from the American media: I call bullshit on this.
I have never, ever, heard anyone claim that US English "has the right to be considered the standard form of English".
Neither have I; however when you create the largest free global on-line encyclopaedia and include a single language called English, wherein most of the articles are written in an orthography described by the OED as American-English, then it hardly needs verbalising.
I've heard, and
shared, the opinion that US English is a recognisable, valid, and hugely influential form of English,
Clearly.
but that is a very different
point.
I have also heard, from you, the equally bogus claim that what you call "English English", but might more commonly be called "UK", "Commonwealth", "Queen's", or "BBC" English has the right to be considered the standard form. I have never heard a convincing argument as to why it has that right.
I actually initially wrote "English (as in the country) English (as in the language)" but didn't pedantically repeat that over and over again (to avoid RSI). Convincing - see my thought experiment below.
It's patently obvious
it's a dialect, with it's own orthography and it's simply wrong for the headword in English to be written in a dialect of English in a dialectal orthography and presented as the standard form, when it's not.
As for this bit, I think I and others have already refuted
denied, bitched, put their fingers in their ears yes; but "refuted" implies it was academically proved.
this at
some length on the other thread, but:
- there is no such thing as "the standard form"
- US English is a dialect of English
- UK English is another dialect of English
what's UK English?
4) neither of those labels is all that accurate, since those 2
dialects most definitely do not cover all usage in those 2 countries
So, yes, it's simply wrong to present US English as "the standard form"; but it's just as wrong to present any other dialect, including your precious "Queen's English
I don't call it the queens english; I call it English, the language of England.
", as "the standard form", because *both
are equally valid*.
Here's a thought experiment for you, to avoid reading too much into the term "English": picture an imaginary language, we'll call it "Blibbish". Now, to simplify, let's pretend there is a single version of Blibbish spoken in Fooland, and a single one in Bargia. They are both Blibbish, both from the same historical roots, but due to the unfortunate location of a large body of sea-water between Fooland and Bargia, they have evolved somewhat separately over the last couple of centuries. Older versions of Blibbish were only spoken in Fooland, because Bargia hadn't been discovered yet, but those old versions are all extinct now - replaced by the two "competing" versions. Now, come up with a good reason why either version of Blibbish should be considered "superior" or "more standard" than the other.
a Logical Fallacy. 1. the countries should be called Blibbland and the United States of Bargia, because Blibbish is autochthonous to Blibbland, it was born there, and exported with the expansion of the Blibbish Empire. Bargia was a collection of Blibbish colonies that gained independence, and over time Bargian offshoot of Blibbish, experienced it's own unique influx of cultural input from refugees and events, and evolved into what can only accurately be described as Bargian-Blibbish. Meanwhile, back in Blibbland, Blibbish continued to be spoken by the Blibbish people continuing to evolve in parallel with the newer Bargian dialect of Blibbish, which now includes new spellings, meanings, pronounciations - as different as any Slavic, Germanic or Romance dialect. Explain to the Blibbish people why they should suddenly change the name of their language, and accept Bargian orthography and Bargianisms, now that Bargia is bigger than Blibbland?
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Rowan Collins BSc [IMSoP] _______________________________________________ Wikipedia-l mailing list Wikipedia-l@Wikimedia.org http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-l