Dialectology - Pluricentrism

Pluricentrism

A pluricentric language is a single genetic language that has two or more standard forms. An example is Hindi-Urdu or Hindustani, which encompasses two main standard varieties, Urdu and Hindi. Another example is Norwegian, with Bokmål having developed closely with Danish and Swedish, and Nynorsk as a partly reconstructed language based on old dialects. Both are recognized as official languages in Norway.

In a sense, the set of dialects can be understood as being part of a single diasystem, an abstraction that each dialect is part of. In generative phonology, the differences can be acquired through rules. An example can be taken with Occitan (a cover term for a set of related varieties of Southern France) where 'cavaL' (from late Latin *caballu-, 'horse') is the diasystemic form for the following realizations.

• Languedocien dialect: caval (L >, sometimes velar, used concurrently with French borrowed forms chival or chivau);
• Limousine dialect: chavau (ca > cha and -L > -u);
• Provençal dialect: cavau (-L > -u, used concurrently with French borrowed forms chival or chivau);
• Gascon dialect: cavath (final -L >, sometimes palatalized, and used concurrently with French borrowed forms chibau)
• Auvergnat and Vivaro-alpine dialects: chaval (same treatment of ca cluster as in Limousine dialect)

This conceptual approach may be used in practical situations. For instance when such a diasystem is identified, it can be used construct a diaphonemic orthography that emphasizes the commonalities between the varieties. Such a goal may or may not fit with sociopolitical preferences.